SE Europe Geoscience Foundation Research Grants Ceremony

March 2, 2006, Sofia, Bulgaria

Student Research Grant Awards Night

Our annual Research Grants Awards Night to be held March 2 at 05:30 PM at the Grand Hall of Sofia University.  The keynote speech will be given by His Excellency F.D. Pillarella, Ambassador of Canada. A number of VIPs will participate in the awards ceremony to honour the best project applications.  The Awards Ceremony will be preceded by cocktails and will be followed by a performance of the Alma Alter Theatre Workshop -  a not to be missed event.

Graduate Research Grants will be given to students in Earth and Environmental Sciences from Armenia, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Romania and Serbia and Montenegro

About the SE Europe Geoscience Foundation

The SEEGF is a not for profit foundation  and a multi-company initiative supported by natural resources companies active in SE Europe.  The purpose of the Foundation is to foster academic excellence in the Earth Sciences in the region and provide grants to assist suitable students complete important research objectives. The focus of this research funding extends from the traditional areas of minerals exploration to issues of environmental management and remediation.

The Foundation is a reflection of the commitment of the member to contribute to the education of geoscientists in the region so that our industry may better serve our communities.  It is a commitment by the participating organizations to achieve World best practice in all aspects of our businesses and to minimize or eliminate our environmental impacts.

The Foundation holds international conferences in the region to bring together some of the Worlds leading researchers, students and academics and geoscientists working in minerals exploration and mining companies.  We also provide student grants.  Ultimately we want to establish new undergraduate courses in Environmental Geoscience across the region and participate in infrastructure programs in geoscience departments.

About the Research Grants

Grants are primarily for masters and doctoral thesis research at accredited colleges or universities.  The spectrum of research is broad with a special emphasis on basic geological and economic geology research and environmental issues related to our industry.

This year we have had 25 outstanding applications from students from Armenia, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Romania and Serbia and Montenegro.  The range of research topics is truly impressive and these students will form the backbone of our industry and our geoscience departments in the region in the coming decades.

Foundation Funding

The SEEGF is a wholly not for profit foundation which is funded by mining industry sector sponsors.  The sponsors are detailed below.  In addition event specific sponsors augment these longer term supporters.  Sponsoring companies are from  Canadian, United Kingdom and United States.