Networking Members in PRE-EARTHQUAKES

PRE-EARTHQUAKES is willing to establish an open community with a view to augment its research capacity by extending the consortium’s Earth observation capabilities and to promote and build up the EQuOS (Earthquake Observation System) Network.

To this aim the project has established a “PRE-EARTHQUAKES Networking Member” status, by means of which it will be possible for new organisations to join the PRE-EARTHQUAKES network at any stage of the project.

The PRE-EARTHQUAKES Network provides a link between the PRE-EARTHQUAKES project and the broad European and international scientific community involved in the study of earthquakes, thereby:

• enhancing information exchange to increase the possibility to integrate different observational data relevant to the project
• fostering knowledge creation and sharing good practices
• widely disseminating the project results to the international scientific community.
• providing the basis for the sustained continuation of the process for European and international engagement in earthquakes studies beyond the project lifetime, thanks to the establishment of the Earthquake Observation System (EQuOS) as a dedicated component of GEOSS (Global Earth Observation System of Systems) which PRE-EARTHQUAKES wants to give a substantial contribute to.

Terms and Conditions of Network Membership

PRE-EARTHQUAKES Networking Membership is subject to the following terms and conditions:

Eligibility:

• othe Networking Member should be either an Organization (association, research consortium, etc.), or a Public Body (e.g. University, governmental agency, local authority, public administration, etc.), capable of systematically providing observational data relevant to the project in one or more selected test areas.
• othe Networking Member has to ensure adequate capability to guarantee data-products generation with the continuity and/or for the time period requested by the project.
• eligibility is not automatic acceptance of the Networking Member. A decision from the Steering Committee of the Consortium is required.

Cost:

• There are no costs for becoming a PRE-EARTHQUAKES Networking Member.

Funding:

• PRE-EARTHQUAKES Networking Member cannot receive financial assistance from the project.
• The expenditures related to the possible participation in project networking meetings are covered by the PRE-EARTHQUAKES Networking Member itself.

Benefits:

• Access to data and project results related to the test areas the PRE-EARTHQUAKES Networking Member is interested in and shares data for, as established by the Steering Committee at the moment of Networking Member acceptance according to the extent of its input to the project.
• Invitation to participate in Project networking meetings.
• Involvement in all initiatives devoted to consolidate and enlarge the PRE-EARTHQUAKES community promoting the EQuOS Network, in order to capitalize project results and ensure long term continuity of research efforts in this field.
• Full membership to the EQuOS Network Promoting Group (ENPG) in charge of setting up the EQuOS Network as part of the GEOSS.

Obligations:

• Respect all commitments assumed at the moment of the accession to the Networking Member status as specified in the Steering Committee Decision on Acceptance of the letter of intent of the candidate PRE-EARTHQUAKES Networking Member
• Abide by the PRE-EARTHQUAKES policy on non-disclosure of information
• Sign and respect the PRE-EARTHQUAKES Networking and Confidentiality agreement

Accession Procedure

1. Candidate Networking Members have to express their interest to join the PRE-EARTHQUAKES Network by written application to the Project Coordinator in the form of a letter of intent (see attachment 1).

2. The Project Coordinator process the application to assess the Applicant’s eligibility. If this preliminary check is positive, the Project Coordinator will forward to the applicant the documentation needed for accession (PRE-EARTHQUAKES policy on non-disclosure of information, PRE-EARTHQUAKES Networking and Confidentiality agreement).

3. Providing that the Applicant accepts the provisions therein and intends to proceed with the application, the Project Coordinator will transmit it to the Steering Committee for decision, together with a recommendation.

4. The decision on granting the status of PRE-EARTHQUAKES Networking Member is made by the Steering Committee which also specifies PRE-EARTHQUAKES Networking Member’s obligations on data.

5. Upon positive decision by the Steering Committee, the Project Coordinator is authorized to conclude the accession of the Networking Member by joint signing of a Networking and Confidentiality agreement. The Steering Committee decision specifying the Networking Member’s obligations on data as well as benefits in terms of access to data and project results is an adjunct to the Networking and Confidentiality agreement.

Attachment 1: letter of intent 

Attachment 2: PRE_EARTHQUAKES test areas/events already selected (contributions to other geographic areas/events are welcome too)