HistoryIn this page we give a brief summary of the activities of the center since its foundation in 1994. A more exhaustive account (in spanish) can be found here Memoria del Centro de Ciencias de Benasque. OriginIn 1994, the Benasque Center
for Physics was created as the
result of the effort undertaken by the Spanish physicists Pedro Pascual
(Univ.
Barcelona, Director), Manuel Asorey (Univ. Zaragoza, coordinator) and
José Ignacio
Latorre (Univ. Barcelona, coordinator) and the major of Benasque, Mr.
José
Marión, to create an advanced summer institute where researchers
could carry
their works in a nice location in the heart of the Spanish Pyrenees.
The Center
was designated in close but modest analogy to the Aspen Center for
Physics,
which remains one of the leading centers to attract high quality
scientist and
trigger collaborations among them. In contrast to big conferences and workshops, the Center is organized as a place to work. Participants are offered a desk and a computer account. A maximum of two talks per day are scheduled, leaving plenty of time for discussions and individual work. The Center is physically laid out in the former elementary school of the village of the village of Benasque. Classrooms provide desk space, the gymnasium is turned into a computer room and talks are held at the mensa. A secretariat and a larger conference room is located in the Casa de la Cultura, a building next to the school. StatusIn order to improve and expand the activities of the Benasque Center of Physics, a new institution, with the name Fundación Centro de Ciencias de Benasque (FCCB), was created on July 15, 1999. The act of creation is contained in the public document number 253 in the presence of the Notary of the College of Zaragoza Mr. Javier Santos Lloro. The new Institution patrons are the City Council of Benasque, the Diputación General de Aragón, the Diputación Provincial de Huesca and the University of Zaragoza. It is inscribed as a non profit Institution in the Boletín Oficial de Aragón of February 16, 2001. The FCCB fiscal identification is CIF G.222117905. In the first meeting of the board (March 19, 2002), the major of Benasque was appointed President and Prof. Pedro Pascual director and manager. SessionsOrdinary Meetings
Workshops
Extraordinary
Meetings ParticipantsThe
total number of
participants attending the sixteen ordinary meetings held up to the end
of the
year 2005 is of 1329 coming from 44 countries. The detailed
distribution of
participants depending on the home institution country is: |
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Argentina |
5 |
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Argentina |
3 |
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Financial supportFinancing the Center and the FCCB has been a major issue. At
the beginning the institution was basically financed by IBERDROLA S.A.
and the City Council of Benasque.
The total financial help un to the end of 2005 is: |
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IBERDROLA S.A. |
247 216,43 € |
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The City Council of Benasque has furthermore contributed each year with some infrastructures expenses. Along the first four years, Silicon Graphics lend to the Center, each year, 10 top model Work Stations, needed for guaranteeing an excellent level of computation and communication facilities. The University of Zaragoza has also contributed with some additional material during the first four years which can be evaluated by 3000 € each year. The accounting of the first four years has been carried by the Foundation Bosch i Gimpera from the University of Barcelona, free of charge. ExpensesThe expenses for each year managed directly by the FCCB have been: |
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1995 |
43 272,53 € |
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Up to the end of 2005 the expenses corresponding to different
concepts is given in the following table. In the last column it is
given the % of the expenses for each concept: |
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Allowances for participants |
355 718,13 € |
48,71 % |
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