Applying to join AgentLink

Application is a five-stage process:

1.  You complete the form below, and email it to the network
    coordinator, Hugo Brailsford (coordinator@agentlink.org).
    He does a preliminary check to ensure that sufficient information
    is present for the management committee to make a decision.

2.  At the next management committee meeting, your application to join
    is considered. [The management committee will meet approximately
    every three months.]

3.  If all goes well, the application is approved; otherwise, the
    committee may ask for more information, or in (hopefully) rare
    cases, the application may be rejected.

4.  If the application is successful, then you will be asked to
    complete a simple administrative form from the European commission
    (2 pages of A4).

5.  The commission checks the form, (e.g., by checking that companies
    really do exist). If they are happy that the information provided
    is complete and factually correct, then your institution becomes a
    member, and will be eligible to take advantage of AgentLink's
    resources, etc.

That's it! 

Important notes:

* General queries, (e.g., about the ESPRIT rules for membership)
  should be directed to the network coordinator, Hugo Brailsford
  (mailto: coordinator@agentlink.org).

* Institutions become members of the network, NOT individuals. In
  applying to join, you will be applying on behalf of your
  institution.

* AgentLink cannot legally resource any institution that fails to
  satisfy the ESPRIT membership rules. Crudely, what this translates
  to is: If your institute is registered in a country that contributes
  financially to the ESPRIT program, then you can apply for membership
  for this institute. Countries that contribute financially include
  all European Union member states; other countries that contribute to
  ESPRIT are currently Iceland, Israel, Liechtenstein, and
  Norway. However, if your institute is registered in a country in the
  European region that does not satisfy these rules, we would still
  like to hear from you; please apply so that we can keep you on our
  records!

* Note that non-European companies CAN be members of
  AgentLink. However, the particular institution that joins MUST
  satisfy the membership rules. For example, at the moment, NORTEL are
  a member of AgentLink, despite being a non-European
  company. However, the NORTEL site that is a member is registered and
  located in England. A NORTEL site in Canada would *not* be able to
  join.


		    Application to Join AgentLink:  
		The European Network of Excellence for
			Agent-based Computing

Please answer the following questions (in English!), and EMAIL the
completed form to

       AgentLink@qmw.ac.uk

Please send the form back in PLAIN TEXT format -- do not use MS Word,
or any other word processor format. 

1. Is your organisation a university/academic organisation, a
   government organisation, or an industrial/commercial organisation? 

   
2. If you answered "university/academic" to question 1, then please
   answer this question. Otherwise, go directly to question 3.

   a/ What is the full name of your university or research institution?


   b/ What group/department do you belong to? 


   c/ How many permanent members of staff in your department/group are
      engaged full-time in agent-related research or development
      activities? 


   d/ How many other individuals (e.g., researchers on fixed-term
      contracts, PhD students) are engaged in agent-related research
      or development activities?


   e/ In order for an academic site to join AgentLink, they must
      demonstrate that they are actively engaged in high-quality
      agent-related work. To do this, we need from you a SHORT
      statement that summarises the major agent-related projects or
      other activities you have been engaged in. You might want to
      list significant papers you have published on the subject,
      national or European agent-related projects that you have been
      involved in, and so on. Your statement should be NO LONGER than
      500 words in length.


   f/ If your group/department has a WWW site that describes your
      agent-related work, please give it.


3. If you answered "industrial/commercial" or "government" to question
   1, then please answer this question. Otherwise go directly to
   question 4.

   a/ What is the full name of your company/organisation?


   b/ What is the name of your division or group?


   c/ Please give a SHORT (less than 100 word) description of your
      organisation's main business activities and the role of your
      group/division within the organisation. 


   d/ If you are currently involved in agent-related research and
      development activities, please give a SHORT (less than 100 word)
      statement that describes these activities. If you are not
      currently involved in agent-related research and development,
      leave this section blank. Also state the number of individuals
      in your group/division that are currently carrying out
      agent-related work.


   e/ If your group/division has a WWW site that describes your
      agent-related work, please give it.


4. We need a single point of contact for your organisation, with whom
   we can communicate with respect to the application procedure.
   
   a/ Please enter the title and full name of the contact person.


   b/ Please enter the FULL telephone number (including national code)
      of the contact person.


   c/ Please enter the FULL fax number (including national code) of
      the contact person.


   d/ Please enter the email address of the contact person.


   e/ Please enter the FULL POSTAL ADDRESS of the contact person.


END OF FORM.