Dear Daniel, I would be interested in being part of the network: either as a associate collaborator at IAP (to be able to get access to the network collaboration, travel money etc) , or as having Stockholm as a real node. I realise that the latter alternative (node) might be a bit delicate and I do not want to push it unless you think it is a good idea and a strength to the network application (e.g. by increasing the geographical coverage). In that case, we are three senior researchers that would be interested in joinging. Apart from myslef: Gšran Oloffson (IR astronomer, working with embedded star forming regions in our galaxy, and IR instrumentation) and Claes Fransson (Supernovea expert, working on among other things on the modelling of the interaction between SNe and the ISM in starburst regions). G. Oloffson has developed a 2-5 micron camera for the NOT which makes it possible to map star forming regions embedded in hot dust (e.g. in the L-band) with a good spatial resolution (basically diffraction limited so the FWHM can be as good as 0.3 arcsec). Access is granted through the Swedish membership in NOT. So, a possible PhD project could be "dusty starbursts in the IR". In this respect it could also be of interest to note that Sweden will have 23% of the time on the APEX telescope which will have the capability of bolometer imaging at 300 - 900 micron that can map cool dust, and other things. We are also involved in the european part of the MIRI consortium that will build a 5-30 micron camera/spectrograph for the JWST (next generation space telescope). This will have great potential impact of the understanding of dusty starburst regions, and the proposed project could be seen as a forerunner. Our contribution to the rest of the network could be expertise in the mid IR and acess to the intruments. Already, I have collaborative projects on starburst with Paris (you), Granada and Marseille, 3 of the proposed nodes so it should be possible to find other projects as well. For example, our work (Stockholm, Marseille, Granada, Uppsala) on Fabry-Perot studies of BCGs are quite unique and could perhaps be of interest for the network? Gšran --------------------------------------------------- Goran Ostlin Tel: +46-(0)8-5537 8513 Stockholm Observatory Fax: +46-(0)8-5537 8510 SE - 106 91 Stockholm email: ostlin@astro.su.se Sweden www.astro.su.se/~ostlin ---------------------------------------------------