Ms. Erika ROST (Dr.) is the head of the division “Cooperation with European Countries, Israel” in the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) to which she returned after five years (May 2000 to June 2005) as Science Counsellor in the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Paris (France). Prior to taking the post in Paris, she was head of the division "Basic Principles in Education and Research" in the BMBF. As part of her earlier activities as head of the division “Research Co-ordination on the Federal Level; Report of the Federal Government on Research; Research Budget” at the BMBF she was Chair of the Interministerial Committee for Science and Research, and Vice-Chair of the Working Party of National Experts on Science and Technology Indicators (NESTI) at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). She holds a degree in mathematics (Diplom) from the University of Göttingen and a PhD in economics from the University of the Saarland, Saarbrücken.