A project to develop a European Virtual Institute for Thermal Metrology (evitherm) was launched in January 2003. Evitherm will take the form of a comprehensive website, providing QUICK and EASY access to authoritative temperature and thermophysical properties information and expertise, designed to satisfy the thermal needs, mainly for European industry but also for the other countries.

Thermal expertise and technology in Europe is available from national metrology institutes, industrial research and academic organisations, commercial and other bodies. However, the accessibility and take-up of this valuable resource by industry across Europe is highly variable. There is also a lack of understanding of thermal technology by many industrial users. These factors lead to inefficient, less competitive and more environmentally polluting industrial processes. Evitherm will address these issues by providing an internet-based infrastructure that links together the providers of information and expertise and presents it in a form that is accessible, understandable and appropriate for industry.

34 organisations from 12 countries (Italy, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria) are partners in this project. Evitherm is being developed in a 3-year EC Framework 5 project coordinated by the UK's standards laboratory, the National Physical Laboratory, and includes four other Principal Contractors (LNE, PTB, ARC, IMGC).

6 different themes have been developed:

• thermal conductivity - working group convened by the German institute IKE.
• dilatometry - working group convened by the Austrian metrological institute ARC.
• emissivity and other infrared radiative properties - working group convened by the Italian metrological institute IMGC.
• thermal analysis and calorimetry - working group convened by the French consulting company Thermal Consulting.
• contact thermometry - working group convened by the French metrological institute LNE.
• optical pyrometry - working group convened by the German metrological institute PTB.

The official website launch is scheduled in April 2004. A provisional website has been set up at www.evitherm.org to enable interested parties to find out more and to give their views on what evitherm should provide.

For more information on the evitherm project, contact Pierre Le Parlouër leparlouer@thermalconsulting.com.