The Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities (CETAF) is a taxonomic research network formed by scientific institutions in Europe. It was formed in December 1996 by ten of the largest European natural history museums and botanical gardens to be a voice for taxonomy and systematic biology in Europe, to promote scientific research and access to European natural history collections, and to exploit European funding opportunities. Since then, CETAF has served as a meeting point for major European natural history museums and botanical gardens, and has initiated and played an important role in a number of projects (see Initiatives and related projects section below).

Currently, CETAF has 37 members, which constitute a total of 63 institutions spanning 22 European countries (see Members section below). One of these members, the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, also hosts CETAF's General Secretariat. Together, CETAF institutions hold a large fraction (c. 500 million objects) of the world’s most important natural history collections.

General Meetings General Meetings with representatives of each member institution are held twice a year. The meetings are hosted by any of the member institutions and held at any of the European natural history museums or botanic gardens. Current business between the General Meetings are run by the Chair and the Steering Committee, assisted by the Secretariat.

Initiatives and related projects A number of CETAF members, or national consortia in which CETAF members play leading roles, have since 1998 received support through the European Commission's Framework Programmes to enhance transnational access to their collections, equipment and expertise.

CETAF initiatives SYNTHESYS (Synthesis of Systematic Resources) – A CETAF Integrated Infrastructure Initiative in EU FPVI and FPVII European Distributed Institute of Taxonomy (EDIT) – A CETAF network of Excellence in Taxonomy for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, EU FPVI, which started 1 March 2006. The project ended in 2011.CORDIS – Projects and Results – Toward the European Distributed Institute of Taxonomy European Journal of Taxonomy (EJT) – A peer-reviewed international journal in descriptive taxonomy, covering the eukaryotic world. () Distributed European School of Taxonomy (DEST) – Established by EDIT

CETAF related research projects European Network for Biodiversity Information (ENBI) – This was the European contribution to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). The project was coordinated by the Zoological Museum Amsterdam,Zoological Museum Amsterdam – Annual Report 2005 and ended in 2015.CORDIS – Projects and Results – European network for biodiversity information Biological Collection Access Service (BioCASe) – Historically, this was known as the Biological Collection Access Service for Europe (BioCASE). Fauna Europaea ICEDIG (Innovation and consolidation for large scale digitisation of natural heritage) EU BON (European Biodiversity Observation Network) BIOTALENT – a blended e-learning biodiversity training programme

Members The following is a list of members, the nations in which these members are situated, and associated institutions:

Country MemberUniversity of Tirana, Albania Collections based at the Research Center of Flora and FaunaBiology Centre of Upper Austria State MuseumsNatural History Museum, ViennaMeise Botanic GardenRoyal Belgian Institute of Natural SciencesRoyal Museum for Central AfricaBulgarian Consortium: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research National Museum of Natural HistoryCzech Consortium: Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague Institute of Botany, The Czech Academy of Sciences National Museum, Prague – Natural History MuseumNatural History Museum of DenmarkEstonian Consortium: Estonian Academy of Sciences: Estonian Museum of Natural History Estonian University of Life Sciences Tallinn University of Technology University of Tartu Natural History Museum and Botanical GardenFinnish Museum of Natural HistoryNational Museum of Natural HistoryBavarian Natural History CollectionsBerlin Natural History MuseumBotanic Garden and Botanical Museum BerlinLeibniz Institute for Analysis of Biodiversity ChangeSenckenberg Society for Nature ResearchStuttgart State Museum of Natural HistoryNORe e. V. Association of German Natural History Museums in the North Sea and Baltic Sea Region: German Oceanographic Museum Stralsund Haus der Natur Cismar Müritzeum Museum of Nature and Environment Lübeck Natural History Museum, Bielefeld State Natural History Museum, Braunschweig State Museum of Nature and Men Oldenburg Übersee-Museum of Bremen Zoological Collection of the University of Rostock Zoological Institute and Museum Greifswald Zoological Museum of Kiel UniversityNatural History Museum of CreteHungarian Natural History MuseumNatural Science Museum of IcelandThe Hebrew University of Jerusalem, National Natural History CollectionsThe Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Israel National Center for Biodiversity StudiesMuseum and Botanical Garden of the University of PisaItalian Consortium: Natural History Museum of Genova Natural History Museum – Florence University Museum SystemUniversity of DaugavpilsNational Museum of Natural History, LuxembourgNaturalis Biodiversity CenterNatural History Museum, University of OsloMuseum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of SciencesSlovak Consortium: Slovak National Taxonomic Facility (NaTAF): Comenius University, Faculty of Natural Sciences – Botany Comenius University, Faculty of Natural Sciences – Zoology Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice – Faculty of Science Slovak Academy of Sciences – Institute of Botany Slovak Academy of Sciences – Institute of Zoology Slovak National Museum – Museum of National HistorySpanish Consortium: CSIC. National Museum of Natural Sciences CSIC. Royal Botanic Garden of MadridSwedish Museum of Natural HistoryGothenburg Consortium: Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg Gothenburg Botanical Garden Gothenburg Natural History MuseumNatural History Museum of BernGeneva Consortium: Geneva Botanical Garden Natural History Museum of GenevaBristol Museum & Art GalleryLondon Natural History MuseumManchester Museum, The University of ManchesterNational Geological RepositoryNational Museums LiverpoolNational Museums Northern IrelandNational Museums ScotlandNatural History | National Museum WalesOxford University Museum of Natural HistoryRoyal Botanic Garden EdinburghRoyal Botanic Gardens, KewThe Hunterian, University of Glasgow

References

CETAF position paper, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC) Madrid, Spain, 2004.

External links CETAF official website BioCASE Portal CETAF publications