The NOSE II Project Archive

Introduction

For ages, the human nose has been an important tool in assessing the quality of many products, food products being good examples. While all others parts of production processes, including these of the food industry, were getting more and more automated, there was still no "objective" means for using the "subjective" information confined in the smell of products. This changed in 1982, when Persaud and Dodd introduced the concept of an electronic nose. They proposed a system, comprising an array of essentially non-selective sensors and an appropriate pattern recognition system, often called "e-nose". 

The NOSE II Project

The NOSE II project (2nd Network on artificial Olfactory Sensing) started December 1st 2001 with a contract duration of three years continueing the work of the predecessor NOSE I with a variety of services to its members working in the field of chemical sensors and sensor systems ("e-noses"). The network was at run time the main contact point for institutions and persons interested in chemical sensors und sensor systems within the EU. Read on the detailed information to lean more about the project, its goals, activities, and the people involved.

After the funding period

After four years of successful operation the already extended funding period and thus the official NOSE II project ended in December 2005. A further prolongation was unfortunately not possible. Ten main events like short courses and workshops, many exchanges and a lot of other activities, e.g. in the field of standardisation, took place over the duration of the project with a lot of participation from the members. At the end NOSE II has brought together more than 120 members interested in the use and development of chemical sensor array technology. To preserve the knowledge base created within NOSE II and possibly to continue with some activites, especially in the field of standardisation, beyond the funding period the NOSE II Steering Committee has contacted the GOSPEL Governing Board.

To profit in the future from networking activities the NOSE Steering Committe is suggesting to become a GOSPEL Associated Member. This membership is probably the best opportunity to keep contact with the large e-nose and artificial olfaction community in Europe and world-wide. The GOSPEL project is a large European Network (a Network of Excellence) within FP6 focused on the topic of artificial olfaction. It acts as a meeting, coordination and information platform in a similar way as NOSE II, but on a much broader scale. Additionally, is has means to support its members in initiating new research and collaborative projects. Read more on the GOSPEL project homepage.

GOSPEL Associates form part of this network of excellence. They have access to information about the activities of GOSPEL's three so-called Centres of Excellence (Hardware, Software, Biomimetics), have the opportunity to participate in research and collaborative projects, and benefit from opportunities for technology transfer. Further, associates receive access to advanced technical training!

GOSPEL Membership is free of charge! If you want to become a GOSPEL Associate you can apply directly online. After submission you will receive an email giving more information about the next step in the registration process.

About this web site

This webserver is an archive of the NOSE II network activities. The intention is to preserve and make available the outcome of the NOSE II project after its end to the interested public. The web site comprises the original descriptions of the activities and more than 200 documents for download. Access to all parts of the website, especially download of files, is only available to registered persons. Please, register for GOSPEL Associated membership to get full access (see infomation above).