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The ability to cool, trap and manipulate atoms, culminating in the successful formation of Bose-Einstein condensates, is one of the most exciting advances in the field of atomic and molecular and optical physics in the late 20th century. Such experimental advances are pioneering instrumentation on the atomic and nanoscale (e.g. development of atomic interferometers) opening the possibility of developing new technologies e.g. atom lasers, quantum computing, quantum cryptology and teleportation. However the future development of sources of trapped atoms (and subsequently the formation of trapped molecules) requires an understanding of the interaction of atoms within the trap and their stimulation/manipulation by external media (e.g. lasers and electrons). Thus to develop the next generation of trapped atom devices and further cold atom research in general it is necessary to understand collisional processes in traps. To date the role of collisions in atom traps has been viewed mainly as detrimental - leading to trapped atom losses - but recently experiments and new theoretical formalisms suggest that collisions between the trapped atoms, between trapped atoms and external stimulation phenomena and between cold atoms and external surface media may lead to new physico-chemical phenomena that may in turn lead to exciting new fields of study in atomic, molecular, optical and condensed matter physics for example there is considerable interest in the formation of cold molecules by photoassociation spectroscopy leading to molecular condensates. In April 2002 an ESF exploratory workshop was held bringing together researchers from the European collision physics community and researchers involved in trapped atom studies. This was the first time that these two communities were brought together for a specified workshop. The meeting revealed the similarities between these two areas of modern physics and highlighted how one community can (and should) learn from the other. For younger researchers it was a particularly fruitful interaction as they had not previously has the opportunity to interact with members of the other community since the conferences and workshops they normally attended were much more narrower in their scope. For further collaboration to develop between these communities, forums for cross disciplinary discussions and technology/skills transfer are needed. The ESF Network programme provides just a forum. Research Themes The scientific research to be undertaken by the Network can be conveniently divided into six broad themes. 1. Intra-atomic collisions within
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