Membership will be open to any HE institution, recognised as such by the national government, with Associate Membership offered to Academic and Professional Associations. Initial membership will be by invitation accompanied by an open call for applications. Applications received without invitation will be subject to a quality assessment. All participating institutions belonging to Subject Area 15 ICPs and those which took part in the SIGMA Subject Evaluation Conference will be expected to form the core membership. The Network will incorporate Subgroups for each of the subject areas included in the broad category of Communication Sciences as listed above. All EU and EEA member states will be represented in the membership, and institutions from any new, associate or prospective member state wishing to participate will be considered, subject to SOCRATES funding regulations .