Looking for Helga Nowotny’s successor
Lord Sainsbury on this prestigious task: “The ERC is now a well-functioning operation, on its way to becoming a fully-mature funding organisation on a par with the very best in the world. It enjoys wide recognition, built on its operating principles of independence and scientific excellence. I am happy to be able to contribute to this challenging new phase and delighted that I will do so together with six such distinguished colleagues.”
The sole criterion is excellence
The commision that will be looking for the next ERC-president consists of:
Lord SAINSBURY of Turville, FRS, Chancellor of the University of Cambridge
Catherine CESARSKY, High Level Advisor, Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), Former High Commissioner for Atomic Energy in France
Suzanne FORTIER, President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Michal KLEIBER, President of the Polish Academy, Former Member of the ERC Scientific Council
Jadran LENARCIC, Director of the Jozef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana
Erwin NEHER, Director Emeritus at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Medicine
Salvatore SETTIS, Former Director, Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, Former Member of the ERC Scientific Council
The European Research Council awards grants through open competitions to projects headed by starting and established researchers, irrespective of their origins, who are working or moving to work in Europe. The sole criterion for selection is scientific excellence. The aim is to recognise the best ideas, and retain and confer status and visibility to the best brains in Europe, while also attracting talent from abroad.
Senior and internationally-respected scientist
The Commission’s proposals for the specific programme implementing Horizon 2020 establish the function of an ERC President, to be chosen from among senior and internationally-respected scientists. The ERC President will reside in Brussels for the duration of the appointment and devote most of their time to ERC activities.
The ERC President shall be appointed by the Commission for a term of office limited to four years, renewable once. The President will be remunerated at a level commensurate with the Commission’s top management. The recruitment process and the candidate selected shall have the approval of the ERC’s Scientific Council.
