Commission appoints Mauro Ferrari as next President of the European Research Council

The European Commission has appointed Professor Mauro Ferrari as the next President of the European Research Council (ERC), responsible for funding investigator-driven frontier scientific research in Europe.

Shaping science policy in Europe

The Lisbon Strategy was adopted by the Heads of State and Government of the European Union [EU] in 2000. By moving science into a central position for the development of a European knowledge-based economy and society, its adoption at political level seems to have been a powerful catalyst for the increased involvement of scientists in science policy in the EU.

Recognising the need for scientists to act collectively in order to contribute to shape the future of science policy in…

2011 European Physical Society General Meeting

The 15th European Physical Society [EPS] General Meeting was held in Wroclaw, Poland, on 27 October last year.

Reports from Luisa Cifarelli, the EPS President; Colin Latimer, the EPS Treasurer; and Martina Knoop, the EPS Secretary were presented.

In addition, Tomasz Dietl gave an overview of ‘Nanospintronics’, and Daniel Esteve presented the work of the European Research Council.

News from the European Research Council

The European Research Council (ERC) has recently appointed seven new members of the Scientific Council; as well as having published the results for the advanced grants.

Further information can be found on the ERC website.

ERC Proof of Concept funding

The European Research Council (ERC) has launched a new funding initiative – the Proof of Concept Grant – which is designed to stimulate innovation.

Funding of up to 150,000 Euros per grant is being made available to researchers who already hold ERC grants, in order to bridge the gap between their present research and the earliest stages of a marketable innovation…