The News

The ERC week is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the ERC, promote its work in and beyond Europe and reflect on the future ahead. The events that will unfold during this week are organised by Universities, research organisations, Science Museums, Ministries and National Academies of Sciences that have been involved in the work of this successful EU programme. A final event to celebrate the occasion will be organised in Brussels on 21 March. Commissioner Carlos Moedas, responsible for Research, Science and Education, ERC President Jean-Pierre Bourguignon as well as a number of other high-level participants, including Ministers and Nobel Prize winners are confirmed to take part in the events around Europe.  The 10th anniversary of the ERC is an important milestone in making Europe a global centre of excellence in research.

The Background 

The European Research Council was set by the European Commission in 2007 with the mission to encourage excellent research in Europe and offer competitive funding to support top researchers across all fields and of any nationality.  In the decade since then, the ERC has had a considerable impact on the European research landscape. Its support for excellence in research has produced 6 Nobel Prize winners and has funded almost 7,000 researchers and more than 40,000 team members. Thanks to the ERC, the EU is creating quality jobs that tackle brain drain, as well as attract young researchers from the US, China, Brazil and more.  The ERC is also supporting research that has already produced some important discoveries, including new therapies against cancers, new ways to produce energy, a new generation of radars and even inhabitable new planets. The work supported by the ERC has been acknowledged in close to 100,000 international scientific journal articles and press publications.  The event:  ERC Week will be marked by a variety of events across Europe and beyond (US, Japan, India) taking place between 13 – 19 March, including science exhibitions at Tate Gallery and Science Museums in Madrid and Milan. A final event to celebrate the occasion will be organised in Brussels on 21 March will be open to the press. A preliminary list of events is available here.

 

Further information are available here