Director of EU-LIFE institute CeMM Giulio Superti-Furga new Member of Scientific Council of the ERC
Giulio Superti-Furga, Scientific Director of the EU-LIFE member institute CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and Professor for Medical Systems Biology of the Medical University of Vienna has been appointed Member of the Scientific Council of the ERC for a function period of 4 years.
On the 10th anniversary of its existence, the European Research Council is one of the most successful achievements of the European Community in Research & Innovation. It is the most important and prestigious funding institution for basic research in any field conducted within the European Union. Excellence is the sole criterion for selection; there are neither thematic priorities, nor geographical or other quotas for funding.
With Isabelle Vernos (group leader at the CRG, Spain) and Giulio Superti-Furga there are now two leading scientists of EU-LIFE institutes appointed members of the ERC Scientific Council.
The ERC is governed by the Scientific Council, consisting of eminent European scientists and scholars including Nobel Prize laureates. Members are nominated by an independent search committee and appointed by the European Commission. Since 2014 Professor Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, a renowned French mathematician, is President of the European Research Council. Four new members of the Scientific Council have been appointed by the European Commission and announced today: Professors Paola Bovolenta, Eveline Crone, Andrzej Jajszczyk and Giulio Superti-Furga. At the same time, two new Vice Presidents of the ERC, Professors Éva Kondorosi and Martin Stokhof, elected by the Scientific Council in 2016, have taken up their duties.
The ERC Scientific Council acts on behalf of the scientific community in Europe to promote creativity and innovative research. Giulio Superti-Furga: “It is a great honor to accept this important responsibility, which has had a tremendously positive impact on basic research in Europe. My aspiration is to contribute to a more science and innovation-friendly climate in Europe by promoting excellence in research and ensuring that politicians protect and promote the ERC as the most successful research funding scheme of the EU. Results from basic research accompany us at every step and should therefore become a core theme in everyday life - in education, in the media and in public discussions. Society and politics must have the courage to invest in new projects, to keep pace with scientific developments and associated implications. It is important to understand science as a fundamental component of our culture and of our future and a motor for innovation and competiveness also for the European industry."
