Deal sees Korean talent join ERC research teams
A new initiative has been launched to boost opportunities for early-career Korean scientists to come to Europe to join the research teams of European Research Council grantees.
The agreement was signed today by Choi Mun-kee, Minister of Science, ICT and Future Planning of the Republic of Korea, and the European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn on behalf of the ERC. The signing ceremony took place on the occasion of the EU-Korea summit held in Brussels and in the presence of Park Geun-hye, President of the Republic of Korea, as well as Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, and ERC President Professor Helga Nowotny.
ERC President Nowotny commented: “The agreement is a further important step in the mission of the ERC to make Europe an attractive place for frontier research. Young and talented Korean researchers will have the opportunity to join the teams of ERC grant holders, thus building new links between Korea and Europe bottom-up, in the ERC way.”
The objective of the agreement is to stimulate co-operation by bringing the best researchers together to exchange ideas and experiences, and to enhance their international profile and knowledge. The initiative will make it easier for early-career Korean top scientists to be part of ERC-funded research teams for six to twelve months.
The common initiative is in the form of an ‘implementing arrangement’ of the existing EU-Korea Scientific and Technological Co-operation agreement signed in 2006. Researchers from Korea who will become part of teams led by ERC grantees will be supported through the ERC grant in the same way as any other team member.
