New ERC vice-president appointed
Professor Núria Sebastián Gallés has been appointed the new vice-president of the European Research Council. Elected by the ERC Scientific Council, Sebastián Gallés will join the two existing vice-presidents, Professors Pavel Exner and Carl-Henrik Heldin, in assisting the newly-appointed ERC President Professor Jean-Pierre Bourguignon.
Sebastián Gallés has been a member of the ERC Scientific Council since April 2013 and is also professor of psychology at the department of technology of the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain.
As of January 2014, there will be three ERC vice-presidents (instead of two) who will support the President and serve as vice-chairs of the Scientific Council. Each of them will also be in charge of one of the ERC’s three domains. Exner will be responsible for physical and engineering sciences, Heldin for life sciences, and Sebastián Gallés for social sciences and humanities.
This arrangement with three vice-presidents instead of two was recommended by the ERC Task Force in July 2011, to help clarify and strengthen the governance of the ERC. The Task Force’s suggestions built on the recommendations of the independent review of the ERC carried out in July 2009.
The vice-presidents are also members of the ERC Board, together with the president and the director of the ERC Executive Agency, which oversees the implementation of the ERC strategy and work programme prepared by the Scientific Council.
