Three top researchers appointed to ERC governing body

The European Commission has selected three leading researchers to join the European Research Council’s Scientific Council.

Professor Dame Janet Thornton, director of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and the European Bioinformatics Institute in the UK will join the Scientific Council, the ERC’s governing body. Also being appointed is Professor Tomáŝ Jungwirth of the Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic, and University of Nottingham, UK; and Professor Fabio Zwirner of the University of Padua, Italy.

Commenting on the appointments, European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, said: “The European Commission places great importance on appointing accomplished, top-level scientists to the Scientific Council, the governing body of the European Research Council. The independent committee tasked with identifying new members has done an excellent job as demonstrated by the calibre of today’s three nominations.”

The new members were selected by an independent Identification Committee, composed of six distinguished scientists appointed by the European Commission. The scientific community was consulted during the selection process and the Identification Committee will announce further new members in the first half of the year.

Adding his thoughts, Professor Jean-Pierre Bourguignon remarked: “I would like to warmly welcome three new members of the Scientific Council, who will have the challenge of living up to the standards set by their predecessors. With their engagement, I’m sure they will offer new perspectives at a critical time.”

The ERC Scientific Council represents the European scientific community, and decides the ERC strategy and distribution of funding.