• H2020
• Policy & Research

Professor Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, the president of the European Research Council, has expressed his sorrow over the passing of Professor José Mariano Gago, aged 68. Gago served twice as a former Portuguese Minister of Science and Technology and was a leading experimental high energy physicist.

In an ERC statement, Bourguignon said he was sorry to learn of the news. He said: “It is with great sadness that we have learnt of the passing away of Professor José Mariano Gago. He was a remarkable man and a personal friend, who was, as a political actor and as a scientist, truly instrumental in the shaping of the European research landscape, not least for the ERC.

“We join the scientific and political Portuguese communities in paying tribute to Professor Gago’s immense contribution. We thank him for his whole-hearted support, which was key for the creation of the ERC. Our thoughts are with Professor Gago’s family.”

As professor of physics at the Instituto Superior Técnico in the capital Lisbon, Gago had also undertaken significant work at CERN and was the founder and president of the Portuguese Laboratory of Instrumentation and Experimental Particles Physics (LIP). The LIP, which announced his death on Friday, said “immense loss” was felt “for both the lab and the science”.

Portal spoke to Gago for the preview edition of the journal – you can read his article here.