ERC: high hopes for the new kid on the block
The European Research Council (ERC) may be the 'new kid on the block', but what it produces could very well help to determine the future vitality of European research, according to Janez Potocnik, EU Commissioner for Science and Research. Speaking at a meeting of the ERC's Scientific Council in Lisbon on 3 July, the Commissioner commended efforts to take the ERC from 'the seeds of an idea to an entity' that is already making its presence felt in the European research arena. By the time the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) came into being at the beginning of 2007, a strategy to take the ERC forward was already in place, and a first call for proposals published, targeting young researchers. A massive 9,167 proposals have since been received in response to this first call, leaving no-one in any doubt about the appeal of the ERC to Europe's research community. 'The reaction, which surpassed our own expectations, suggests that we have really hit the nail on the head - the ERC corresponds to an urgent need within Europe's research community,' said Mr Potocnik. The ERC is funded under the 'Ideas' programme of FP7, 'and that is what it is all about,' said Mr Potocnik. 'Ideas, new ideas without restrictions. An ideas factory.' With an average annual budget of more than €1 billion per year, the new agency will fund research projects that are at the cutting edge of science. The focus will be exclusively on the excellence of the individual researcher and the excellence of their proposals. Expectations are running high that the ERC will provide a boost to the European Research Area (ERA). 'What it produces may help determine research trends, the future development of our industries and even, I dare to hope, Nobel Prizes,' surmised the Commissioner. 'Now it is the turn of researchers to deliver: to deliver the best ideas, to deliver excellent research and to deliver results that will improve our lives.' For the Commissioner, the ERC is part of a number of initiatives aimed at 'joining up' Europe in new, more effective ways than in the past. This is the idea behind the proposal for the European Institute of Technology, which aims to provide a model and an experimental environment for the translation of knowledge into innovation. Other initiatives include the ESFRI (European Strategy Forum for Research Infrastructures) roadmap on research infrastructures and the Joint Technology Initiatives to create public and private research partnerships in certain industrial areas. Mr Potocnik thanked the Portuguese Presidency for making the meeting of the ERC's Scientific Council, and research, the themes of its first official function.