European Research Area Board members appointed
The names of the 22 men and women who will make up the new European Research Area Board (ERAB) have been announced. The members are well-known personalities from the world of science, academia and industry, whose job it will be to provide expert advice to the European Commission on how to shape and implement the European Research Area (ERA). Established in December 2007, the ERAB replaces the successful European Research Advisory Board (EURAB), which, over the course of six years (from 2001 to 2007), issued over 30 reports and recommendations on a whole range of topics related to science policy. In its Green Paper 'The European Research Area: New Perspectives', the Commission announced that it wanted to 'reform the European Research Advisory Board (EURAB) in order to enhance the role it plays in the realisation of a European Research Area'. The new ERAB is therefore expected to develop and evaluate policy initiatives and actions aimed at meeting the goals of the ERA. Its principal task will be to provide an annual report on the state of the European Research Area (ERA). It will also be able to provide opinions on elements of the ERA, garner the views of the Member States' research and technology consultative bodies, and organise workshops as well as a bi-annual assembly. 'The debate on the Green Paper on the future of science in Europe has shown that there is strong need and support for making research in Europe more European,' says Janez Potocnik, Commissioner for Science and Research. 'This can only be done in partnership with Member States, the research community, business and many other stakeholders. I count on the new ERAB to advise me and the Commission services on how we can facilitate the development of a true European Research Area.' To meet its mandate, the board will draw on the wealth of expertise of its members, who hail from all corners of Europe and are well-known personalities in their respective fields. The list of 22 nominees to the ERAB are as follows: - Dr Reinhold Achatz, Vice-president, Siemens Corporate Research and Technologies, Germany; - Dr Robert Aymar, Director General, European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Switzerland; - Professor Lajos Balint, Director of International Relations, National Information Infrastructure Development Institute, Hungary; - Dr Jean J Botti, Chief Technical Officer, EADS, Germany; - Dr Adelheid Ehmke, President, European Platform of Women Scientists (EPWS), Belgium; - Mr Frank Gannon, Director General, Science Foundation Ireland; - Dr Barbara Haering, Chief Executive Officer , ECONCEPT, Switzerland; - Professor David King, Director, Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, UK; - Dr Leif Kjaergaard, Chief Technology Officer, Danisco A/S, Denmark; - Professor Marja Makarow, Chief Executive Officer, European Science Foundation, France; - Professor Karol Musiol, Rector, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland; - Professor Zaneta Ozolina, University of Latvia; - Professor Maria Cristina Pedicchio, Faculty of Sciences, Trieste University, Italy; - Professor Alain Pompidou, France's National Scientific Research Centre (CNRS); - Dr. Carlos Maria Romeo-Casabona, Director, Inter-University Chair in Law and the Human Genome, University of Deusto, Spain; -Dr Unni Steinsmo, President, Chief Executive Officer, Norwegian research organisation, SINTEF; - Professor Lena Treschow Torell, President, Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, Sweden; - Dr Jan Van Den Biesen, Vice-president , Philips Research, the Netherlands; - Dr Georg Winckler, President, European University Association, Belgium; - Professor John Wood, Principal, Faculty of Engineering, Imperial College London, the UK; - Dr Ingrid Wünning Tschol, Head of Science and Research, Robert Bosch Stiftung, Germany; - Professor Nüket Yetis, acting President, the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK). The members of the ERAB expert group were selected by high-level committee composed of three members: Claudie Haigneré, a former Research and Europe Minister in France, and the first European woman to visit the International Space Station during her career as an astronaut in 2001; Vaira Vike-Freiberga, former President of Latvia and a professor of psychology; and Andrew Dearing, Secretary General of the European Industrial Research Management Association (EIRMA).