The independent Standing Identification Committee, which was set up by the European Commission in 2020, has begun the search for candidates for membership of the Scientific Council of the European Research Council (ERC). Nominations are accepted until 6 May 2022, 12:00 noon CET.

The Commission appoints members of this Scientific Council, the ERC’s governing body, further to a recommendation from the Identification Committee. The Committee is now contacting the representative organisations of the European research community with the request to nominate excellent candidates. The Committee also welcomes nominations from other research institutions representing European research.

Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Research, Innovation, Culture, Education and Youth, said:

A key factor to the success of the European Research Council is the independence of its ERC Scientific Council, made up of some of the most eminent scientists and scholars who represent the entire European research community. To ensure continuity, I invite European research institutions to nominate excellent candidates to the governing body of the ERC. We hope to draw on a pool of outstanding female and male researchers from across the whole of Europe.

Members of the Scientific Council are appointed for a four-year term of office, renewable once. The candidates proposed further to the current call for nominations will be evaluated by the Identification Committee to contribute to the pool from which it will recommend candidates for membership of the ERC Scientific Council. Almost a quarter of the members of the Scientific Council must be replaced as their mandates will come to an end in the coming twelve months.

Background

The Scientific Council, the independent governing body of the ERC, defines the ERC’s scientific funding strategy and methodologies. It is composed of 22 members, all eminent scientists and scholars, who represent the scientific community in Europe.

The ERC Standing Identification Committee consists of six highly respected personalities in European research:

• Carl-Henrik HELDIN (chair) – Uppsala University, Chairman of the Board of the Nobel Foundation, Sweden
• Heleen MURRE-VAN DEN BERG – Radboud University, the Netherlands
• Kirsten GRAM-HANSEN – Aalborg University, Denmark
• Michal KAROŃSKI – Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland
• Carlos MARTINEZ ALONSO – Spanish National Research Council
• Mira MEZINI – Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany/Albania

The mandate of the Identification Committee is twofold: to identify members for the renewal of the ERC Scientific Council membership and to maintain a pool of candidates for future membership in the Scientific Council.

More information

Submit a nomination (Deadline 6 May 2022, 12:00 CET)