Establishment of the ERC underway: Appointment of Scientific Council

On 18 July 2005 EU Research Commissioner J. Potocnick announced the
names of the twenty-two scientists who will compose the ERC Scientific
Council. They were chosen by an independent panel of high-level scientists,
the ERC Identification Committee (IC), under the chairmanship of former European Commissioner Lord Patten of Barnes, Chancellor of Oxford and Newcastle-upon-Tyne Universities.

The Scientific Council will be the ERC's independent governing body whose
role will be to determine the scientific strategy and ensure that its
operations are conducted according to the requirements of scientific
excellence. Its members will act in a personal capacity and be collectively
responsible for all aspects of implementation and programme execution, such
as implementing the peer review and selection process and ensuring financial
and scientific management of the grants.

The legal structure that will deliver the ERC programmes is still being
debated. It may take the form of either an Executive Agency located in
Brussels and controlled by the Commission or a European Agency of the
so-called Article 171 type (intergovernmental).

The 22 founding members of the Scientific Council are:

Dr. Claudio BORDIGNON (IT)
Professor Manuel CASTELLS (ES)
Prof. Dr. Paul J. CRUTZEN (NL)
Prof. Mathias DEWATRIPONT (BE)
Dr. Daniel ESTEVE (FR)
Prof. Pavel EXNER (CZ)
Prof. Dr. Hans-Joachim FREUND (DE)
Prof. Wendy HALL (UK)
Prof. Dr. Carl-Henrik HELDIN (SE)
Prof. Dr. Fotis C. KAFATOS (GR)
Prof. Dr. Michal KLEIBER (PL)
Prof. Norbert KROO (HU)
Prof. Maria Teresa V.T. LAGO (PT)
Dr. Oscar MARIN PARRA (ES)
Prof Robert MAY (UK)
Prof. Helga NOWOTNY (AT),
Prof. Christiane NÜSSLEIN-VOLHARD (DE)
Dr. Leena PELTONEN-PALOTIE (FI)
Prof. Alain PEYRAUBE (FR)
Dr. Jens R. ROSTRUP-NIELSEN (DK)
Prof. Salvatore SETTIS (IT)
Prof. Dr.med. Rolf M. ZINKERNAGEL (CH)

Further information:

ERC IC Interim Report
(Pdf file):

ERC IC Final Report
(Pdf file):

Biographies of ERC Scientific Council members
(Pdf file)

EC press release announcing the nomination of the ERC Scientific Council
(Pdf file)