5 Years of Excellent IDEAS
ERC Conference
By invitation only
Set up by the European Union in 2007, the European Research Council (ERC) is celebrating in 2012 its fifth anniversary. These five years of successful operations, groundbreaking discoveries and new opportunities for top researchers will be commemorated in Brussels on 29 February and 1 March 2012 with an event entitled “5 Years of Excellent IDEAS”.
The overarching theme is to look at the achievements of the ERC - the first pan-European funding body supporting frontier research on the basis of excellence. The event will feature scientific projects of its grant holders. It will also be an occasion for an exchange of views with policy-makers, scientific organisations and ERC counterparts from other parts of the world.
The event will be opened by Helga Nowotny, ERC President, and by the European Commission President Barroso (by video message). It will consist of a conference and of a celebrative part:
- the conference will be held on the afternoon of 29 February (including a round-table discussion with representatives of the NSF and of other funding agencies from other continents) and on the morning of 1st March (with scientific presentations by ERC grant holders from different scientific areas)
- the celebrations will take place on the evening of 29 February, with the participation of high-level representatives from EU institutions, ERC founding fathers and researchers demonstrating their striking ERC projects.
Programme
Wednesday 29 February
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14:15 - 15:00 |
Registration |
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15:00 - 15:30 |
Opening address by Helga Nowotny, ERC President Video message by José Manuel Barroso, European Commission President |
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15:30 - 15:50 |
The "genesis" of the ERC: Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker, former ERC Secretary General, and William Cannell, Adviser to the Director General, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission | |
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15:50 - 17:30
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Round-table discussion: "Excellence and brain circulation in the global scientific landscape" Moderator: Donald Dingwell, ERC Secretary General
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17:30 - 18:00 |
Coffee break |
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17:30 - 18:00 |
Press point (for journalists only) | |
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18:00 - 20:30 |
Evening Celebration Evening celebrations with the participation of Máire Geoghegan-Quinn European Commissioner for Research and Innovation, Morten Østergaard, Danish Minister for Research, Innovation and Higher Education, and Amalia Sartori, Chair, ITRE Committee, European Parliament and Helga Nowotny, ERC President. Moderation: Jack Metthey, Director, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission, and Alex Taylor, journalist. Presentations by 5 ERC grant holders to celebrate 5 years of ERC:
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20:30 - 22:00 |
Cocktail dînatoire |
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Thursday 1 March
Press Materials
- Press conference and interview opportunities on 29 February at 17:30 (Chaplin lobby)
- Scientific sessions with top scientists working on e.g. climate change, epidemiology, astronomy, demography or online communication
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Evening celebration with scientific demonstrations (+ photo and filming opportunities)
- Press Release: The ERC marks 5 years of funding to over 2,500 top researchers
- Fact sheets on ERC projects from grantees attending the event
- ERC in a nutshell
- Video message of Commission President, José Manuel BARROSO (Text - VIDEO)
- Opening address of ERC President, Helga NOWOTNY (Text - VIDEO)
- Speech of EU Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Máire GEOGHEGAN-QUINN (Full text - VIDEO (of highlights of speech))
- Speech of Danish Minister for Science, Innovation and Higher Education, Morten ØSTERGAARD (Text)
- Speech of Chairwoman of the European Parliament's ITRE Committee, Amalia SARTORI (Text)
- Closing speech of the Commission's Director General for Research and Innovation, Robert-Jan SMITS (Text)
- Photos (coverage by EbS)
- Event press coverage
