On 13 April, the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research is hosting an event in Paris - “La France au cœur de la recherche d’excellence: 1500 lauréats du Conseil européen de la recherche“ - to celebrate a significant milestone. With 1500 ERC grantees in France, the event will shine a light on French research and the achievements of some of these grantees.

There will be speeches by Minister of Higher Education and Research of France Sylvie Retailleau, ERC President Maria Leptin, ERC Executive Agency Director Laurence Moreau, as well as a video message by Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Mariya Gabriel.

Former ERC President Jean-Pierre Bourguignon will moderate a discussion about the ERC’s role in advancing major scientific breakthroughs with ERC grantees, including 2022 Physics Nobel laureate Alain Aspect. In addition, several grantees will make short presentations on their ERC projects. Numerous esteemed speakers from different research institutions will discuss the place for exploratory research in a changing world.

See also portraits of ERC grantees

The event is open to the media.

For media inquiries, please contact ERC-Press@ec.europa.eu.

In the context of the celebration on 13 April organised by the Ministry, two technical seminars will take place in parallel. One is gathering ERC grantees for an exchange and networking training session with some ERC Executive Agency staff on 14 April. Such gatherings with grantees have been organised by the ERC Executive Agency across Europe in the past, including in France. They serve to address effective management of high-level research projects and to create synergies between research projects for ERC grantees. On the 13 April, another seminar will bring together the administrations of French institutions that host ERC grants.