KU Leuven astronomer Conny Aerts to play key role in development of Horizon Europe successor

The next European framework programme for research and innovation – dubbed ‘FP10’ – will not be launched until 2028, but the European Commission has already set to work on its foundations.

Results of the evaluation of H2020 and the mid-term evaluation of Horizon Europe will feed into the discussions on FP10, as will other input from stakeholders inside and outside EU institutions. KU Leuven closely monitors every step of the process to give feedback to the European Commission whenever possible to defend the interests of our researchers. Our input is reflected in position papers published by LERU, CESAER, Coimbra and EUA, among others, and in the Flemish reflection paper on FP10 by EWI.  

The collected input from various stakeholders will be the starting point for the new high-level expert group for which Professor Conny Aerts was selected. The group is informally called 'the new Lamy Group', after Pascal Lamy, who chaired the expert group on Horizon Europe. It will deliver a report on what FP10 should look like.

The group comprises experts from academia, industry, and civil society, and the European Commission has strived for gender, age, and geographical balance. Members were selected after a public call for expression of interest that yielded 359 applications, followed by a thorough screening process. Conny Aerts will join the expert group in her personal capacity. 

"It is an honour for our University to have Conny Aerts on this high-level expert group. As a 2022 Kavli Prize winner and 2022 ERC Synergy Grant holder with ample policy experience, she is a perfect group member. The membership of Conny Aerts will boost the visibility of KU Leuven and strengthen our position at the European level. I am very grateful to Conny for her willingness to take on this important role despite her very busy schedule, and I look forward to the report of the expert group." said Jan D'hooge, Vice Rector for Research Policy at KU Leuven

This article was first published on 5 December by KU Leuven.