The European Research Council opened its doors on 1 January as Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker stepped into his new post of Secretary General.
Winnacker: looking to develop Europe's talent. Picture courtesy DFG.
The former president of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation, DFG) will hold the position for two-and-a-half years, with a brief to develop Europe’s best young scientific talent by awarding long-term grants to individual researchers, rather than to institutions.
The ERC, created as part of the Seventh Research Framework Programme, is an independent organisation led by scientists. It has a budget of about €7.5 billion over the next seven years.
Winnacker is succeeded at the DFG by engineering scientist Matthias Kleiner.
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