The European Research Council is working hard to find its place in an EU discourse driven by economic impact
From left to right: Robbert Dijkgraaf, former Dutch minister of education, culture and science; Jean-François van Boxmeer, chair of the European Roundtable of Industry; Susanne Beckers, artificial intelligence strategy director at SAP; Luis Serrano Pubul, director of the Centre for Genomic Regulation Barcelona; Marcus Schindler, chief scientific officer and executive vice-president at Novo Nordisk; and Jeremy O'Brien, CEO and co-founder of PsiQuantum. Photo credits: ERCEA 2025
As the EU’s champion of basic, curiosity-driven research, the European Research Council (ERC) is struggling to find its place in a policy discourse dominated by competitiveness. So, on April 10, it brought together Nobel prize winners and industry leaders, amongst others, for a high-level event in Brussels to discuss how innovation is built on basic research.
“Scientific breakthroughs, real innovation, and building a sustainable society in the future, indeed, start at the bottom,” said Ben Feringa, a professor at the University of Groningen and Nobel prize laureate in chemistry. “It needs creativity and imagination, education, excellent basic research, [and] the training of young scientists.”
“Industry was born out of science and not the other way around,” said Jean-François van Boxmeer, the chair of the European Roundtable of…
Discover the latest in research funding every Tuesday with Funding Newswire. Dive into detailed articles with our monthly or yearly subscriptions or start with a free trial
NOTE: if you're a part of one of our Network member organisations, you get free access by signing up with your institutional email. Verify your eligibility here.
Receive the Funding Newswire [full access requires a subscription] each Tuesday, our Policy Bulletin each Thursday, and news about bridging Europe’s east-west innovation gap twice a month in The Widening. 
A unique international forum for public research organisations and companies to connect their external engagement with strategic interests around their R&D system.