The AERG (Association of ERC Grantees) strongly supports the Draghi report’s proposal to create EU Chairs, managed by the ERC, to attract world-class scholars to Europe (Proposal 3c).
As the Draghi report states, although the ERC currently funds frontier research projects led by top researchers, EU Chairs also aim at transforming institutions.
International instability is such that many world-class scholars might be motivated to establish themselves in Europe. Europe would make important contributions to science and advance its own strategic autonomy by giving these scholars the ability to apply for EU Chairs.
With appropriate implementation, the creation of EU Chairs will be an extraordinary contribution to European scholarship and society. It will also extend and reinforce the EU’s research, education, and innovation systems. AERG welcomes the proposed role of the ERC in the EU Chairs. The excellence-based philosophy and the bottom-up approach that have become a hallmark of the ERC will be key components in the success of the EU Chair programme.