Today marks the first meeting and official start of the newly constituted expert group entrusted to support the interim evaluation of the Horizon Europe programme.
Chaired by Manuel Heitor, Professor at Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, the group brings together experts from across the EU working on a wide variety of fields, which will provide valuable advice on the state of Research & Innovation (R&I) in the EU.
Meet the members
From a pool of 359 applications, the following 15 experts were carefully selected, reflecting a commitment to diversity, encompassing valuable framework programme-related expertise and ensuring a balance in gender, age, and geographical representation:
- Manuel Heitor – Professor at Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon
- Conny Aerts – Recipient of the 2022 Kavli Prize in Astrophysics
- Anders Bjarklev – President, Technical University of Denmark
- Annelien Bredenoord – Rector Magnificus, Erasmus University Rotterdam
- Maria Chiara Carrozza – President, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
- Dessislava Dimitrova – CEO, Bio Stopanstvo Lopyanko
- Heinz Fassmann – President, Austrian Academy of Sciences
- Mark Ferguson – Chair of the board, SoilSteam AS Norway
- Agrita Kiopa – Vice Rector for Research, Riga Stradinš University
- Kaia Palm – CEO, Protobios
- Adam Piotrowski – President of the board, Vigo Photonics
- Isabelle Ryl – Director, Paris Artificial Intelligence Research Institute
- Georg Schütte – Secretary-General, Volkswagen Foundation
- Sylvia Schwaag Serger – Chair of the Scientific Council, Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development
- Antti Vasara – President & CEO, VTT, Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd.
Next steps
The Group, which will meet monthly between January and October 2024, will complement the interim evaluation of Horizon Europe with expert advice. Amongst their deliverables, they will produce a report on how the EU Framework Programme for R&I can continue to add value for the remainder of Horizon Europe and in the future.
The Group’s report is expected to contain both strategic advice and concrete suggestions on how the programme can stay flexible to changing needs, and how it can stay attractive to researchers and innovators from the EU and beyond.
Quotes
Iliana Ivanova, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said:
“The new group brings together a diverse range of experts with a wealth of experience. I look forward to their advice on enhancing our research and innovation programme to remain appealing and adaptive, ensuring it effectively responds to new challenges and delivers real-world impact for our citizens”.
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Press contact:
EC Spokesperson for Research, Science and Innovation
