On June 16, the President of the European Research Council (ERC), Professor Maria Leptin, visited campus Woudestein. During the meeting with our academic community, everyone agreed on how important transdisciplinary collaboration is in the search for solutions to the world's most pressing problems.
During an extensive program, Professor Leptin met with the Executive Board, a delegation from the Ministry of Education and Science, and representatives from Convergence. She also had the opportunity to meet EUR laureates of the prestigious ERC grants, examples of the excellent research at our university. Eveline Crone, Professor of Developmental Neuroscience in Society and also Vice-Chair of the ERC, shared how important this council is for funding excellent research.
Rector Annelien Bredenoord: "Professor Leptin's visit today brought together a very special community. We could very well show her how the cocktail of our Recognition and Rewards policy, our Diversity and Inclusion programme and Open & Responsible Science initiative helps Erasmus University Rotterdam to be successful."
Quality of the academic environment
A key topic during the joint sessions was the pioneering approach to recognizing and rewarding academics within our university. This is done by offering differentiated career paths and flexibility, where individual talents and team science come together without losing our excellence in research, teaching and impact.
Professor Leptin emphasized the importance of the social sciences and humanities in groundbreaking and transdisciplinary research on global problems. She also exchanged views with our community on key incentives for the development of successful research environments that she noted at our university: an international academic community, a strong diversity and inclusion policy, which creates space for a wide range of research.
Convergence and collaboration
In addition, Professor Leptin got a good impression of Convergence, the partnership between Erasmus University Rotterdam, Erasmus MC and TU Delft. It builds bridges between the medical, technical, social sciences and humanities in four transdisciplinary programs: Resilient Delta, Health & Technology, Healthy Start and Pandemic and Disaster Preparedness. Together, they are seeking solutions to the most pressing world problems.
"I was very impressed with the young scientists I met today. It’s good to see this generation getting this support, environment and freedom to excel. I loved seeing how fundamental science is integrated into a broader vision here. The Convergence is a fantastic idea and unique opportunity. I am very curious to see how it will develop," Professor Leptin commented after the programme.
"The European Research Council is a very important tool for European and Dutch science. Today we have shown how their task strengthens our societal impact. In short: this was a very successful visit," President of the Executive Board Ed Brinksma concludes.
- More information
Visit also the website of the European Research Council (ERC).
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