The 67th plenary meeting of the governing body of the European Research Council (ERC), the Scientific Council, will take place in Heraklion, Crete, Greece, on October 15-17, 2018. Τhe Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas is the host of this meeting, which is the second to take place in Greece. ERC PresidentProf. Jean-Pierre Bourguignon has visited Greece and FORTH in September 2017, for a series of meetings with ERC Grantees.

The ERC was set up by the EU in 2007 to fund excellentscientists and their most creative ideas. With a budget of over €13 billion for the period 2014 – 2020, ERC supports cutting-edge research, solely on the basis of scientific excellence, in all areas of research and technology. Since 2007, ERC has funded over 8,500 research projects, 49 of which in Greece, and 16 hosted at FORTH (around €27 million total budget). Today, ERC is a key component of Horizon 2020, the EU’s programme for Research and Innovation.

On the initiative of FORTH Chairman of the Board of Directors Prof. Nektarios Tavernarakis, also a member of the ERC Scientific Council, the 1^st International Conference of Greek ERC Grantees is being organized and will be held at FORTH, during the same dates. The organizers of the Conference are Dr. Panayiota Poirazi, Dr. Petros Rakitzis and Dr. Marinos Sariyannis, ERC grantees at FORTH. The Conference will be open to the scientific community. Welcome speeches will be addressed by the ERC President Prof. Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, the Alternate Minister for Research and Innovation Prof. Costas Fotakis, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of FORTH Prof. Nektarios Tavernarakis. The Conference Programme includes presentations by ERC Scientific Council Members and 36 ERC Grantees, who will present their funded research projects and work. Round Tables with ERC Scientific Council members have also been scheduled, offering the opportunity for interaction with the ERC Grantees.