"Widening European Participation in all sectors of the European research landscape is obviously of prime concern to Academia Europaea as a pan-European academy."
Sierd Cloetingh, President of Academia Europaea
"We share this priority with the Young Academy of Europe, with COST and with the European Research Council (ERC) where our Board member Professor Eva Kondorosi is serving as the Chair of the ERC working group on Widening European Participation in the ERC. As a result of the efforts of this working group up till now 6 EU13 member states have agreed to allocate national funding for ERC Visiting Research Fellowships. This scheme will enable researchers from these countries to spend up till 6 months for conducting research in an ERC funded research team located in another EU member state or Associated Country, likely enhancing their competitiveness in applying for ERC grants.
During the forthcoming Estonian Presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2017 the theme "Spreading excellence for a better world" will be a central topic. Also in this context, widening European participation in all sectors of the European research landscape can be considered to be of great relevance for a better world, and for Europe at large in particular. This topic will also receive considerable attention at our next Academia Europaea annual meeting, jointly organized with ALLEA and the Young Academy of Europe, to take place on 4-7 September 2017 in Budapest on the theme "Sustainability and Resilience"."