Commission appoints six top scientists and renews one to the governing body of the European Research Council

Today, the European Commission appointed six new members and renewed one current member of the Scientific Council, the governing body of the European Research Council (ERC). The new members will start their terms on 1 January 2026, replacing those whose second terms have ended. The initial term for the new appointees is four years, while the renewal extends one member's term by two years.

The six new ERC Scientific Council members are:

• Professor Eleftheria ZEGGINI, Institute of Translational Genomics, Helmholtz Zentrum Münchenand and TUM School of Medicine and Health. Her research focuses on translational genomics and precision medicine.
• Professor Emmanuelle CHARPENTIER, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020, Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens (MPUSP), Berlin, and Institute for Biology, Humboldt University (HU), Berlin. She is an expert on regulatory mechanisms that underlie the processes of infection and immunity in bacteria responsible for human diseases.
• Professor Karin ROELOFS, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Donders Institute (DI), Radboud University (RU), NL, and Department of Experimental Psychopathology and Treatment, Behavioural Science Institute (BSI), NL. Her pioneering work is related to understanding the neurocognitive mechanisms of emotion regulation and stress resilience, particularly the flexible control of emotional actions and the neural responses to stress and social motivational behavior.
• Professor Katerina KRALOVA, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Russian and East European Studies, Institute of International Studies, Charles University (CZ), Vienna Wiesenthal Institute (AT), Centre for the Transdisciplinary Research of Violence, Trauma and Justice, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University (CZ). Her research focuses on Jewish repatriation to Greece, Greece-German relations regarding reconciling with the Nazi past, and the post-war reconstruction of Jewish communities in Central, Southeast, and Eastern Europe.
• Professor Michel CAMPILLO, Institut de France, Académie des sciences, Université de Grenoble, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He works on processes responsible for earthquakes and on the seismic waves that reveal the structure of the Earth.
• Professor Susana NAROTZKY, Universitat de Barcelona, Facultat de Geografia i Història, Dept. Antropologia Cultural, Historia de Amèrica y de Àfrica. She is specialised in social reproduction processes, socioecological inequality being its fundamental concern.

In addition, the Commission renewed the term of office of one current member for an extended period of one year:

• Professor Giovanni SARTOR, University of Bologna and European University Institute of Florence. He is an expert in legal theory, logic, argumentation theory, modal and deontic logics, logic programming, multiagent systems, computer and Internet law, data protection, e-commerce, law and technology, aviation law, human rights.

Background

The European Research Council (ERC), set up by the European Union in 2007, awards grants through open competitions to projects headed by starting and established researchers, irrespective of their origins, who are working or moving to work in Europe. The sole criterion for selection is scientific excellence.

The Scientific Council, the independent governing body of the ERC, defines the ERC's scientific funding strategy and methodologies. It is composed of 22 members, all eminent scientists and scholars, who represent the scientific community in Europe and are appointed by the European Commission following recommendations by an independent Identification Committee .

The ERC President, since 2021 Prof. Maria Leptin, chairs the Scientific Council, ensures its leadership and represents the ERC.

More information

ERC press release

ERC funded projects

Professor Eleftheria Zeggini webpage

Professor Emmanuelle Charpentier webpage

Professor Karin Roelofs webpage

Professor Katerina Kralova webpage

Professor Michel Campillo webpage

Professor Susana Narotzky webpage