Event Info ABSTRACT When the European Research Council (ERC), was set up in 2007 with the aim to become a world-class funding agency for basic research, the scientific strategy was entrusted to twenty-two independent scientists. Nobody knew whether we would achieve our ambition.Today, the ERC is widely acknowledged as unique success story. I will reflect on my experience by putting the following issues into a general science policy context: - What does frontier research mean for innovation? - How can a peer-review system for scientific excellence accommodate interdisciplinary research? - Funding the social sciences & humanities: is it an issue? - Excellence attracts excellence: intended and unintended Consequences - What to fund: follow the scientists or the policy-makers? My argument is for recognizing the importance of the radical openness of science for the future, while emphasizing the equally important task of opening science towards society. Registration for this event has closed. |