Press Release: Experts support the creation of a European Research Council

A high-level expert group set up by the European Commission to examine the likely impact of a European Research Council put forward a report entitled 'Frontier Research: The European Challenge' on 21 April 2005. The group, chaired by William C. Harris of the Science Foundation Ireland, and composed of eminent scientists, research managers and economists from Europe and the United States found that a pan-European mechanism funding frontier research would have a major effect on the level of excellence of research in Europe. This report came only a short time after the European Commission's proposal for such a mechanism as part of its proposals for the 2007-2013 Framework Programme for Research and Development.