Marc Schiltz, Secretary General and Executive Head of the FNR, has been elected President of Science Europe, an association of major European research funding and research performing organisations. The FNR has been an active member and a strong supporter of Science Europe since its creation in 2011.
Following an election at the Science Europe General Assembly meeting in Brussels on 30 November, Marc Schiltz takes over as President of Science Europe for the next two years. He had previously served as a member of the Science Europe Governing Board since 2015.
“Above anything, this election is a strong sign of recognition for the FNR on an international level. The whole FNR team, together with its Governing Board and Scientific Council, follows a strict quality and excellence approach, which is now rewarded on the highest European level. This is mainly thanks to the FNR collaborators, who every day work towards positioning the FNR at the heart of the strategic centre of research, both nationally and internationally. It is also a strong sign of recognition for Luxembourg research in general. In less than 25 years, we have managed to develop a research landscape, which is fully capable of fulfilling its role on the international stage.” – Marc Schiltz
Schiltz takes over the presidency from Michael Matlosz, who was President of the organisation from 2015 to 2017. Matlosz is confident that the association is in good hands: “Marc Schiltz has been a very supportive and constructive voice in the past years, and he is the right person to help Science Europe tackle the challenges in the continuing development of the European Research Area in the next several years. It has been my pleasure working with him as President of Science Europe and I wish both him and the organisation the very best.”
The election of Marc Schiltz as President of Science Europe also secures him a seat on the Governing Board of the Global Research Council, which brings together leading global figures from the areas science and engineering science. With Marc Schiltz at the head of Science Europe and Rolf Tarrach (former President of the University of Luxembourg) elected as President of the European University Association (EUA) in 2015, Luxembourg is now well represented in the two biggest research and higher education associations in Europe.
About Science Europe
Science Europe is an association of 43 major European research funding and research performing organisations in 27 countries, with a combined annual investment in public research of around 18 BEUR. It was established in 2011 to promote the collective interests of its members and to foster collaboration between them.
Marc Schiltz is enthusiastic about leading the Governing board that will steward the Science Europe in its next phase of development: “I believe that Science Europe holds great potential for shaping the future of European research. It is the forum where the most important research funding and research performing organisations join forces. Their collaboration can impact the future of research in Europe in a way that no single organisation would be able to achieve on its own.”
Vice President and Governing Board
The members of Science Europe also elected Ingrid Petersson, Director-General of the Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development (FORMAS), for a second term as Vice-President and voted a new Governing Board into place. The Governing Board and Presidency will set the strategic agenda for the association during the next two years. The new Governing Board consists of:
- Marc Schiltz, Luxembourg National Research Fund (President)
- Ingrid Petersson, Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development (Vice-President)
- Zbigniew Błocki, National Science Centre, Poland
- Wolfgang Ertmer, German Research Foundation
- Fernando Ferroni, National Institute for Nuclear Physics, Italy
- Stan Gielen, Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research
- József Györkös, Slovenian Research Agency
- Angelika Kalt, Swiss National Science Foundation
- Andres Koppel, Estonian Research Council
- László Lovász, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
- Andrew Thompson, Arts and Humanities Research Council, UK