Researchers from all over Europe are calling for signing a petition for the protection of funding of the European Research Council (ERC) under the new multi-annual budget of the European Union. The Polish Academy of Sciences, the Foundation for Polish Science (FNP) and the University of Warsaw joined the initiative in Poland.

The events of recent months related to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic have more clearly than ever demonstrated how important high-quality scientific research is in the modern world. That is why outstanding scientists from all over Europe, including Nobel Prize winners, initiated the Friends of the ERC initiative, bringing together scientists and research centers from eight countries. They petitioned for adequate funding for research, including ERC, which is funding groundbreaking basic research.

Supporting the initiative, Prof. Maciej Żylicz, president of FNP, wrote that “in the face of so many challenges facing the world today – a climate crisis, demographic problems or an ongoing pandemic, ERC activities will take into account both the social and economic perspective of these difficulties and contribute to working out tools to deal with problems. “