Passionate about fundamental research and human curiosity and creativity in all areas, my lab, EMBO (past director), ERC (current president). But family wins.

Joined February 2012
I strongly condemn Russia’s drone strike on the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kyiv. Science is about building the future, not destroying it. Our thoughts are with the victims, their families and the Ukrainian scientific community. Europe stands with Ukraine!
In broad daylight, Russia struck a building of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in the very heart of Kyiv. Tragically, there are reports of people killed and injured in the attack. There is no bottom to Russia’s cynicism. A scientific institution full of people in the middle of a working day has become another target of its terror. Russia is deliberately expanding the boundaries of what it believes the world will tolerate. Every attack left without a strong response only encourages the next one. Our partners have the means to change this calculation. Ukraine urgently needs more missile interceptors to protect our cities, tougher sanctions to deprive Russia of resources for its war, and stronger pressure on everyone who helps Moscow sustain its killing machine. Russia must learn that every attack has consequences. The price of attacking Ukrainian civilians must become unbearable for the aggressor. We also call upon @UNESCO – the Organization dedicated, among other things, to protecting science and the scientific community – to strip the aggressor state of its voice, voting rights and its eligibility for election to any governing or working bodies.
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Very informative and enlightening meeting indeed! We found it easy to agree on the value of fundamental research for society - whether for health, climate, societal cohesion, or even defense.
Very good meeting with @ERC_Research President @mleptin. 🇪🇺 is a skills and research powerhouse. At the @EIB Group we’re working alongside our partners to scale up support for trailblazing projects to reinforce Europe’s competitiveness and technological leadership.
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🇪🇺 “A greater share of the European budget needs to be devoted to advanced science and breakthrough innovations,” Jean Tirole, Nobel Prize winning economist and ERC grantee Read his topical interview in @LePoint ⬇️ lepoint.fr/economie/jean-tir… 🖊️@BeatriceParrino
🔴 EXCLUSIVE. « Europe is in danger of becoming an extra ». According to the Nobel Prize-winning economist Jean Tirole, #Europe needs to review its innovation policy, or it will disappear as a geopolitical player. An interview by @BeatriceParrino l.lepoint.fr/1uv
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📷 long time no post, I'm now on Bluesky. Some random pix from the last weeks (solar power station Sevilla, lemons from the garden, panel in Davos w @HengartnerMP @tegmark @ramin_m_h, great take-off in Zürich) for a farewell on X. Come and see me at marialep.bsky.social
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Wonderful news to end the year with: the agreement between the European Union and Switzerland, which includes Switzerland's association with Horizon Europe, has been signed! I look forward to welcoming our colleagues from Switzerland back into the ERC!
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Great new initiative. A win-win-win for our ERC grantees, the EU and our Brazilian partners. I hope that even more top scientific talent from Brazil will visit ERC teams in the coming years. #ERCworld
Great news for European and Brazilian researchers! A new 🇪🇺-🇧🇷 initiative will allow researchers in Brazil to spend 6-12 months with ERC grantees' teams in Europe. 
 🚀A boost for global scientific collaboration and frontier research. 
 👉 erc.europa.eu/news-events/ne…
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Congratulations to our new ERC Consolidator grantees! It remains a fact though that many excellent applicants couldn’t be funded due to lack of @ERC_research budget. This waste of talent can only be tackled by increasing the investment in blue sky research in Europe.
📢 Results of the 2024 ERC Consolidator Grant competition are out. €678 million for 328 researchers. Who won funding? What will they investigate? Where will they conduct their research? #ERCCoG news 👉 europa.eu/!gWqYfc 🇪🇺 @HorizonEU
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Congratulations! Much looking forward to the collaboration for a strong European research!
Today, the von der Leyen II Commission takes office for the next 5 years. We will work together for the prosperity and security of Europeans, always staying true to our values. Together, we know we can do it. Starting from the very first day!
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As always, the best thing about visiting member states are the meetings with the researchers. Here with ERC grantees and ERC panel members in Hungary. Lots of interesting feedback! Also with us: ERC Scientific Council member László Lovász, and ex-VP Éva Kondorosi.
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"Science is not complete until it is communicated!" Check out more thoughts on #scicom from researchers👇 These were proposed by jury members working on the ERC's 2024 Public Engagement with Research Award - we caught them on-the-hop, just before the award ceremony! #ERCengage
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Congratulations to @NicolaSpaldin (member of the @ERC_Research Scientific Council!) for winning the Best Teaching Award 2024 at @ETH! And congrats to @NicCantieni of @vseth for a brilliant speech in defense of free education and international engagement!
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"These are troubling and unpredictable times, but one thing is certain - investing in science today will secure tomorrow’s breakthroughs and drive long-term growth." Read the speech of ERC President Maria Leptin on her visit to Cyprus. erc.europa.eu/news-events/ne… 🇪🇺🇨🇾
🇨🇾🇪🇺 Focus on Cyprus: ERC President Maria Leptin is currently visiting the country. We caught up with ERC grantee Artemis Georgiou who returned from University of Oxford to University of Cyprus (@UCYofficial) Have a listen. @MSCActions
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Good meeting of representatives of the international research community with @cem_oezdemir today @Falling_Walls. Very convincing introduction as interim research minister @BMBF_Bund. Also there: @mpgpresident, @RHDijkgraaf, @RichardSocher, @Imp_Prov, @Georg_Schuette and many more
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‘Impact of the US Elections on Global Politics & Society’ 8 Nov 10AM Join debate with ERC grantee Michael Bruter, a #FallingWalls Winner in Social Sciences & Humanities. And with @SamihaShafy. Register to watch live: falling-walls.com/programme/… More from ERC bit.ly/ERCatFW2024
📆 Boosting Frontier Research: Europe’s Next Move Join us at #FallingWalls #ScienceSummit24 this Friday, 8 NOV at 9 AM for an in-depth discussion on Europe’s future in frontier research, supported by @ERC_Research . 📍 #Berlin | 🌍 Livestream available: falling-walls.com/programme/…
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📣 Results of the 2024 ERC Synergy Grant competition are out! 57 research groups won a total of €571 million in #ERCSyG funding, enabling them to pool diverse expertise & resources to push the frontiers of knowledge. 👉 europa.eu/!bmpNW9 🇪🇺#EUfunded #FrontierResearch
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Great to see excellent researchers engage with a broader public. This is recognised by today's awards for ERC grantees who have gone the extra mile, sharing their knowledge and passion beyond their own research environments, and interacting broadly in a range of ways.
💡Who won the 2024 ERC Public Engagement with Research Awards?🏆 We've just announced the names: bit.ly/3BRJNIK All the #ERCengage laureates in one thread🧵👇
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Brilliant example of communicating science also by touching, hearing and smelling! @LepperVerena inspires with her ERC-funded research on 4000 years of cultural history of the Elephantine island in the Nile. James-Simon-Galerie, Berlin: smb.museum/en/exhibitions/de… #ScienceDiplomacy
Eine Woche vor Abschluss der erfolgreichen Elephantine-Ausstellung führt Kuratorin @LepperVerena das Scientific Council des @ERC_Research durch die Ausstellung. Dank des ERC-Grants konnten die Elephantine-Texte digital erschlossen werden: smb.museum/museen-einrichtun…
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Warm congratulations to @CERN - 70 years of fundamental breakthrough research & scientific cooperation! “CERN is the living proof that science fosters innovation and that innovation fosters competitiveness” as @vonderLeyen beautifully put it.👇 ec.europa.eu/commission/pres… 🇪🇺 #CERN70
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For my Estonian ex-postdoc @jsuurvali from session with @ERC_Research grantees, hosted by Ambassador @helen_ee & Estonian Research Council head Anu Noorma, discussing how best support frontier science and increase national success in ERC grant competitions. They've got it right!
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