The European Research Council at Annual meeting of the New Champions 2013 "Summer Davos", World Economic Forum 11-13 September 2013, Dalian, China (Dalian International Conference Centre, DICC) ERC speakers: Prof. Dr Helga Nowotny, European Research Council (ERC) President (lead); Vienna Science and Technology Fund Sir Tim Hunt, Nobel Laureate for Physiology or Medicine (2001); Principal scientist, Cancer Research UK; ERC Scientific Council member Prof. Alain Peyraube, Research Director, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CRNS, Paris); ERC Scientific Council member Prof. Dr. Peter Zoller, Wolf Prize Winner in Physics (2013); Professor, Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Innsbruck, Austria; ERC Synergy Grant holder Prof. Nicole Grobert, Professor of Nanomaterials, University of Oxford; ERC Starting Grant holder Prof. Valeria Nicolosi, Professor, School of Chemistry, School of Physics & CRANN, Trinity College Dublin; ERC Starting Grant holder Prof. Jeremy O Brien, Professor of Physics & Electrical Engineering and Director, Centre for Quantum Photonics, University of Bristol, UK; ERC Starting Grant holder Dr. Hele Savin, Assistant Professor, Micro & Nanosciences Department, Aalto University, Finland; ERC Starting Grant holder Prof. Wilfried Weber, Professor of Synthetic Biology, Albert-Ludwigs Universität, Freiburg, Germany; ERC Starting Grant holder Below is an overview of the sessions organised during the Annual meeting in which the nine ERC speakers will participate either as panellists, facilitators or discussion leaders. Several sessions will be open to the reporting press. As the programme may still change, please also consult the WEF official programme. ERC Press contact: Madeleine Drielsma; mobile: +32 498 98 43 97 (madeleine.drielsma@ec.europa.eu) ERC Coordination: Sabine Simmross; mobile: +32 498 98 87 20 (sabine.simmross@ec.europa.eu)
Wednesday 11 September 2013 Global Agenda of Science, Technology and Innovation: Setting priorities - closed session (19:00-21:00) How can leaders in business, policy, civil society and academia collectively harness science, technology and innovation to address global challenges? ERC President Helga Nowotny is amongst the speakers. Thursday 12 September 2013 ** ERC Press conference ** The European Research Council - from frontier research to innovation (10:00-10:30, DICC, Press conference room; simultaneous interpretation in English & Mandarin Chinese) As Europe's first funding body for pioneering excellent science through frontier research, the European Research Council (ERC) has radically changed Europe's research landscape and is rapidly becoming a global player. Leading ERC personalities - President Helga Nowotny, Nobel laureate Sir Tim Hunt and sinologist Alain Peyraube speak about how funding excellent frontier research today will spur tomorrow's innovations. They will also discuss possible synergies with Asia. Europe welcomes scientific exchange and talent. Six outstanding ERC grantees, who are all speakers at the Dalian meeting, will also be present. Prof. Helga Nowotny, ERC President Sir Tim Hunt, ERC Scientific Council member Prof. Alain Peyraube, ERC Scientific Council member To schedule interviews with ERC speakers or grantees, please contact Madeleine Drielsma, ERC Press Advisor (madeleine.drielsma@ec.europa.e; tel +32 498 98 43 97) Transforming Education Models (10:30-11:15, DICC, Room Geneva, simultaneous interpretation in English, Mandarin Chinese & Open to reporting press Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Sir Tim Hunt shares his insights into how to build science education models to foster innovation. Sir Tim Hunt Adrian Monck, Managing Director, Head of Communications and Media, WEF 2
IdeasLab: Transformative Science with Nature Magazine (11:45-13:00, DICC, Room IdeasLab 1; simultaneous interpretation in English & Mandarin Chinese) How are breakthroughs in science transforming the world? Discover and debate in the IdeasLab: Idea 1: The technology diet Idea 2: New Quantum Frontiers Idea 3: The Impact of Network Science Idea 3: The future of quantum technologies Albert- Laszlo Barabasi, Director for Complex Network Research (CCNR) Jeremy O Brien, ERC grantee Peter Zoller, ERC grantee Daphne Bavalier, Professor, University of Geneva Philip Campbell, Editor-in-Chief, Nature Magazine, UK Building the Innovation Ecosystem (14:00-15:00, DICC, Room Davos; simultaneous interpretation in English, Mandarin Chinese & This session is on the record and webcast live How can organisation catalyse breakthrough innovations? Dimensions to be addressed: Supporting interdisciplinary and global partnerships Balancing basic and applied research needs Developing new criteria to evaluate funding Rethinking the role of government and industry Marina Gorbis, Executive Director, Institute for the Future (IFTF) Zhang Laiwu, Vice-Minister, Ministry of Science & Technology of the People s Republic of China Avi Hasson, Chief Scientist, Director-General, Innovation and Industrial Research & Development, Israel Ministry of Economy Mauro dell Ambrogio, State Secretary for Education and Research and Innovation, SERI Helga Nowotny, ERC President Tan Chorh-Chuan, President, National University of Singapore 3
China s cultural legacy (15:45-16:45, DICC, Room Geneva, simultaneous interpretation in English, Mandarin Chinese & How will Chinese thinking influence the world? Dimensions to be addressed: Questioning the status quo of international norms Contributing to global thought leadership Shaping societal aspirations through the "Chinese dream" Weiming Tu, Professor of Philosophy and Director, Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies, Peking University Gao Xiang, Secretary-General, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) Mark Pagel, Evolutionary Theorist, University of Reading Alain Peyraube, ERC Scientific Council member David Schlesinger, Honorary Fellow, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford Ideas Lab: The materials of the future with the European Research Council (17:00-18:15, DICC, Room IdeasLab 2, Simultaneous interpretation in English & Mandarin Chinese) How are advances in material sciences transforming industries and improving lives? Discover and debate in the IdeasLab: Idea 1: large scale production of high-quality nano-materials Idea 2: next generation two-dimensional nano-materials Idea 3: computing biomaterials to transform biomedical engineering Idea 4: using nanotechnology to manufacture a solar revolution Nicole Grobert, ERC grantee Valeria Nicolosi, ERC grantee Wilfried Weber, ERC grantee Hele Savin, ERC grantee Introduction by ERC President Helga Nowotny Facilitator: Philipp Campbell, Editor-in-Chief, Nature Magazine, UK 4
The Eureka Effect (17:15-18:15, DICC, Room Geneva, simultaneous interpretation in English, Mandarin Chinese & What inspires leaders to take the risks necessary to achieve their life's ambition? Romero Britto, Artist & President, Britto Central, USA Andrea Illy, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, illycaffè, Italy; Mentor of the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2013 Jin Xing, Choreographer & Owner, Shanghai Jin Xing Dance Theatre Lanre Messan Chief Innovation Officer, Infinite Impact Ltd Peter Zoller, ERC grantee Rapporteur: Mariette DiChristina, Editor-in-Chief, Scientific American, USA Lanre Messan, Chief Innovation Officer, Infinite Impact, Nigeria Friday 13 September 2013 Learning creativity (09:00-10:00, DICC, Room Geneva, simultaneous interpretation in English, Mandarin Chinese & Can creativity be taught? Sir Tim Hunt, ERC Scientific Council member Anant Agarwal, President edx Anthony Lo, Vice-President, Exterior Design & Concept Cars, Renault Nissan BV Yao Lu, Artist and Associate Professor of Photography, Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) Linda Yeah, Chief Business Correspondent, BBC World News A quantum leap in quantum information (10:30-11:15, DICC, Room Studio) Speaker: Wolf Prize Winner in Physics Peter Zoller uncovers ground-breaking discoveries in the prospering, interdisciplinary field of quantum information Peter Zoller, ERC grantee 5
European Research Council (ERC) Set up in 2007 by the European Union, the ERC aims to stimulate scientific excellence in Europe by encouraging competition for funding between the very best, creative researchers of any nationality and age. Since its launch, the ERC has awarded over 6 billion (ca. 50 billion yuan) to more than 3,800 top scientists - both early-career and senior - performing pioneering research in Europe. The ERC, part of the EU's Seventh Research Framework Programme, has a total budget of 7.5 billion (ca. 62 billion yuan) from 2007 to 2013. Its budget will nearly double during the coming seven year period. The ERC funds leading researchers, and their innovative ideas, with up to 3.5 million (ca.29 million yuan) per grant. It has adopted an 'investigator-driven', 'bottom-up' approach, which allows researchers to identify new opportunities in any field of research. There are three core ERC grant schemes: 'Starting Grants', targeted at early-career emerging research leaders; 'Consolidator Grants', aimed at already independent excellent researchers; and 'Advanced Grants', supporting top senior researchers. The ERC, based in Brussels in Belgium, is composed of an Executive Agency and a Scientific Council. The latter sets the ERC scientific strategy and consists of 22 top scientists and scholars. The ERC is led by President Prof. Helga Nowotny. The ERC participates in the Annual Meeting of the New Champions, organised by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Dalian, China, 11-13 September 2013. For the second time, the ERC participates in this meeting, dubbed Summer Davos, yet this time with a substantially increased presence. The ERC was also present in the WEF forum in Davos in January 2013. Links ERC website http://erc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/content/pages/pdf/erc_goes_global_agenda_china_s ept2013.pdf ERC WEF Dalian speakers' biographies http://erc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/content/pages/pdf/erc_speakers_at WEF- Dalian_2013.pdf ERC Press contact Madeleine Drielsma Press and Communication advisor ERC Brussels, Belgium Mobile: +32 (0) 498 98 43 97 Phone: +32 (0) 2 298 76 31 madeleine.drielsma@ec.europa.eu 6