Pär Omling, former director general of the Swedish Research Council, has been elected president of the European Science Foundation. The ESF also appointed Martin Hynes, executive director of the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology, as the foundation’s chief executive. Omling will take over from Ian Halliday, and Hynes from Marja Makarow; both will start their three-year terms on 1 January 2012.