Academia rallies round ERC over president’s forced resignation

Research leaders reaffirm importance of funder’s bottom-up method, which frustrated ousted head

Leaders of Europe’s top research organisations have given their wholehearted support to the European Research Council’s governing Scientific Council, after the group of scientists asked the flagship funder’s president Mauro Ferrari to resign over his alleged conduct during his short term in office.

Ferrari (pictured) resigned in very public fashion on 7 April, effective immediately, having served just over three months of what should have been a four-year term. Both Ferrari and the council have said he wanted to set up a special ERC funding pot for research into the Covid-19 pandemic, which would have been outside the ERC’s remit as a funder of projects proposed by researchers through open calls.