Image: European Research Council
Commission president joins mourning for Theodore Papazoglou, who led European Research Council unit
Theodore Papazoglou, who led a unit of the European Research Council Executive Agency responsible for administering ERC grants, has died after contracting Covid-19.
Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Twitter on 13 April that she was “extremely sad to announce the passing away yesterday of a devoted Commission member of staff, who had fallen ill to Covid-19”, offering her condolences to Papazoglou’s family.
R&D commissioner Mariya Gabriel said it was an “immense loss”, and that Papazoglou had been “a pillar of ERCEA [the ERC Executive Agency] having been there since the start”.
In a statement, a Commission spokesperson said that Papazoglou “was a distinguished scientist with a long and successful career in the EU institutions” and offered “deepest condolences”.
Before joining ERCEA, Papazoglou worked at the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser of the Foundation for Research and Technology in Hellas, Greece, having carried out postdoctoral training in the United States. His most recent published papers included one on the information systems of research funders in the era of big data.