Ίδρυμα Έρευνας και Καινοτομίας/Research and Innovation Foundation reposted this
The Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, Nicodemos Damianou, PhD, together with the Minister of Education, Sports and Youth, Dr Athena Michaelidou, the Deputy Minister to the President, Irene Piki, the Chief Scientist for Research, #Innovation and #Technology, Demetris Skourides, and the Director General of the Ίδρυμα Έρευνας και Καινοτομίας/Research and Innovation Foundation, Theodoros Loukaidis, met today at the Presidential Palace, with the President of the European Research Council (ERC), Professor Maria Leptin. In his statements, the Minister welcomed Professor Leptin to #Cyprus, adding👇 "This visit signifies the European Research Council’s commitment to strengthening ties and fostering collaboration across #Europe’s #research community. During Professor Leptin’s visit, we had a chance to exchange views, together with key stakeholders of the Cyprus scientific community, and engage into meaningful discussions and deliberations on fostering research excellence, overcoming challenges and leveraging on funding opportunities and tools. The Cyprus research and innovation ecosystem has grown steadily over the past few years, moving from a state of infancy to now being included amongst Europe’s Strong Innovators. Excellence in research is on the rise, evidenced among others by the 32 ERC Grants secured so far -7 of which in the past 3 years-, while our overall engagement in #HorizonEurope has been very promising, and on the right track to reach €500m by 2027. Our policies and efforts focus largely on strengthening our ecosystem’s capacity and its extrovert nature, and enabling our research community to engage further through funding programs, as well as support tools and services. We are grateful for Prof Leptin’s insightful views and directions on how to grow and steer our ecosystem to achieve better results. The passion and dedication of our researchers, scientists and innovators, are key drivers of the important progress of our ecosystem. As Government, we are committed to maintaining an environment that is conducive to research and innovation, and we look forward to working together to further advance scientific #excellence and amplify its positive impact in Cyprus, and in Europe." Nikos Christodoulides Konstantinos Letymbiotis
