Press Releases

On behalf of the Government and the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr Nikos Christodoulides, it is a great pleasure to welcome the President of the European Research Council (ERC), Professor Maria Leptin, to our country. We are deeply honoured by her visit, and we thank Professor Leptin for taking the time to join us in Cyprus. This visit signifies the European Research Council’s commitment to strengthening ties and fostering collaboration across Europe’s research community.

The ERC is the principal funding mechanism for ground-breaking, top-quality research in Europe, having, since its inception in 2007, supported over 13.000 exceptional researchers across all career stages and scientific disciplines. 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 Horizon Europe 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 programmes, as well as support tools and services.

We are grateful for Professor 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.

Once again, Professor Leptin, Dear Maria, thank you for your visit and we look forward to working together to further advance scientific excellence and amplify its positive impact in Cyprus, and in Europe. We hope to be able to host you again soon.

(MS)