Brussels, 10 September 2022 (TDI): The European Union (EU) and Thailand signed a partnership to encourage research cooperation between Thai researchers and teams of the European Research Council (ERC).
European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education, and Youth, Mariya Gabriel tweeted that this new initiative with Thailand is a step to strengthen scientific collaboration between the EU and the ASEAN region.
The initiative will benefit both sides by the top Thai researchers joining teams led by outstanding scientists. The initiative is funded by the European Research Council.
This🆕initiative with Thailand🇹🇭is a positive step to strengthen scientific collaboration between 🇪🇺 and the ASEAN region.
🤝It will benefit both sides, with top Thai researchers joining teams led by outstanding scientists funded by the @ERC_Research.
👉https://t.co/L44dSmoTeO pic.twitter.com/g5KE1tEsUq
— Mariya Gabriel (@GabrielMariya) September 9, 2022
The initiative will promote cooperation between the Thai Programme Management Unit for Human Resources and Institutional Development, Research and Innovation (PMU-B) of the National Higher Education, Science, Research & Innovation Policy Council and the ERC.
ERC President Maria Leptin stated, “We welcome this new agreement that is fully in line with the ERC’s openness to the world. Excellent science is intrinsically international; encouraging scientific exchange across continents can only benefit us all.
This initiative will help ERC grantees to host top talent from Thailand and will facilitate interactions of Thai researchers with international partners. It’s a win-win.”
PMU-B Director, Professor Sompong Klaynongsruang said, “The European Research Council is internationally recognized as one of the most successful frontier science programs in the world.
We are delighted for the bright young Thai researchers to gain world-class experience working alongside the ERC-funded research teams.”
He further added, “We sincerely appreciate the European Commission’s and the ERC’s support and are confident that this initiative will lead to a long-term impactful collaboration between Thailand and the EU in frontier research.”
The initiative will facilitate the participation of researchers in ERC research groups in similar areas of research or on matters of mutual interest.
This arrangement is a part of the ERC’s worldwide outreach strategy, which aims to establish Europe as a talent hub for the research industry.
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European Research Council
The leading European funding organization for outstanding frontier research is the European Research Council. It was established by the European Union in 2007 and is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year.
It supports innovative researchers with projects situated all around Europe, regardless of their nationality or age.
The ERC assists researchers in bridging the gap between their ground-breaking research and the initial stages of its implementation with its additional Proof of Concept Grant program.
The ERC aims to attract excellent researchers from all across the world by providing funds to individuals from any country.
Further, The ERC actively promotes the participation of non-European scientists in ERC-funded teams. Two Thai nationals have so far received ERC funding. The team’s non-European members make up around 17% of the total.
