Brussels, 09/08/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Science Foundation (ESF), in partnership with the European Union Research Organisations Heads of Research Councils (EuroHORC), unveiled on Thursday 29 July the list of 25 winners of the European Young Investigator Award (EURYI).
Aged 35 on average, and working for at least two years, the prize winner come from all areas of science, from supramolecular electronics to psychology, via telecoms engineering.
This European competition is unique in that the prize-winners include an American and a Ukrainian. ESF Director Genera, Bertil Anderson, said that EURYI was open to everyone, as part of the policy led by Philippe Busquin, European Research Commissioner, to make European research more attractive.
The aim of the EURYI is to enable young scientists to take advantage of the huge freedom and financial rewards available.
It has a budget of EUR 28 million, funded by EuroHORC (apart from EUR 300,000 from the European Commission to cover administration costs). For this first year of the prize, there were 777 entries.
After an initial selection in each of the 16 participating countries, 133 entries went on to the next stage. An international jury, divided into 6 committees under the aegis of the ESF, made the final selection, which includes very promising projects like that of Oscar Marin Parra.
This Spanish researcher is working on neurone disorders and his research may prove useful in working out how to prevent diseases like schizophrenia and epilepsy and in treating various degenerative neural diseases.
His work may also provide useful clues to understanding Alzheimer's. Another Spaniard, Miguel Angel Del Pozo, won a prize for work in biological medicine, looking at the transport of a substance called Calveolin-1. His work may prove useful for the early detection of tumours.
Bertil Anderson, who is also a member of the Nobel Prize Committee, welcomed the results, emphasising the aim of the competition, to nourish talent and build a more competitive Europe in terms of creativity and innovation.
Asked about EURYI's future, he said he hoped to increase the number of prizes in time to between 75 and 100. More than that would devalue the competition, he felt.
On average, each of the prize winners will receive a little over one million euros over five years to carry out their research. The official prize-giving ceremony will take place in Stockholm on 26 August.