Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said: “To communicate research effectively, and to push back against disinformation, we need committed and professional journalists. I welcome this initiative because the more we inform about the benefits of science, the stronger the ties between citizens and researchers will be. I believe these ties are a key engine for the future of science and I am glad that journalists are contributing to this effort.”
Maria Leptin, ERC President, said: “Quality journalism is necessary to safeguard democracy, which is our collective responsibility. All institutions and bodies should contribute, and the ERC is certainly no exception. I hope we can send a strong signal to the research and media communities – and beyond.”
FRONTIERS intends to finance the journalists’ stays, support the reporters and host institutions, provide training on independent and ethically responsible science coverage, and promote mutual learning between journalists and researchers. It will also propose a set of ethics principles, best practices and guidelines for journalistic fellowships, and develop a long-term sustainability model.
Apart from the main goal of backing independent science journalism, the project is expected to contribute to public’s trust in science, to tackling misinformation and improving social resilience against disinformation.
The consortium that will run the programme includes the Centre for Ethics in Science and Journalism (Italy), the NOVA University of Lisbon (Portugal), the Pompeu Fabra University (Spain), and Enspire Science (Israel), which coordinates the project.
More information about the ERC Science Journalism Initiative.
About the ERC
The ERC, set up by the European Union in 2007, is the premier European funding organisation for excellent frontier research. It funds creative researchers of any nationality and age, to run projects based across Europe. The ERC offers four core grant schemes: Starting Grants, Consolidator Grants, Advanced Grants and Synergy Grants. With its additional Proof of Concept Grant scheme, the ERC helps grantees to bridge the gap between their pioneering research and early phases of its commercialisation. The ERC is led by an independent governing body, the Scientific Council. Since November 2021, Maria Leptin is the President of the ERC. The overall ERC budget from 2021 to 2027 is more than €16 billion, as part of the Horizon Europe programme, under the responsibility of the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel.
ERC press contacts
Marcin Mońko
Press and Communication adviser
Phone: +32 (0)2 29 666 44