Winners of the first ERC Public Engagement with Research Award announced

Professors Anna Davies from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, Kontantinos Nikolopoulos from the University of Birmingham, UK, and Erik Van Sebille from the University of Utrecht, Netherlands, have been awarded the ERC Public Engagement with Research Awards 2020. This is the first award of its kind, which the European Research Council (ERC) has launched to put the spotlight on how its grantees inspire the public with their research, engaging with audiences beyond the scientific community, in effective and original ways. Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said: “Excellent research demands excellent engagement with the public. This is especially important nowadays when science must often compete with misinformation. We need the strong storytellers and creative communicators out there. I’m glad that many EU-funded researchers have gone the extra mile to communicate their amazing discoveries and interact with the public. I hope more scientists and scholars will be inspired and follow in their footsteps. Congratulations to all the laureates!” The 2020 Award has three categories: Public Outreach, Press and Media Relations, and Online and Social Media. Contestants submitted 138 entries to this competition, which opened on 24 September 2019 and closed on 10 January 2020. The Jury of the Award is composed of renowned researchers, science communicators, science journalists and science policy makers. The winners receive a trophy and a tailored communication training session. In addition, the winning entries will be featured prominently on the ERC communication channels, expanding the visibility of the laureates’ research. The award competition is envisaged to be held every two years. More information about the award and the laureates is available in this ERC press release.