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ILL takes over the rotating presidency of EIROforum

On 1st July 2020, Professor Helmut Schober and his team took over from CERN as Chair of EIROforum, a consortium of eight of Europe’s largest intergovernmental research organisations. As is customary, the ILL will take on this role for one year.

Created in 2002, EIROforum’s mission is to enable its eight member organisations - ESA, ESO, European X-FEL, EUROFUSION, CERN, EMBL and the two Grenoble-based institutes ESRF and ILL - to pool their resources and expertise in support of European science. EIROforum brings together some of the heavyweights of European science but also institutes that are less well known to the general public. They all have one thing in common, however. They are all leaders in their field and work relentlessly to push back the frontiers of scientific knowledge, from the infinitely small to the infinitely large.

For the past 15 years, EIROforum has been fostering scientific and technological collaborations between its partners.

As highlighted by CERN’s Director-General, Fabiola Gianotti, who has just handed over the presidency of EIROforum to Helmut Schober: “The eight EIROforum organisations showcase excellence in European scientific research across a wide range of disciplines. [… ] By working together, we share knowledge and best practice and we maximise our benefit to society. As the world adapts to COVID-19, multidisciplinary scientific collaboration is more important than ever, and I look forward to continuing to work with the Heads of the other EIROforum organisations to strengthen our partnership. Helmut Schober will be a visionary and effective Chair and I wish him the best in this important role.”

As Helmut Schober reminds us: “EIROforum brings together some of Europe’s most prestigious research organisations, all of whom are driven by a single goal: to improve the lives of our fellow citizens by answering some of their most profound questions and helping them to achieve their highest aspirations. We do this by building some of the world’s most sophisticated research infrastructures, which attract many of the most brilliant minds from across the globe. It is a model that can be applied in all fields, including and in particular in research support, where EIROforum is already working wonders. By promoting the exchange of know-how and best practice, EIROForum makes a major contribution to enhancing scientific collaboration in Europe. It is for me a great honour to take over from Fabiola Gianotti, Director-General of CERN, as Chair of EIROForum. I will do my best to follow in her footsteps and to further strengthen the relations between the directors of EIROForum’s member organisations so that together we can tackle the huge challenges that lie ahead and transform these challenges into opportunities for the future. ”