ERC President visits NeuroCure scientist at the Charité

Prof. Dr. Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, President of the European Research Council (ERC), visited the Campus Charité Mitte yesterday for the event "High Risk High Gain - Groundbreaking Research in Berlin" to find out more about ERC-funded projects at the Charité.  

Prof. Jean-Pierre Bourguignon traveled to the German capital for the ERC event "High Risk High Gain - Groundbreaking Research in Berlin – ERC Grantees and their Projects". The event was organized by the Technical University (TU) in cooperation with the Charité, the Humboldt University (HU), the Freie Universität (FU), the ERC, and the information campaign "erc = science2". The aim was to present ERC Grantees and their sponsored projects to the Berlin public and to increase the visibility of ERC research. Prof. Bourguignon was guest of honor at the event. 

The ERC President took advantage of his stay in Berlin to personally visit the laboratories of some grantees and to observe the work on site. In the laboratory of Prof. Dr. Benjamin Judkewitz of the Excellence Cluster NeuroCure, Prof. Bourguignon witnessed firsthand the cutting-edge nature of the group's research. He was especially impressed by the successful interdisciplinary collaboration of physicians, biologists, physicists, mathematicians and scientists with different backgrounds at the Charité: "It seems that the people here have the necessary flexibility and that it is possible to attract good scientists from all over the world," said Prof. Bourguignon. "This mixture is very important for science and education." 

The ERC President also visited the lab of Humboldt University Prof. Matthew Larkum in the CharitéCrossOver research building (CCO). Prof. Bourguignon made special mention of the dynamics in the research building and in the Cluster of Excellence NeuroCure. "Experience has shown that especially risky projects have great chances when they get the opportunity to do so. We want to bring scientists to their limits. And they should have big visions. "High Risk High Gain" - we take these words absolutely seriously." ERC grants provide the necessary flexibility and freedom of research. 

At a joint lunch, Prof. Bourguignon spoke with ERC Grantees about their research and working conditions. The Charité was represented at this event by Prof. Dr. Sonja Entringer, ERC Starting Grantee at the Institute of Medical Psychology. Prof. Judkewitz, also an ERC Starting Grantee, presented his project using the PechaKucha format at an event for the public in the Lichthof of the TU. Thereafter, lecturer Dr. Petra Ritter, ERC Consolidator Grantee at the Clinic for Neurology, contributed to panel discussions on the topic "Science in the Post-Truth Age - Research and the Public".  

Prof. Judkewitz, Prof. Bourguignon and Thomas Gazlig, Division Manager of Laboratory Research. Photo Charité / Wiebke Peitz

Prof. Judkewitz explains his research to Prof. Bourguignon. Photo Charité / Wiebke Peitz

Source: Press release of the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin