8:30 am
Registration

8:55 am
Welcome address
Pierre Corvol, Administrator of the Collège de France

9:00 am
Scientific Careers in the European Research Area, Role of the Member States
Valérie Pécresse, French Minister for Higher Education and Research

9:15 am
Frontier research in the European Research Area
Janez Potočnik, European Commissioner for Science and Research

9:30 am
The European Parliament, the citizens’ support to the European Research Council
Catherine Trautmann, Member of the European Parliament, President of the Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee

9:45 am
Vision, strategy and challenges for the European Research Council
Fotis Kafatos, President of the European Research Council (ERC) and its Scientific Council

10:15 am
Which role for a host institution in the career of outstanding young investigators?
Catherine Bréchignac, President of the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)

10:30 am Break - Press Corner

11:00 am
The first ERC Starting Grant Laureates share their experience (part 1)
Esperenza Alfonso, Ivo Boneca, Guillaume Dubus, Julia Kempe, Armagan Koçer
Moderator: Alain Peyraube, Member of the ERC Scientific Council

12:30 pm - Lunch

2:30 pm
The first ERC Starting Grant Laureates share their experience (part 2)
Virpi Lummaa, David Holcman, Thomas D. Mrsic-Flogel, Maja Pantic, Hélène Rey
Moderator: Daniel Estève, Vice-President of the European Research Council and its Scientific Council

4:15 pm
Round table discussion: Identification of the next generation of scientific leaders - How to evaluate excellence?  
Chairman: Gilles Bloch, Director General of Research and Innovation, French Ministry for Higher Education and Research
Moderator: Helga Nowotny, Vice-President of the European Research Council and its Scientific Council
Katherine Richardson, Chair of the ERC evaluation panel “Physical sciences and Engineering - 8” - Ferenc Kiefer, Member of the ERC evaluation panel “Social sciences and humanities – 3” - Franck Gannon, General Director of the Science Foundation Ireland - Joseph Syka, President of the Czech Science Foundation - Dieter Imboden, President of the Swiss National Science Foundation, Suzanne Fortier,  President of the Canadian Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council

5:30 pm
Future challenges of frontier research
Gilbert S. Omenn, Director CCMB – Michigan University, Chair of HUPO Plasma Proteome Project

6:00 pm
Prospects of the European Research Area
Philippe Busquin, Member of the European Parliament, Director of the Science and Technology Options Assessment Panel (STOA) of the European parliament

6:30 pm - Cocktail