Europe’s top scientific researcher, Mauro Ferrari, resigned Tuesday after his proposal to establish a program to combat the coronavirus outbreak within the European Union was rejected.
Mr. Ferrari, the president of the European Research Council (ERC), sent his resignation Tuesday, just three months into his four-year contract as president.
“I have been extremely disappointed by the European response to Covid-19,” he told Financial Times in a statement.
“I arrived at the ERC a fervent supporter of the EU [but] the Covid-19 crisis completely changed my views, though the ideals of international collaboration I continue to support with enthusiasm,” he continued.
Several European countries have been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus. Italy — Mr. Ferrari’s home country — and Spain have seen two of the highest death rates from the coronavirus in the world.
Mr. Ferrari’s COVID-19 response proposal was unanimously rejected by the organization’s governing body — the ERC Scientific Council — he said, because the group did not see the “beneficial impact on society as a justification for funding,” according to the BBC.
But his claim was quickly disputed by Christian Ehler, a German member of the European Parliament who leads research legislation, who issued a statement to Science Business stating that Mr. Ferrari’s actions were “a window-dressing public relations stand on the coronavirus crisis, and it was a contradiction to the legal basis of the ERC.”
According to the ERC’s website, Mr. Ferrari is credited as a pioneering founder of nanomedicine and has received numerous international awards and academic recognitions worldwide.
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
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