On 14 May 2019, the European Commission appointed Professor Mauro Ferrari as the next President of the European Research Council (ERC). Professor Ferrari will take up his new role as of 1 January 2020.
Professor Ferrari attended the “Liceo classico J. Stellini” high school in Udine. He has a distinguished academic career, including many years in the United States, during which he contributed to several fields including mathematics, engineering, medicine and biology, and helped pioneer the field of nanomedicine.

CISM is particularly pleased with the appointment of Professor Ferrari, who is a distinguished representative of Udine and its territory, and has a longstanding collaboration (since 2010) with Professor Bernhard Schrefler, CISM secretary general, on Computational Transport Oncophysics (simulation of tumor growth and drug delivery for the evaluation the efficiency of anticancer drugs).
The Commission’s decision followed a competitive selection procedure led by a high-level Search Committee. The Search Committee’s call for applications, launched in July 2018, attracted over 50 high-level applications. Following an evaluation process and interviews with the most promising candidates, the Search Committee presented a shortlist of the three most suitable candidates to Commissioner Moedas. The candidates met with the ERC Scientific Council, who also approved the appointment of Professor Ferrari. Professor Ferrari is appointed by the Commission for a 4-year term of office, renewable once.