The European Science Foundation (ESF) has announced the names of its new President and Chief Executive, who will take up office on January 1, 2012. The ESF Assembly, attended by representatives of ESF Member Organisations, elected Pär Omling as new President and appointed Martin Hynes as new Chief Executive of ESF.
The ESF President is elected every three years with an overarching responsibility to chair the Assembly and the Governing Council. The ESF Chief Executive is appointed to manage the office of the Foundation and is responsible to the Governing Council and work closely with the ESF President and Vice Presidents.
Martin Hynes, Executive Director of The Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (IRCSET), will take over from Professor Marja Makarow, who has served as Chief Executive for the last four years. With a strong international profile and reputation, Hynes is experienced in policy formulation and has a good record of innovatively executing resulting policy decisions. He has been appointed for a three-year term.
Pär Omling, former Director General of the Swedish Research Council, will replace Ian Halliday who has served in the role of ESF President for the past six years. Omling has been deeply involved in national and international research policy for the last 20 years. In 2009, Omling played a key role in the Lund Declaration, which is viewed as one of the cornerstones in the formation of the EU framework programmes on research and innovation.
Both Hynes and Omling have long associations with the ESF, with previous roles as Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee and as a member of the Physical and Engineering Sciences (PESC) Standing Committee, respectively. Both have also been members of the ESF Governing Council.
The European Science Foundation is an association of 78 Member Organisations devoted to scientific research across 30 European countries. The Assembly is the main ESF decision-making body and meets once a year. All Member Organisations are represented. The Assembly elects the President and Vice Presidents and appoints the Chief Executive, as well as ratifying ESF accounts, admitting new members and approving and/or amending the Statute. The Assembly also provides a venue for debate and interaction between Member Organisations.
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