Interview with professor Fotis C. Kafatos, president of the European Research Council. Interviewed by Francesco Lescai.

The European Research Council (ERC) is the first European funding body set up to support investigator-driven frontier research. Its main aim is to stimulate scientific excellence by supporting and encouraging the very best, truly creative scientists, scholars and engineers to be adventurous and take risks in their research. The scientists should go beyond the established frontiers of knowledge and the boundaries of disciplines. Being 'investigator-driven', or 'bottom-up', in nature, the ERC approach allows researchers to identify new opportunities and directions in any field of research. By challenging Europe's brightest minds, the ERC expects to bring about new and unpredictable scientific and technological discoveries-the kind that can form the basis of new industries, markets and broader social innovations of the future. Ultimately, the ERC aims to make the European research base more prepared to respond to the needs of a knowledge-based society and provide Europe with the capabilities in frontier research necessary to meet global challenges.