Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met Maria Leptin, president of the European Research Council (ERC). The meeting focused on boosting frontier research in Greece, supporting scientists and increasing Greek participation in competitive European research programmes.
According to the prime minister’s office, Mitsotakis stressed the importance of the ERC as an international benchmark for independent scientific evaluation, based solely on excellence. He outlined Greece’s progress since 2019: research and development spending has risen by 55% to €3.62 billion in 2024, while the number of researchers has increased by 30% to 50,900 in full-time equivalent terms.
Business spending on research has risen by 84%, confirming the private sector’s growing contribution to the creation of new knowledge.
Particular reference was made to the return of scientific talent, the development of the innovation ecosystem and new research infrastructure, including the “Daedalus” supercomputer and the “Pharos” artificial intelligence factory.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis noted that, despite Greece’s strong performance in “Horizon Europe”, its participation in the ERC remains below the country’s potential. Planned measures were outlined to prepare applicants, mentor young researchers, fund highly rated proposals that do not secure European funding, and improve the conditions for hosting scientists at Greek universities and research centres.
Also discussed were plans for a standalone Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation to improve coordination and reduce the fragmentation of responsibilities.