New Advisor for Research appointed

Edward Ricketts has been appointed as the new Senior Advisor for Research within the CESAER Secretariat. He will drive our research advocacy work and member engagement in this area, and will support in particular our Task Forces on Human Resources; Openness of Science and Technology; and Sustainable Funding.

Edward has specialised in EU research policy & programme issues since moving to Brussels in 2009, having worked at the UK Research and Innovation European office (including as UK National Contact Point for the European Research Council funding schemes) and for Scotland Europa. In both roles, he advised many universities, research institutes and other public bodies on their engagement in EU funding & policy initiatives.

For the past six years, Edward worked in the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) of the European Commission where was involved in: evaluation and impact assessment work; clean energy R&I initiatives; helping to develop the EU missions and partnerships under Horizon Europe; and assisting a Deputy Director-General. In 2016-2017, he supported Pascal Lamy and a high-level group advising the Commission on the future direction of EU R&I programmes and ghost-wrote the group’s influential “LAB-FAB-APP: Investing in the European future we want” report.

Edward has a linguistics background and has academic degrees from Royal Holloway, University of London and the College of Europe (Natolin). Outside work, he has a passion for sports (taking a close interest in the fortunes of Arsenal FC), literature and history, and is a proud father of two.

At the conclusion of his induction week, Edward said:

“It’s a huge pleasure to join CESAER and I am looking forward to supporting the association’s work as a constructive and impactful stakeholder on the European research & innovation policy scene. I am equally looking forward to engaging closely with our members, learning from their expertise and working together to harness our common interests on key R&I issues. I am keen to take up this challenge.

“I believe strongly in the convening power of a universities’ association in bringing together an extensive network of universities engaged in the key challenges of our time, sharing knowledge and insight from varied points of view, and thus helping to shape European activities across many different aspects of research & innovation”.

For more information please contact Edward Ricketts, Senior Advisor for Research. can be contacted at: edward.ricketts@cesaer.org, or by phone at +32 16 37 20 30.