The European Commission has named the members of the European Research Council (ERC) Identification Committee. The newly formed group has two tasks: to identify three new members of the ERC's Scientific Council and establish a procedure for the replacement of members in the future.

Earlier this year, three members of the Scientific Council (information and communication technologies expert Professor Manuel Castells; Professor Paul J Crutzen, the renowned atmosphere and climate specialist; and zoologist Professor Lord May) left the body for personal reasons.

The four-strong committee charged with finding their replacements is chaired by Professor Eero Vuorio of Finland. Among other things, he is Chancellor of the University of Turku, Chair of the Finnish National Advisory Board of Research Ethics and a member of the EMBL (European Molecular Biology Laboratory) Council.

The other members of the group are Professor Hélène Ahrweiler, Emeritus Professor of France's Sorbonne University; Professor Zita Ausrele Kucinskiene, whose roles include Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Vilnius University in Lithuania; and Professor Arnold Schmidt, Emeritus Professor at Vienna University of Technology in Austria and Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Austrian Science Fund.

The four will meet regularly over the coming months and will send their final report to the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. The new members of the Scientific Council should be named in early 2009.

'This identification process has been established to guarantee that the renewal of the ERC Scientific Council, now and in the future, complies with the highest standards of transparency and recognised excellence of the selected members. I am very grateful to Professor Vuorio and his team for agreeing to take on this task,' commented European Commissioner for Science and Research Janez Potocnik.

'The Committee will operate with the support and confidence of the Commission and with full independence. I greatly appreciate the important contributions of Professors Castells, Crutzen and Lord May and their commitment to the European Research Council during its most crucial setting-up phase.'

The original 22 founding members of the Scientific Council were appointed in July 2005. They were chosen by a panel of high-level scientists headed up by former European Commissioner Chris Patten.

The ERC's Scientific Council is primarily responsible for defining the organisation's scientific strategy and overseeing its implementation. It also sets out the methodologies for the peer review of grant proposals. The group is chaired by Professor Fotis Kafatos, Chair of Immunogenomics at Imperial College London in the UK. He is aided in his task by two vice chairs, Professor Helga Nowotny and Dr Daniel Esteve.