MAURO FERRARI PARTS WAYS WITH THE EUROPEAN RESEARCH COUNCIL

Mauro Ferrari is an Italian – American scientist who is a globally renowned expert in the field of nanotechnology. Mr. Ferrari trained in mathematics, engineering, and medicine, holding a Dottore in Matematica from the Universita’ di Padova, Padova, Italy, a Master of Science and a PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to that, he had been a medical student at the Ohio State University, Columbus in the period of 2002 – 2004, where he did not obtain a degree. Just by looking at his CV, one is immediately struck by the very successful career Mr. Ferrari has built, the range of institutions he has been associated with and the different research projects he has been involved in over the years.

However, Mr. Ferrari’s name has been the subject of much media attention for a very different reason in the previous several days. Namely, one of his latest positions was that of President of the European Research Council (ERC), a position he held from 1 January 2020 until 7 April 2020. His stint as EU science chief is surely going to be one of the briefest in the history of the institution, but that is not the primary concern of this article, nor was that the reason why his name has been the subject of large media scrutiny for the past two days. Instead, the thing which draw the attention of the media the most were the manner in which he stepped down from the position of President of the ERC and the global context in which his resignation took place. And whenever a lot of public attention is drawn to a particular event in society, whichever society it may be, that is a very fertile ground for people who have an interest in spreading disinformation, regardless of their ultimate motives. In the present case, the way that Mr. Ferrari parted ways with the ERC attracted much media and public attention because both sides, that is both Mr. Ferrari and the ERC, came up with different versions as to the reasons and the background of his departure from the ERC. And as always, news articles designed to spread disinformation and manipulate the public sentiment appeared in the Republic of North Macedonia. Instead of reporting objectively on the event by including both versions of what happened that lead to Mr. Ferrari’s resignation, they only covered the version that best suits their narratives and intentions. For example, one news article’s headline states: “Europe is falling apart-Ferrari: EU collaboration failed in times of the coronavirus”. It seems pretty obvious what the purpose of this news article is when even its first part is ‘loaded’ so to speak by claiming that the European Union, is falling apart due to Mr. Ferrari’s resignation. Another news article carries the headline: “ERC: President Ferrari submitted his resignation because he was unable to convince the EU to start a scientific research against the coronavirus”. Again, instead of offering both versions of the event to the reader, the headline claims that there is only one version behind Mr. Ferrari’s resignation.

It should be already clear to everyone that these difficult and strange times in which we live, in which our societies have been virtually paralyzed by the coronavirus, are seen as ripe times for people who want to ‘make a profit’ or take advantage of the situation and the volatile public sentiment in order to advance their goals. In times like these, which is characterized by highly increased sensitivity, disinformation can have a colossal effect on public opinion and public sentiment. We believe that every disinformation and fake news out there has to be debunked, and that the public has the right to form its opinion on its own, provided all of the facts and data have been objectively reported to them.

Mr. Ferrari resigned from the position of president of the ERC on April 7th 2020, having previously been dismissed by his colleagues, when on Friday 27 March all 19 active members of the ERC’s Scientific Council individually and unanimously requested that Mauro Ferrari resign from his position as ERC’s President. This is his version of the event: “I have seen enough of both the governance of science, and the political operations at the European Union,” he wrote in his statement. “I have lost faith in the system itself.” Furthermore, he even claimed that in the face of “a tragedy of possibly unprecedented proportions” he had tried and failed to convince EU officials to establish a special research programme directed at combating the COVID-19 pandemic that has barrelled through Europe and the world. “The proposal was rejected unanimously by the governing body of the ERC, without even considering what shape or form it may take,” Ferrari said. Ferrari urged for the ERC to adopt a hands-on, emergency initiative for COVID-19 and said he had worked directly with commission president Ursula von der Leyen to develop a plan. However, he complains his direct involvement with von der Leyen “created an internal political thunderstorm” and once it went to the different parts of the commission he believes it “disintegrated upon impact”. “I am afraid that I have seen enough of both the governance of science, and the political operations at the European Union.” He was due to serve for four years as president of the ERC, but as he said, the coronavirus crisis has “completely changed my views.”

On the other hand, the ERC and its members have a different version of the very same event: “[D]uring his three-month term in office, Professor Ferrari displayed a complete lack of appreciation for the raison-d’être of the ERC to support excellent frontier science, designed and implemented by the best researchers in Europe. Although voicing his support for this in public pronouncements, the proposals he made to the Scientific Council did not reflect this position. He did not understand the context of the ERC within the EU’s Research and Innovation Programme Horizon 2020. Since his appointment, Professor Ferrari displayed a lack of engagement with the ERC, failing to participate in many important meetings, spending extensive time in the USA and failing to defend the ERC’s programme and mission when representing the ERC.” high-level insiders in the ERC say Mr Ferrari’s resignation was not voluntary. He was asked to leave, they say. They say he was absent for half of the three months he was supposedly at the helm of the ERC, spending time instead in the US, where he has an affiliate professorship at the University of Washington as well as private interests in the pharmaceutical industry, though Professor Ferrari dismissed the comments that his other work commitments hindered his ability to fulfill the role. He is also listed on the board of directors at US biotech company Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals. After Prof Ferrari’s resignation, German MEP Christian Ehler told the Science Business website that Prof Ferrari’s proposals contradicted the legal basis of the ERC and were a “window-dressing public relations stand on the coronavirus crisis”. As far as Professor Ferrari’s comments that he worked directly with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen is concerned, that claim has been rejected in the following manner: “Mr. Ferrari said the president of the European Commission reached out to him — no, that is not correct,” said the Commission’s chief spokesperson Eric Mamer. “It’s the other way round … President von der Leyen did not solicit any proposals from professor Ferrari.” Further, alleged insider sources say: “even before COVID-19 blew the relationship up, Ferrari was proposing things that were “completely out of touch with the way the ERC operated”, a source close to the ERC said. “This week was the last drop – the whole thing had been boiling for a while; before COVID. The chemistry did not work and he spent too little time on ERC matters,” said a source close to council members.

Whatever the real reasons behind this event might be, it is nevertheless obvious that something was not quite working in the ERC. The main problem is that this happened to happen in the midst of the largest pandemic the world has seen in years. In times when collaboration and team spirit have to be on the highest level possible in virtually every country on the globe, let alone an association with so much member states as the European Union, disappointing setbacks as this one happened. Nevertheless, it seems that the ERC acted pretty objectively when all 19 members of the ERC submitted a request asking for the resignation of Professor Ferrari. And a unanimous request speaks volumes. One simply does not get 19 individuals, and that is all of the members of the ERC, to ask for one’s resignation without a reason. Furthermore, Professor Ferrari must have been aware that his position is going to involve a lot of power struggle, bureaucracy and internal politics, so he cannot state those as one of his reasons for being unanimously voted out from the ERC. Be that as it may, the main problem in this situation from the point of view of the public is that this means that the EU has been left without its chief scientist in the worst possible time, right when the coronavirus is raging.