He succeeds Björn Levin (RISE, Sweden), who had served as ERCIM President since 2020. “ERCIM is very relevant today, as we contribute to European technological autonomy,” La Poutré says. “I am honoured to serve as President of ERCIM, this important network of European research institutes. Together, we can contribute to tackling pressing societal and technological challenges ahead.
About ERCIM
Founded in 1989 by three research organizations - CWI, Inria (France) and GMD (now Fraunhofer, Germany) - ERCIM is a robust alliance of fourteen leading European research institutes in informatics and maths, centres of excellence ranging from fundamental to applied research. They combine scientific strengths, and address societal and technological challenges. The consortium comprises over 7000 researchers in Europe (in 2025).
Visionary events
“ERCIM contributes to European autonomy, for instance, by contributing expertise through exchanges with the European Commission and industry. We started in 2024 with visionary events for institute management and the European Commission on topics such as opportunities and threats in AI”, La Poutré explains.
Connecting excellence
Besides its visionary events, ERCIM organizes working groups, ERCIM Fellowships, its quarterly ERCIM News magazine, the Cor Baayen Award for outstanding young researchers, joint EU projects, consultancy, strategic notes and other collaborative efforts. ERCIM also increasingly collaborates with other European organizations, such as Informatics Europe and ACM Europe. It also aims to increase cooperation with the European industry. Recent collaborations include work with the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).
