Following its formal establishment, the Scientific Council reaffirmed the election of its Chair and ERC president, Professor Fotis Kafatos, and the two Vice-Chairs and ERC Vice-Presidents, Professor Helga Nowotny and Dr. Daniel Estève. After the highly successful Presidency of Fotis Kafatos, Helga Nowotny took over as President in March 2010 with Prof. Carl-Henrik Heldin and Prof. Pavel Exner as Vice-Presidents. In January 2014, after the end of Helga Nowotny's term of office, Professor Jean-Pierre Bourguignon became ERC President. Since then, the ERC also has a third Vice-President, Professor Nuria Sebastian Galles, alongside the two vice-presidents already in office (each of them in charge of one of the ERC scientific domains). In May 2019, internationally-recognized nanomedicine scientist Dr. Mauro Ferrari was named the next president of the European Research Council.