Johan Richard, a 31-year-old French researcher and his team, has discovered a galaxy 13 billion light years away from Earth. Richard started his research in 2008 whilst a Marie Curie fellow at Durham University in the UK. The discovery of the galaxy was made at the Dark Cosmology Centre in Copenhagen, Denmark, using the Hubble Space Telescope, a joint project between the European Space Agency and NASA.

This star formation was created 200 million years after the 'Big Bang'. The discovery will help astronomers better understand the evolution of galaxies closer to the earth, which may have affected the planet's climate. It could also help solve the scientific mystery of how the hydrogen fog that filled the early Universe was cleared.

The European Commissioner responsible for the Marie Curie fund, Androulla Vassiliou, stated that this discovery represents a milestone in modern astronomy research and it demonstrates EC commitment to supporting pioneering study and mobility among the best European and international scientists.

The EU's Marie Curie Action play a key role in the 'European Research Area'. This fund is managed by the Research Executive Agency (REA), a funding body created by the EU to manage parts of the European Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7), one of the pillars of the Europe 2020 strategy for sustainable and inclusive growth.