The winners of the first Marie Curie Prize were announced by the European Commission at a ceremony held in Nicosia, Cyprus. The three winners are Dr Gkikas Magiorkinis from Greece, in the 'Promising Research Talent' category, Dr Claire Belcher from the United Kingdom, for 'Communicating Science', and Dr Sarit Sivan from Israel, for 'Innovation and Entrepreneurship'.

In the context of a conference focused on the future of the Marie Curie Actions and Horizon 2020, the European Commission announced the winners of the Marie Curie Prize for outstanding achievement in research. The three winners are Dr Gkikas Magiorkinis from Greece, in the 'Promising Research Talent' category, Dr Claire Belcher from the United Kingdom, for 'Communicating Science', and Dr Sarit Sivan from Israel, for 'Innovation and Entrepreneurship'. The Marie Curie Career Integration Grants (CIG) were recently opened to applications by the European Commission.

According to the Commission, the Prize is aimed at encouraging scientists to expand their field of excellence to innovation, entrepreneurship and science communication. It will also raise the profile of the winning researchers and their host institutions, while increasing the prestige of the Marie Curie Actions. Androulla Vassiliou, the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth highlighted that she hopes that the Marie Curie Prize will encourage other researchers and inspire more young people – especially girls – to consider a career in science.

The Commission has proposed €80 billion programme for investment in research and innovation. Under the Horizon 2020 proposal, over €5.75 billion would be allocated to the Marie Curie Actions in 2014-2020. The scheme has supported the training, mobility and skills development of more than 65,000 researchers since its launch in 1996.