Molecular biologist Fotis Kafatos is stepping down as president of the European Research Council (ERC) to focus more on his research. After three years at the helm, Kafatos announced on Friday that he plans to leave his post on 1 March — a year earlier than expected — to spend more time devoted to malaria research at his Imperial College London lab.

Kafatos, who cofounded the ERC, will remain a member of the ERC’s 22 member scientific council, which will elect a new leader among its ranks next month.

Nature Medicine interviewed Kafatos in September 2008 about the ERC’s early years. Here’s a brief excerpt from that discussion:

The ERC wants to make Europe an outstanding place to do science, a magnet essentially for talent—both homespun talent and talent from everywhere in the world, male or female, nationality of any kind. We want the very best people to [aim for] a good life in Europe, which is really a pretty good place to live and to work, and to utilize their abilities to build up European science.

Image: Penelope Masouri