European Commission President José Manuel Barroso appointed, on 5 December, the Commission’s first Chief Scientific Advisor, Professor Anne Glover. Glover served as chief scientific advisor for Scotland from August 2006 to December 2011. She holds a personal chair of molecular and cellbiology at the University of Aberdeen, and has honorary positions at the Rowett and Macaulay Institutes. The functions of the chief scientific advisor are to provide independent expert advice on any aspect of science, technology and innovation as requested by the president, to  build relationships with high-level advisory groups and to communicate the scientific values on which specific Commission proposals are based.