Former Portuguese banker gets top European research job BRUSSELS—Carlos Moedas, secretary of state to Portugal's center-right prime minister, has been appointed European commissioner in charge of research, science, and innovation here today. If his appointment is approved by the European Parliament, he will take over from Máire Geoghegan-Quinn for a 5-year term. Moedas will oversee the use of funds from Horizon 2020, the European Union's €80 billion research program. In his mission letter, Jean-Claude Juncker, president-elect of the European Commission, says Moedas's tasks shall include monitoring national research policies, making sure that “Commission proposals and activities are based on sound scientific evidence,” and focusing more on applied research. Moedas, 44, has no particular research policy experience. He worked as an engineer before turning to banking and economics. After an MBA from Harvard Business School in 2000, he worked as a banker for Goldman Sachs and Aguirre Newman and founded his own investment company in 2008. From 2011 to 2014, he was in charge of a service of the Portuguese government that oversaw the country's “economic adjustment programme.” This was a 3-year aid and reform program, agreed with the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund to help Portugal exit the economic crisis. Moedas's appointment was announced today by Juncker, who allocated portfolios to the candidates put forward by member states—one per country. Each commissioner-designate will appear before the relevant European Parliament committee in the coming weeks, before the whole Parliament votes on the new commission..