Research & Innovation

The European Research Council (ERC) has selected 312 top scientists in its first Consolidator Grant competition. This new funding will enable the researchers to consolidate their own teams and to further develop their best ideas. Projects selected include: using a geochemical clock to predict volcanic eruptions, exploring the effects of Dark Matter and Dark Energy on gravitational theory, checking responsibility, liability and risk in situations where tasks are delegated to intelligent systems, and investigating the role of genetic and environmental factors in embryo brain wiring. Total funding in this round is €575 million, with an average awarded grant of €1.84 million, up to a maximum of €2.75 million.

The ERC calls target top researchers of any nationality based in, or willing to move to, Europe. In this call, grants are awarded to researchers of 33 different nationalities, hosted in institutions located in 21 different countries throughout Europe, with 9 of them hosting five grantees or more. In terms of host institutions, the UK (62 grants), Germany (43) and France (42) are in the lead. There are also researchers hosted at institutions in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Israel, Belgium, Sweden, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Portugal, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Turkey, Cyprus, the Czech Republic and Norway. In terms of researchers’ nationality Germans (48 grants) and Italians (46) are at the top, followed by French (33), British (31) and Dutch (27) researchers.

Over 3600 proposals were submitted to this first separate ERC Consolidator Grant competition. The share of women amongst the successful candidates in this call (24%) increased in comparison with the equivalent mid-career group in the 2012 Starting Grant call (22.5%). The average age of the selected researchers is 39.

Around 45% of the grantees selected are in the domain ‘Physical Sciences and Engineering’, 37% in ‘Life Sciences’ and almost 19% in ‘Social Sciences and Humanities’. The grantees were selected through peer review evaluation by 25 panels composed of renowned scientists from around the world.