ERC awards 427 top researchers with Starting Grants
Since 2007, the European Research Council (ERC) is revolutionising research and investing in top talent, making it one of the most vital components of the European Research Area (ERA). Helping maintain this success are 427 early-career researchers who are being awarded EUR 580 million between them under the ERC's third 'Starting Grant' competition which supports up-and-coming research leaders who are carrying out independent research in Europe - regardless of the grantee's nationality. Up to EUR 2 million in funding is being afforded to each winner. This is the third Starting Grant call in the last 3 years, with an estimated budget that is more than 40% higher than last year's call. 'With these awards, the ERC is investing in both new projects and new talent,' commented Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, the European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science. 'Excellence in the kind of cutting-edge science funded by the ERC is a prerequisite for creating an Innovation Union in Europe and ultimately for achieving the EU's "Europe 2020" objective of sustainable growth. I believe that the Commission's initiative to launch the ERC in 2007 has been fully vindicated. I hope that in the fullness of time we will see more Nobel prizes awarded to ERC-funded top talent, following ERC Starting Grant holder Konstantin Novoselov's recent Nobel!' In this year's call, researchers of no less than 39 nationalities are being awarded, and they will conduct their studies in research institutions or universities located in 21 European countries. '"Brain circulation" is an essential feature of excellence,' explained Jack Metthey, Executive Agency Director (ad interim) of the ERC. 'The ERC aims at making Europe more attractive to top quality researchers from overseas, be they European nationals or non-Europeans. It is therefore gratifying to see that the ERC is getting increasingly acknowledged and known around the world.' The gender breakdown of the selected researchers is 73.5% male and 26.5% female, and the average age is 36 years. The distribution of proposals per domain is: 45.7% in 'Physical Sciences and Engineering'; 35.8% in 'Life Sciences'; and 18.5% in 'Social Sciences and Humanities'. A total of 2,873 researchers submitted applications in this call, accounting for a 14% rise on the last call. Commenting on the outcome, ERC President Helga Nowotny said: 'It is very rewarding to see that also the third call for Starting Grants has been successfully concluded. This latest wave of researchers selected for their excellence, adds to the some 1,200 ERC grant winners already pursuing their groundbreaking, creative ideas throughout Europe. It is especially encouraging to see that the pool of extremely bright and talented younger researchers in Europe is far from being exhausted and that the ERC is contributing so effectively towards building the future of individual scientific careers and to the growing excellence of European research institutions.'