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. 

European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn said: “These researchers are doing ground-breaking work that will advance our knowledge and make a difference to society. The ERC is supporting them at a key moment where funding is often hard to come by: when they need to move forward in their career and develop their own research and teams.”

Over 3600 proposals were submitted to this first separate ERC Consolidator Grant competition. In this call, grants were awarded to researchers from 33 different nationalities, hosted in institutions located in 21 different countries throughout Europe. Total funding in this round is 575 mn Euros, with an average awarded grant of 1.84 mn Euro, up to a maximum of 2.75 mn Euro (more information here).

In terms of researchers’ nationality Germans (48 grants) and Italians (46) are at the top, followed by French (33), UK (31) and Dutch (27) researchers. In terms of host institutions, the UK (62 grants), Germany (43) and France (42) are in the lead. 

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%). (see statistics here)

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.  Projects selected include: using a geochemical clock to predict volcanic eruptions, exploring the effects of Dark Matter and Dark Energy on gravitational theory, and checking responsibility, liability and risk in situations where tasks are delegated to intelligent systems.