European Research Council

The European Research Council (ERC) was set up in 2007 as part of the EU Seventh Research Framework Programme (FP7). The ERC supports investigator-driven, bottom-up frontier research by individual research teams. Scientific excellence is the sole criterion when the ERC selects research projects to be funded. The host institution of the research must be situated in an EU Member State or in an associated country.

The ERC awards two types of grants: the ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grant (ERC Starting Grant) and the ERC Advanced Investigator Grant (ERC Advanced Grant). ERC Starting Grants aim to support researchers who intend to establish an independent research team at an early stage in their research career. ERC Advanced Grants are intended for established research leaders, irrespective of age.

Calls for proposals are published annually over the course of FP7. Active calls are published on the ERC website.

The ERC is headed by a Scientific Council composed of 22 distinguished, international researchers and science policy experts.

Attached a presentation of Finland’s success rate in previous ERC calls.