What is the European Research Council?
The European Research Council (ERC), which started in 2007, is funded by the European Commission as one part of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) for European Research & Technological Development (2007-13). The ERC is also known as the "Ideas" Programme. The ERC is the first pan-European funding agency for investigator-driven frontier research. Its main aim is to stimulate scientific excellence by supporting and encouraging the very best, truly creative scientists, scholars and engineers to be adventurous and take risks in their research. The scientists are encouraged to go beyond established frontiers of knowledge and the boundaries of disciplines. It aims to encourage the work of the established and next generation of independent top research leaders in Europe. Early stage researchers, as well as fully established investigators, from across Europe are able to compete for ERC grants where scientific excellence as the sole criterion for funding. The ERC also aims to raise the status and visibility of European frontier research and the very best researchers of today and tomorrow. THE ERC has funding of €7.51 billion (2007-13).

What type of grants does the ERC fund?
The ERC has two main funding schemes, Starting and Advanced Grants. These both operate on a “bottom-up” basis across all research fields, without predetermined priorities. They fund projects lead by a Principal Investigator (PI) and (if they wish) their team. In addition to the main funding schemes, the ERC also has Co-ordinating and Supporting Calls.

ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grants (ERC Starting Grants)

• Objective:
  The objective is to provide critical and adequate support to the independent careers of excellent researchers, whatever their nationality, located in or moving to the EU Member States and Associated Countries*, who are at the stage of establishing or consolidating their own independent research team or programme.

ERC Advanced Investigator Grants (ERC Advanced Grants)

• Objective:
  The objective is to encourage and support excellent, innovative investigator-initiated research projects by leading advanced investigators across the EU Member States and Associated Countries*. This funding stream complements the Starting Grant scheme by targeting the population of researchers who have already established themselves as being independent research leaders in their own right.

ERC Co-ordination and Support Actions (CSAs)

• Objective:
  The ERC Co-ordination and Support Calls fund projects and initiatives for the monitoring, assessment and evaluation of ERC Activities, for example projects, studies, expert groups, seminars, data access and dissemination, information and communication activities on the ERC. Please note that research, technological development or demonstration activities cannot be supported under these CSAs.

*EU Member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria , Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the UK

Associated Countries are currently: Albania, Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Iceland, Israel, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, and Turkey. More associated countries may join in the future.
For further information on the European Research Council, including UK ERC Helpdesk services and to sign up for the UK ERC newsletter, see: http://www.ukro.ac.uk/erc