Demand for ERC Starting Grants stabilises
A total of 3,272 proposals were submitted as part of the 2014 Starting Grants call. The number of applications indicates the demand for Starting Grants has stabilised after years of substantial increases.
Compared to the 2013 call for Starting Grants that attracted 3,329 applications, the demand this year decreased by around 1.7%. The decrease can be partially explained by the new restrictions regarding re-submissions. Additionally, applications coming from research institutions based in Switzerland were for the first time not eligible in this competition.
In this call, the first one under Horizon 2020, 1,494 proposals were submitted in ‘Physical Sciences and Engineering’, 1,030 in ‘Life Sciences’ and 748 in ‘Social Sciences and Humanities’.
In the 2013 call, 300 top researchers were awarded grants of nearly €400m in total, with a success rate of around 9%. In this year’s call, the overall call budget is €485m. The results of this call are expected to be published in the autumn.
