EU awards €575m to mid-career researchers
The European Research Council has selected 312 top scientists in its first Consolidator Grant competition. The funding will enable the researchers to consolidate their own teams and to further develop their best ideas.
Projects selected include using a geochemical clock to predict volcanic eruptions, exploring the effects of dark matter and dark energy on gravitational theory, risk and liability when tasks are delegated to intelligent systems, and investigating the role of genetic and environmental factors in embryo brain wiring. Total funding in this round is €575m, with an average awarded grant of €1.84m, up to a maximum of €2.75m.
European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, said: “These researchers are doing groundbreaking 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.”
The ERC calls are aimed at top researchers of any nationality based in, or willing to move to, Europe. In this call, grants are awarded to researchers of 33 different nationalities, hosted in institutions located in 21 different countries throughout Europe, with nine of them hosting five grantees or more.
