European Research Council

The European Research Council (ERC) was created in 2007 as part of the Seventh Framework Programme.  It is an independent body that funds investigator-driven frontier research across all disciplines based on peer-reviewed excellence as the sole criterion for success, irrespective of nationality, gender, or location of the applicant.

The ERC offers two, highly competitive, funding schemes that are open to early career researchers:

  • ERC Starting Grants for up to five years that are open to ‘ up-and-coming independent research leaders’ of any nationality with two to seven years’ research experience after their doctoral award
  • ERC Consolidator Grants ‘for researchers who have been awarded their first PhD over seven and up to twelve years prior to the publication date of the call’.