Understanding ERC

The European Research Council (ERC) is the first pan-European funding body set up to support investigator-driven frontier research.

The main aim of the newly-established body is to stimulate scientific excellence by supporting and encouraging the very best, truly creative scientists, engineers and scholars to be adventurous and take risks in their research. The scientists should go beyond established frontiers of knowledge and the boundaries of discipline.

The ERC complements other funding activities in Europe such as those of the national research funding agencies, and is a flagship component of the 'Ideas Programme' of the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

In April, the ERC announced that 9,167 applications had been received for the ERC's first round of grants, the Starting Grants for independent researchers. So what for New Zealand?

A significant number of the Principal Investigators (PI) applicants currently live outside of the EU. And this is the relevance to researchers in New Zealand. The PIs can be of any nationality or current location, but must apply in conjunction with an institution in an EU Member State or associated country, where he or she will be based for at least the period of the grant.

Once again, it is about engaging with the global community. This is not just an ICT thing. In Research, it has perhaps even more meaning.