European Research Council (ERC) Announces €624 million for 2021 Round of Advanced Grants

A total of 253 leading researchers will receive funding of up to €2.5 million each to help them conduct pioneering research.

The European Research Council (ERC) has announced the results of the 2021 round of its Advanced Grants, which help leading researchers conduct ambitious, fundamental research projects. The grants are worth up to €2.5 million each over a period of five years, as well as an additional €1 million to cover:

  • Eligible ‘start-up’ costs for PIs moving to the EU or an Associated Country from elsewhere as a consequence of receiving the ERC grant.
  • Purchase of major equipment.
  • Access to large facilities.
  • Other major experimental and field work costs, excluding personnel costs.

The 2021 round of funding launched in May 2021 and closed for applications on 31 August 2021. A total of 1,735 proposals were submitted, of which 253 will receive funding, a success rate of 14.6%. Of the successful projects:

  • 110 will be based on research in physical sciences and engineering.
  • 75 will be based on life sciences research.
  • 68 will be based on research in the social sciences and humanities

Among the winners, 64 (25%) are female grantees, up from around 10% in 2014, with female applicants making up 20.8% of total proposals submitted. Grants were awarded to researchers of 28 nationalities working in 21 countries, with Germany (61) the UK (45), the Netherlands (27) and France (26) receiving the highest number of grants.

UK recipients and those based in other countries in the process of associating to Horizon Europe will only be eligible to receive funding if the relevant Horizon Europe association agreement has been approved by the time of the signature of the grant agreement. However, successful applicants from UK and other non-associated country host institutions can still be funded provided they move to a host institution in an eligible country.

Full details of all the winning researchers are available here.

The 2023 round of Advanced Grants is anticipated to open on 8 December 2022 with a provisional deadline of 23 May 2023.

(This report was the subject of a ResearchConnect Newsflash.)