The European Research Council (ERC) announced this month the selection of 536 researchers to receive nearly €800 million ($1 billion) in “Starting Grants,” which are designed to fund researchers early in their careers. Each grant awards up to €2 million per project over five years. The number of researchers receiving grants increased 11.6% from 2011. However, the application success rate dropped from 12% last year to 11.3% this year. Life sciences, physical sciences and engineering, and social sciences and humanities accounted for 37%, 44% and 19% of the selected proposals, respectively. Researchers from 41 countries received funding, led by Germany (92), the UK (68) and France (67). The number of host institutions at which the researchers will be based totaled 220 in 21 countries, led by the UK (131), Germany (78) and France (73).

Source: ERC