ERC - European Research Council
The European Research Council (ERC) mission is to encourage the highest quality research in Europe through competitive funding and to support investigator-driven frontier research across all fields, on the basis of scientific excellence.
Born in 2007, the ERC complements other funding activities in Europe such as those of the national research funding agencies, and is a flagship component of Horizon 2020, the European Union's Research Framework Programme for 2014 to 2020.
ERC consists of a Scientific Council, the decision-making body setting the scientific funding strategy, and an Executive Agency (ERCEA) which implements the ERC strategy.
There are 5 types of ERC grants: Starting, Consolidator, Advanced, Proof of Concept, Synergy.
ERC Starting Grants
These grants are for researchers of any nationality with2-7 years of experience since completion of PhD (or equivalent degree), a scientific track record showing great promise and an excellent research proposal.
ERC Consolidator Grants
These grants are for researchers of any nationality with 7-12 years of experience since completion of PhD(or equivalent degree) and a scientific track record showing great promise, who want to consolidate their independence by establishing a research team and continuing to develop a success career in Europe.
ERC Advanced Grants
Applicants for the ERC Advanced Grants are expected to be active researchers who have a track-record of significant research achievements in the last 10 yearsand want long-term funding to pursue a ground-breaking, high-risk project.
ERC Proof of Concept Grants
The ERC Proof of Concept funding is made available only to those who already have an ERC awardto establish proof of concept of an idea that was generated in the course of their ERC-funded projects.The funding will cover activities at the very early stage of turning research outputs into a commercial or socially valuable proposition.
ERC Synergy Grants
These grants are for a group of two to maximum four Principal Investigators working together and bringing different skills and resources to tackle ambitious research problems. Proposals will be evaluated on the sole criterion of scientific excellence which, in the case the ERC Synergy Grants, takes on the additional meaning of outstanding intrinsic synergetic effect.
ERC Principal Investigators @ UniPr
Isabella Andorlini has created a group of papyrologists of national renown.
Alberto Broggi is one of the fathers of self-guided vehicles and has managed to bring the Ambarella company from Silicon Valley in the USA to the Science and Technology Campus in Parma.
Roberto Mingione is a mathematician who is consistently at the top of the most esteemed global rankings scientific journals.
The discovery of mirror neurons made Giacomo Rizzolatti one of the most well-known neuroscientists in the world.
Guy Orban, also an expert in neuroscience, is an example of a foreign researcher who contradicts "brain drain" by choosing to come to Italy, and Parma in particular, to carry out his ERC project.
In the field of neuroscience the recent ERC starting grant won by Luca Bonini is also very notable.
Sebastiano Bernuzzi's work is focussed on numerical relativity and gravitational waves. Together with his international team, he studies the dynamics of compact objects, like black holes and neutron stars, in binary systems using Einstein's general relativity.
Contacts
If you are interested in applying for an ERC project, the International Research Office can provide you with guidelines, forms and all other relevant information. The office also offers proposal and budget checks. Moreover, a dedicated ERC-UNIPR team can give you scientific support as well as arranging and conducting a mock interview to prepare you for the real thing.
If you are an ERC grantee, the International Research Office can give you support with the financial and administrative management of your projects, and provide you and your team with information about all of the administrative procedures and logistical tasks you will need to complete during the setting up of your lab.
For any questions or to arrange a meeting, please send an email to ricercacompetitiva@unipr.it
