ERC publication illustrates how ERC has advanced European science frontiers

The European Research Council (ERC) has published a leaflet illustrating how the ERC has advanced European science frontiers since the ERC's foundation nearly twenty years ago. Some of the key findings are the following:

• 20% of projects achieved groundbreaking scientific results and 58% contributed to major advances.
• The number of groundbreaking projects increased in parallel with the growth of the ERC budget. There are no signs of saturation in the amount of excellent science that can be funded with the ERC programmes
• ERC-funded projects are breaking barriers between academic disciplines, with over 70% yielding cross-disciplinary results, fostering collaborations between once-separate research fields.
• Interdisciplinary research, thanks to ERC funding, is driving pioneering discoveries.
• Institutions with few ERC grants are significant contributors to excellent scientific results, underscoring the importance of initiatives like the Visiting Fellowship Programme and the Mentoring initiative to encourage applications from underrepresented regions.
• Nearly half of the projects made impacts beyond scientific knowledge influencing sectors like industry, economy, society, or policymaking.
• ERC-funded projects have led to diverse commercial products and startups, stimulated by Proof of Concept grants, some with market valuations exceeding € 150 million.

ERC leaflet: 'Pioneering excellence: How the ERC has advanced European science frontiers'