The COVID-19 pandemic has forcefully affected researchers and research institutions in different ways, halting some scientific projects and constraining severely the work of many. Since the early days of the crisis, the ERC has implemented several COVID-19-related measures to the advantage of its grantees. They include the possibility of extending the duration of ongoing projects and a flexible approach to the start date of new projects. This...

The Commission is mobilising €123 million from Horizon Europe, the new EU research and innovation programme, for urgent research into coronavirus variants. This first emergency funding under Horizon Europe adds to a range of EU-funded research and innovation actions to fight the coronavirus and contributes to the Commission's overall action to prevent, mitigate and respond to the impact of coronavirus variants, in line with the new European bio-...

Following the launch of the European Innovation Council (EIC) and the announcement of the first funding opportunities, the Commission has opened the first EIC Accelerator calls. The funding worth over €1 billion aims to help scale up start-ups and small and medium-sized businesses that have the potential to achieve high impact. While over half of the funding is open to breakthrough innovations in any field, €495 million are earmarked for...

The European Commission launched Open Research Europe, a publishing platform for scientific papers that will be accessible to everyone. The platform will present the results of research funded by Horizon Europe, the EU research and innovation programme for 2021-2027, and its predecessor, Horizon 2020. Open Research Europe will give everyone, researchers and citizens alike, free-of-charge access to the latest scientific discoveries. It directly...

A newly published document from the European Commission offers more details on the UK’s participation in the Horizon Europe programme. The United Kingdom is expected to become an associate country in the EU’s seven-year programme for scientific research and innovation, Horizon Europe. UK already eligible As the first funding calls under Horizon Europe are launched, the new Q...

European Research and Innovation Days is the European Commission’s annual flagship Research and Innovation event, bringing together policymakers, researchers, entrepreneurs and the public to debate and shape the future of research and innovation in Europe and beyond. The event will take place online on 23 and 24 June 2021, allowing everyone to get involved from anywhere. This year marks the start of Horizon Europe, our most ambitious EU research...

The European Commission has proposed to set up 10 new European Partnerships between the European Union, Member States and/or the industry. The goal is to speed up the transition towards a green, climate neutral and digital Europe, and to make European industry more resilient and competitive. The EU will provide nearly €10 billion of funding that the partners will match with at least an equivalent amount of investment. This combined contribution...

The following is a ScienceBusiness article published on 24 February 2021. The original piece can be accessed here. The UK’s association to Horizon Europe has been agreed “in principle” and awaits Parliament’s scrutiny, while agreements with Israel and Switzerland could be finalised by the end of the year, EU officials said at a Science|Business conference on Tuesday. Margrethe Vestager, the European Commission’s executive vice-president for...

The ERC-funded researcher Giorgio Parisi had received the Wolf Prize 2021 in Physics for his ground-breaking discoveries in disordered systems, particle physics, and statistical physics.  The Wolf Foundation awarded Giorgio Parisi for “being one of the most creative and influential theoretical physicists in recent decades”. According to the foundation, his work had a large impact on different parts of physical sciences, ranging from particle...

With the European Green Deal, the European Commission aims for the EU to be completely carbon-neutral by 2050. This is an enormous ambition, and innovative frontier research supported by the European Research Council (ERC) will play a vital role in powering forward the cutting-edge research and technological development needed to achieve it. This CORDIS Results Pack highlights 15 ERC-funded projects that are playing their part in helping to...