Dr Cui Guoliang will conduct his project on Skeletal Muscles Antagonize T Cell Exhaustion in Chronic Viral Infections at the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg, Germany. Dr Cui isamong the 313 mid-career laureates who were awarded the 2021 European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grants to tackle big scientific questions at research centres across Europe.
The funding is part of the EU’s current research and innovation programme, Horizon Europe, and worth in total €632 million. With this support, the new grantees will be able to consolidate their teams and conduct pioneering research on topics and with methods of their choosing.
Open to the world: 42 different nationalities
Scientists and scholars from around the world are eligible to apply to ERC calls.
In this call, the winners represent 42 nationalities, with Germans (58 researchers), Italians (30) and French (26) leading the ranking in absolute numbers.
Among them, 27 researchers with non-EU/Associate Countries nationality will be carrying out their projects in Europe, including nationals from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Iran, Japan, New Zealand, Tanzania, US and Vietnam. Five researchers from the US and one researcher from New Zealand intend to move back to Europe with their grants.
Research projects in 24 countries
The grantees will carry out their projects at universities and research centres in 24 different countries across Europe, with Germany (61 grants), UK (41) and France (29) as top locations.
Results in details
The ERC received 2652 Consolidator Grant research proposals in this call, from which approximately 12% will be funded overall. Male and female applicants were equally successful in winning the grants.
This new round of grants will create an estimated 1,900 jobs for postdoctoral fellows, PhD students and other staff at 189 host institutions.
See also some examples of researchers who were selected for funding in different scientific areas: ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS 2021 - PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
Background
The ERC Consolidator Grants are awarded to outstanding researchers of any nationality and age, with at least seven and up to twelve years of experience after PhD, and a scientific track record showing great promise. Research must be conducted in a public or private research organisation located in one of the EU Member States or “Associated” Countries. The funding - up to €2 million per grant, plus in some cases an additional €1 million for start-up costs - is provided for up to five years and mostly covers the employment of researchers and other staff to consolidate the grantees' teams.
About the ERC
The European Research Council, set up by the European Union in 2007, is the premiere European funding organisation for excellent frontier research. Every year, it selects and funds the very best, creative researchers of any nationality and age, to run projects based in Europe. It offers four core grant schemes: Starting, Consolidator, Advanced and Synergy Grants. With its additional Proof of Concept grant scheme, the ERC helps grantees to bridge the gap between grantees' pioneering research and early phases of its commercialisation.
To date, the ERC has funded over 9,800 top researchers at various stages of their careers, and over 50,000 postdocs, PhD students and other staff working in their research teams. The ERC strives to attract top researchers from anywhere in the world to come to Europe. Key global research funding bodies, in the United States, China, Japan, Brazil and other countries, have concluded special agreements to provide their researchers with opportunities to temporarily join ERC grantees' teams.
More from EURAXESS China
Read our interview with an ERC grantee working between China and Spain: Dr Manuel Perez Garcia
Watch the recording of our 2021 webinar organised with the ERC about their grants:
Source: ERC