The European Research Council today announced the winners of its 2021 Advanced Grants competition. The funding, worth in total €624.6 million, will go to 253 leading researchers across Europe. Their work is set to provide new insights into many subjects, such as using mathematics to find better ways to use antibiotics and chemotherapy, how to protect the biodiversity of islands, exploring the Cosmic Dawn, and understanding how language sounds change over time.
ERC Advanced Grants are designed to support excellent scientists and scholars in any field at the career stage when they are already established research leaders, with a recognised track record of research achievements.
Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said: “The ERC Advanced Grants support ground-breaking researchers throughout Europe. It gives our talents the possibility to realise their creative ideas. Their pioneering work contribute to solve the most pressing social, economic and environmental challenges.”
President of the ERC Prof. Maria Leptin commented: “Congratulations to the new grant winners in the latest round of ERC Advanced Grants! By following their scientific curiosity, these senior researchers are pushing the frontiers of our knowledge in a wide range of fields. It’s essential to fund this type of cutting-edge research to keep Europe at the scientific forefront.”
Researcher locations
The future grantees will carry out their projects at universities and research centres across 21 EU Member States and associated countries, with researchers based in Germany (61 grants), the UK (45)*, the Netherlands (27), and France (26) in the lead in absolute numbers.
Researcher nationalities and gender
ERC competitions are open to researchers of any nationality and, in this round, 28 different nationalities won funding. 1 735 applicants submitted proposals, of which 20.8% were female researchers. The share of women among researchers awarded Advanced Grants has been steadily increasing from around 10% in 2014 to more than 25% in the latest competition.