The Ideas Programme

This programme will support frontier research projects across all fields by research teams competing at the European level. Projects will be funded based on proposals presented by researchers on subjects of their choice and evaluated on scientific excellence as judged by peer review.

Funding will be provided for scientific research that will generate new knowledge that opens up new avenues for technological progress and new solutions for social and environmental problems. This is a new approach to basic research that is, by virtue of its nature, risky and cuts across established disciplinary boundaries and national borders.

The Ideas programme will be implemented through the European Research Council (ERC). The ERC will have a unique position as a pan-European funding organisation designed to support the best science and scholarship across all fields of research. Two types of ERC grant will be available:

ERC Starting Grants
Support for outstanding researchers that are at the stage of establsihing their first research team or programme.
ERC Advanced Grants
Support for excellent frontier research projects by leading established researchers.