The creation of a new European-level funding mechanism was proposed to support higher quality adventurous research and to reinforce general conditions.  In April 2005, a high-level expert group convened by the European Commission presented a report on the feasibility of such an institution, which was very well received by the political and scientific communities.

Consequently, the European Research Council was founded on December 18th 2006 and it was endowed with a budget of € 7.5 bn for 7 years. The European Research Council shall act and establish itself during the implementation of the IDEAS Programme in the Seventh EU-Framework-Programme (2007-2013).

In the start-up phase, there will be two funding streams for the excellence of individual researchers located in or moving to the EU and associated countries whatever their nationality:

• ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grant Scheme -  ERC Starting Grants
• ERC Advanced Investigator Grant Scheme -  ERC Advanced Grant

The objective of the ERC Starting Grants is to provide adequate financial support to the young researchers at the stage of establishing their first research team or program. Applicants should be less than 10 years from the award of their PhD.
The budget for an accepted project amounts up to € 2.0 m for a period of up to 5 years.

ERC Advanced Grants aim at established researchers. Applicants for the prestigious ERC Advanced Grant are expected to be active researchers and to have a track-record of significant research achievements in the last 10 years.
The budget for an accepted project amounts up to € 2.5 m - € 3.5 m for a period of up to 5 years.

The only criterion is the “excellence” of the applicant, the proposed project and the research environment. 

• Potential of the applicant:  research-excellence, list of publications, experience, etc.
• Excellence of the project:  scientific value, degree of innovation, feasibility
  and methodology, project management
• research environment:  achievable independence, infrastructure of the host institution
  

Evaluation and selection of Starting Grants proposals

Stage 1

Eligibility Check: Proposals are checked to ensure that all of the eligibility criteria are met.

Peer Review Evaluation: Proposals which fulfil these criteria are evaluated by high level peer review evaluation panels (“Panels”), which assess, score and comment on the quality of the proposal.

Feedback: Applicants are informed of the outcome of the evaluation of their proposal. Applicants whose proposals meet the required level of quality are invited to proceed to stage 2.

Stage 2

Eligibility Check: Proposals are checked to ensure that all of the eligibility criteria are met.

Peer Review Evaluation: Proposals which fulfil these criteria are evaluated by remote referees and Panels, which assess, score and comment on the quality of the proposal. Additionally, interviews with applicants may be conducted by these Panels. Applications which meet the quality thresholds are ranked in a list.

Feedback: Applicants are informed of the outcome of the evaluation of their proposal.

Selection: An ERC grant is offered to proposals which are sufficiently high in the ranked list such that ERC funding is available.

Grant Preparation: If an applicant accepts the offer, a grant agreement is
prepared. This defines the terms and conditions applicable to the PI, the hosting institution and the ERC (see chapter 5).

The European Research Council was entrusted with the realization of the Programme IDEAS. It consists of a Scientific Council and a dedicated implementation structure:

• Scientific Council (SC): Supervisory board for the elaboration of the work programme, Establishes and oversees the ERC’s Scientific management and the implementation of the work programme including the  peer review process
• Dedicated Implementation Structure (DIS): Agency for the programme implementation and management according to the annual work programme

The term frontier research is adopted in the specific programme IDEAS in order to make clear the new understanding of fundamental research. It stands at the forefront of creating new knowledge and developing new understanding, and is irrespective of established disciplinary boundaries.
The programme operates on a bottom-up basis, which allows scientists to propose their own research topic across all fields of research.