ERC grants and the Widening countries

Why do the Widening countries face problems obtaining ERC grants? How does the ERC help boost the Widening countries´ potential? And how can the success rates in the Widening countries be boosted? And what is the ERC Visiting Fellowship Programme? Explore a selection of articles on this topic.

The first article, addressing the specific challenges that the Widening countries face, is a Q&A session with Professor Alice Valkárová, Chair of the ERC Working Group on Widening European Participation. In fact, "the number of proposals from the so-called “widening countries” is approximately eight times lower than from other countries, and their success rates remain below average."

The second article presents measures that the European Research Council (ERC) is taking to increase participation in its grant competitions, particularly in countries that have historically been performing poorly in ERC grant competitions. One of such measures is the ERC Visiting Fellowship Programme, launched in 2016. Here are some experience with this programme (interviews with two researchers from the Balkans).

The third in the Widening+ERC series to recommend is an interview with Jacek Kuźnicki, biochemist and former President of the scientific council of the Polish National Science Centre. He proposes concrete steps to take to increase the New Member States as well as Scientifically Less Developed Regions (SLDRs) participation in EU programmes.

Photo: the ERC logo