An independent pilot study, released at the Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF) last month, demonstrates that bottom -up research funded by the European Research Council (ERC) has already had major impacts. Over 70% of projects evaluated in the report have made scientific breakthroughs or major advances. The study concludes that the ERC invests in truly high-risk/high-gain research and that it also contributes significantly to the economy and society at large. The Report also states that the ERC grants also have a very positive effect on researchers’ careers.
Source: https://erc.europa.eu/