In 2007, the European Commission created the European Research Council (ERC) with the aim of promoting excellent basic science in Europe, supporting the best researchers in all fields and of any nationality who wish to continue his research in the frontiers of knowledge. The ERC finances prestigious projects that seek to develop novel and high-risk research. Since its inception, the ERC has had a considerable impact on the European research landscape.
Euskadi currently has 16 ERC grants in its three modalities: 7 Starting Grant, aimed at young researchers who have demonstrated their ability to become independent leaders, 5 Consolidator Grant to support excellent researchers with the objective of consolidating their own team or program of research and 4 Advanced Grant directed to researchers with an exceptional trajectory and leadership capacity that count on pioneering and highly ambitious projects. 86% of the people who have an ERC in Euskadi are Ikerbasque Researchers.
In 2018, 4 new ERC grants were obtained in Euskadi: 2 Starting Grants and 2 Consolidator Grants to develop cutting-edge research on such diverse topics as the CancerAdapt project led by Arkaitz Carracedo, which aims to address the prostate cancer progression mechanisms from a very innovative perspective, or the project led by Clara Martín that aims to open new research channels on language and bilingualism, a research that will allow to know how the spelling affects the perception and production of language sounds of children during learning to read. These are two of the 16 projects selected in 2018 in the ERC Consolidator category. Each project is financed by two million euros.
With thousands of applications each year and after an international evaluation in which scientific excellence is the only evaluation criterion, only 10-15% of the projects achieve this attractive financing. The initiatives supported by the European Research Council enjoy great prestige among the international scientific community. In fact, the success in achieving these grants, which cover all scientific areas, is an indicator of excellence at the international level. According to Adolfo Morais, vice-chancellor of Universities and Research in the Basque Government, "Getting ERC grants makes Euskadi internationally recognized as a region with advanced research, with Basque research groups of international level and where the adequate conditions to develop an international research are given".
For this reason, Ikerbasque has an ERC Fast Track call aimed to attract researchers who have ERC support in the 2016-2018 calls to Euskadi. Open throughout the year, it is aimed at researchers from all areas of knowledge, who are doing their work anywhere in the world. Ikerbasque offers an indefinite contract in the categories of Research Associate or Research Professor depending on his research career.
For more information about the ERC Fast Track call: https://www.ikerbasque.net/en/calls/ikerbasque-erc-fast-track-2019
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