The total budget of €661 million is an increase of just over 25 per cent from last year’s call. This brings the ERC budget earmarked for early-career researchers to the same level as its funds available for senior researchers.
The call is part of the €6.4 billion 2011 budget for the Framework Programme 7. A fourth call for advanced researchers, also worth €661 million, will be launched in the autumn.
The European Research Council has an overall budget of €7.5 billion from 2007 - 2013, with a steady yearly increase of the annual budget. To date the ERC has funded over one thousand top researchers.
The new round of starting grants is open to even more researchers, as the required post-PhD experience is now between two and twelve years. It is open to proposals in any field of research, from Social Sciences and Humanities to Life Sciences and Physical Sciences. The three deadlines, depending on the field, are throughout the autumn.
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