As Science|Business this month marks the 1000th issue of its newsletter, we republish our investigation into how and why the ERC lost its then-president in a 2020 fight over the agency’s mission. After an extensive search, molecular biologist Maria Leptin was named president in 2021. This article first appeared 29 October 2020.

Researchers awarded ERC grants still don’t know if the UK will associate to Horizon Europe in time for them to sign the grant agreements. Now, they are being enticed to relocate to EU universities

Late launch of Horizon Europe messed up the regular the ERC schedule in 2021 and 2022. Next year, the calendar of calls for fundamental research will be back to normal

Under-representation could fuel distrust of Brussels, a report warns. But EU agencies say the region is well represented at lower management levels

Interrupted experiments, uncertain career paths and lingering COVID-19 effects may be discouraging young researchers, warns former European Research Council chief Jean-Pierre Bourguignon. He urges EU-wide action to help the ‘research precariat’

Budget should double to ensure Europe can fund all excellent science Leptin says, as she takes the reins at the European Research Council on 1 November

National funding scheme will help researchers in Swiss institutions carry on with European Research Council and Marie Skłodowska-Curie projects, as they wait for Bern and Brussels to thrash out an agreement on Horizon Europe participation

Maria Leptin will not join until 1 November due to clashing commitments in her calendar, but research lobbies are sanguine about the delay

Jean-Pierre Bourguignon urges EU and member states to maintain investment in fundamental research, as innovation drive funnels money to applied research and industry partnerships in digital and climate technologies