The European Research Council has handed out €619M to early-career researchers as part of the first Horizon Europe funding round, leaving 28 Swiss grantees to take the funds elsewhere, while UK winners have also been warned they may have to make similar decisions if association talks do not succeed.

Scientists in Switzerland and the UK who won funding through a €619 million round of European Research Council (ERC) grants may have to move to another country to conduct their research.

Horizon Europe, the research programme of the European Union, offers grants to scientists of any nationality, provided that their research is conducted in an EU member state or Horizon Europe associated country.

After the Swiss and EU concluded talks regarding Switzerland’s participation in Horizon Europe, the 28 grantees who chose to do their research in Swiss institutions must find new host institutions based in one of the Horizon Europe countries.

Geographical imbalance

With the grants, young researchers can form teams and conduct their own fundamental research.

In addition to the 43% female recipients, there is a French researcher investigating earthquake predictability, one studying the mechanisms behind dysfunction in the mucin-producing goblet cells, and one looking at diamonds as the key to unraveling the origin of earth’s water.

Only 9.8% of more than 4,000 applicants received funding due to fierce competition. Compared with 13% in the last round of the annual call under the previous research programme Horizon 2020.

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Source: Goda Naujokaitytė Science Business
Picture: Science Business