Established in 2007, the European Research Council (ERC) has been highly effective in supporting curiosity-driven frontier research across all fields, based only on scientific excellence. The ERC has given the EU framework programmes a new dimension that complements traditional top-down approaches, and it provides a benchmark for excellence in European science. The EU should build on this success and strengthen the ERC in the next research framework programme.
Statement by the ERC Scientific Council on the next EU framework programme for research and innovation (FP10)
