The European Research Council (ERC) has issued a white paper urging stronger, coordinated action to close Europe’s persistent research performance gap. The report focuses on ‘Widening Countries’. Although these countries account for about 25% of the EU’s population, their researchers obtain only around 5% of ERC grants, with success rates between 1% and 7%, far below the ERC average of roughly 11%. According to the paper, this imbalance stems from structural barriers such as underfunded research systems, less supportive academic environments, weaker international networks and limited assistance in preparing competitive proposals, as well as language and cultural obstacles.
ERC white paper calls for measures to boost success rates in Widening countries
