EU awards €600 million to Europe’s top researchers

Today, the European Commission announced 301 top scientists and scholars across Europe that won the latest Consolidator Grant competition of the European Research Council (ERC). The winners will receive a total of €600 million, as part of the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, to build their teams and work on impactful research projects. Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said: “Knowledge developed in these new projects will allow us to understand the challenges we face at a more fundamental level, and may provide us with breakthroughs and innovations that we haven’t even imagined. The EU’s investment in frontier research is an investment in our future, which is why it is so important that we reach an agreement on an ambitious Horizon Europe budget for the next multiannual budget. More available research funding would also allow us to create more opportunities everywhere in the EU – excellence should not be a question of geography.” Some of the areas that researchers from around Europe will explore and work upon, thanks to this newly awarded EU funding, are the consequences of climate change, the long-term health effects of food additives, and the impact of online tools on political advocacy and democracy. More information is available in this ERC press release.