22 ERC grants for top researchers in the Netherlands

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded 22 Advanced Grants of up to 2.5 million euros to leading researchers at Dutch knowledge institutions. Only a quarter of all grant recipients are women.

In this round, a total of 840 million euros was distributed. That is more than 100 million euros more than last year. This funding has resulted in a record number of grants being awarded. Nevertheless, the success rate remained relatively low.

This is due to the growing number of applications. This year, 3,329 proposals were submitted, more than 30 per cent more than last year. Of these, 319 were awarded funding. This brings the success rate to 9.6 per cent. Last year it was 11 per cent, and the year before almost 14 per cent.

Three of the grants have been awarded to Erasmus MC. Vincent Jaddoe, Professor of Paediatrics and Erasmus Professor, Maikel Peppelenosch, Professor of Gastroenterology, and Jurgen Marteijn, Professor of Cell Biology, have all been awarded a grant.

Competition

The competition for European grants is therefore intense. According to the ERC, the rising number of applications is causing problems: there are not enough reviewers to assess the proposals carefully. To reduce workload pressure, the council earlier this year proposed limiting the number of applications through stricter rules, but this plan was abandoned after heavy criticism.

The United Kingdom received by far the most grants this time (62), followed by Germany with 46 and Switzerland with 32. The Netherlands is in sixth place with 22 grants. That is slightly worse than last year, when the country ranked fourth with 24 grants.

United States

In total, 13 top researchers currently based outside Europe received a grant: nine from the United States, two from Australia and two from Canada. With this funding, they are allowed to set up a laboratory or research group at a European research institution.

Seven of them are making use of additional funding made available by the ERC for scientists from outside Europe, aimed at attracting more international top talent. The budget was increased after President Donald Trump launched an attack on academic freedom in the US.

Women

In total, 81 female top researchers received an Advanced Grant, compared with 237 men. This means only a quarter of recipients are women. One recipient was non-binary. The ERC also awards Starting Grants (up to 1.5 million euros) and Consolidator Grants (2 million euros). The share of female grant holders is typically slightly higher in those categories.