Funding excellent research: The European Research Council @ 10

This year, the European Research Council (ERC) celebrates its tenth anniversary of funding high-quality, science-driven research. The ERC is widely perceived as a 'success story', and its most remarkable feature is the high reputation attached to its grants. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the ERCs unlikely inception, its governance strictures and procedural principles of allocating funding to research projects, this presentation will provide a fuller picture of this remarkable funding agency. In particular, the intricacies of the ERC decision-making procedure (aka peer review) will be highlighted for discussion.

Thomas König is a social scientist specializing on the relationship of science and politics. After studying political science and history in Vienna, Copenhagen, and Minneapolis, Thomas has held positions both in academia and in policy-making. In 2014, he was a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard University. Besides several other academic publications, he recently published the first historical assessment of the European Research Council (with Polity, Cambridge UK). Currently, he works as strategic advisor to the director of the Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna, and is looking forward to a half-year parental leave with his younger daughter, Lucy.