£2.8bn for scientific research
"Outstanding" projects can receive a share of the funding
Also In The News
|
Directed by Kenneth Branagh, screenplay by Harold Pinter, out November 17th, starring Jude Law and Michael Caine, running time 90 minutes. |  |
Thursday, 22, Nov 2007 05:31
About €4 billion (£2.88 billion) is to be invested in research projects across Europe over the next six years, it has been announced.
The scientific council of the European Research Council (ERC) said the funding would ensure the support of "frontier research" carried out by the "most talented researchers across Europe".
Global pressures have made innovation imperative, the ERC said, and the funding will help the continent to be at the front of science and research and to attract the best talents.
The funding, known as the Advanced Scheme, will operate alongside the already-established ERC Starting Grant Scheme which is aimed at younger investigators.
Only "outstanding" projects with principal investigators with an impressive track record should apply, the ERC said.
Professor Fotis Kafatos, chairman of the ERC scientific council, said there would be "very stiff competition" for the funding.
"This high-profile Europe-wide programme is designed to bring forward the most ambitious, far reaching research projects without restriction on the field of study, and to support the most talented established investigators, regardless of nationality, for projects conducted in Europe," he added.