Last year, the ERC Scientific Council introduced changes in the evaluation process for the calls towards a more inclusive assessment while preserving scientific excellence as sole selection criterion.
Last year, the ERC Scientific Council introduced changes in the evaluation process for the calls towards a more inclusive assessment while preserving scientific excellence as sole selection criterion. Among others, it formally established the (already valid) principle to put the major weight of the evaluation on the project proposal. Furthermore, there are no longer prescriptive profiles of principal investigators - and research achievements can be accompanied by brief narratives. In a recently published report, ERC President Maria Leptin explains the changes, e.g. why the "high-risk/high-gain" conjunction has been replaced by the term "ambitious". This report is therefore highly recommended, in particular for potential ERC applicants.
