2 The ERC: Funding Organisation and European Project
abstract
In this contribution I will review some of the main characteristics that have made the ERC into the successful funding organisation that it is. But I also briefly look at the ERC from a different angle, viz., that of a European project, and argue that some of the added value of the ERC for Europe might also reside in the contribution it makes to the creation of a European identity.
Keywords: Research excellence • European identity • European Research Council • Bottom-up research • European Research Area