Mapping ERC frontier research Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Framework Programme (2014-2020).
Date: 2023-05-03
Institutions: European Research Council Executive Agency
Subjects: EU research policy, Framework Programme for Research and Development, digital transformation, e-Health, innovation, life sciences, physical sciences, project funding, report, social sciences, technical cooperation, technology

Mapping ERC Frontier Research
Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation  
Framework Programme (2014-2020)

Table of Contents 

Commissioner’s foreword

Message from the ERC Scientific Council

Overview: ERC Frontier Research in H2020 

Contribution to the European Green Deal

Contribution to a Europe fit for the digital age

Contribution to EU4Health

Frontier Research in Life Sciences

Frontier Research in Physical Sciences and Engineering

Frontier Research in Social Sciences and Humanities

Frontier Research in the Synergy Grant calls

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Commissioner’s 
foreword

Curiosity-driven,  frontier  research  is  a  crucial  component  of  a  healthy 
research  ecosystem.  The  challenges  we  encounter  presently  and  those  we 
will  encounter  in  the  future  cannot  be  effectively  tackled  by  merely  making 
minor advancements to existing knowledge, technology, and socio-economic 
structures. They require ground-breaking ideas, new perspectives, innovative 
methodologies, and solutions. This is where frontier research plays a key role. 
I  am  pleased  to  present  the  ‘Mapping  ERC  frontier  research’  report  of  the 
European Research Council. As we are taking stock of the achievements of 
the Horizon 2020 framework programme, the report provides a detailed picture 
of  the  research  ERC  funded  between  2014  and  2020  across  all  scientific 
domains from life sciences, to physics and engineering to social sciences and 
humanities. It also shows that, even when selected without any pre-defined 
agenda, ERC projects can not only push the frontiers of knowledge but also 
have impact beyond science and contribute to EU policies objectives from the 
Green Deal to EU for Health and more. 

To flourish and have impact, frontier research needs to be supported. We must 
continue  investing  in  frontier  research  through  the  ERC.  We  must  trust  and 
encourage researchers to come up with ambitious projects and explore the 
frontiers of knowledge, regardless of whether immediate applications are in 
sight, so that they can develop the solutions for tomorrow’s challenges.

Mariya Gabriel 
European Commissioner for Innovation,  
Research, Culture, Education and Youth
May 2023

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Message from  
the ERC Scientific Council

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The  ERC,  set  up  by  the  European  Union  in  2007,  is  the  European  funding 
organisation  for  researcher-driven  frontier  research. 
It  funds  creative 
researchers  of  any  nationality  and  age  to  run  projects  based  anywhere  in 
Europe or associated countries. More than 12,000 projects have been funded 
so far, without any predetermined thematic priorities, in all fields of science 
and scholarship from mathematics to linguistics and from history to biology.

With  the  aim  of  tracking  the  research  pursued  by  ERC  grantees,  the  ERC 
Scientific  Council  developed  a  methodology  tailored  for  the  ERC  project 
portfolio:  a  classification  system  that  describes  projects  according  to  three 
parameters – discipline, topic, method. The classification also allows to link 
projects to policy priorities defined in the context of the Horizon 2020 framework 
programme for the ‘Industrial Leadership’ and ‘Societal Challenges’ pillars.  

The factsheets that follow illustrate the breadth and diversity of all ERC-funded 
projects during the period of 2014-2020, classified as described above. The 
factsheets also point to synergies across scientific fields and interdisciplinary 
crossovers.

Finally, the data demonstrate that the ERC bottom-up approach to fund frontier 
research  greatly  contributes  to  tackling  challenges  of  societal  relevance,  as 
shown through the contribution to key policy initiatives, namely the ‘European 
Green Deal,’ ‘a Europe fit for the digital age’ and the ‘EU4Health’ programmes. 

Horizon  2020  projects  have  advanced  knowledge,  developed  methods  and 
provided technological solutions. Many of them are not yet completed, and 
we look forward to seeing further results in the coming years.

Maria Leptin 
ERC President

Dirk Inzé, 
Member of the ERC’s Scientific Council
Chair of the ERC’s Working Group Mapping ERC Frontier Research
May 2023

Back to table of contents

 
 
 
 
 
Mapping ERC Frontier Research

The European Research Council (ERC) encourages researchers and their teams to push 
the  frontiers  of  knowledge.  With  the  intention  to  map  the  breadth  and  diversity  of  the 
research it supports, the ERC analysed the content of the projects funded under the Horizon 
2020 (H2020) framework programme (2014-2020) through an in-house developed, non-
hierarchical classification system of almost 900 terms. This classification system allows 
the ERC to capture the scientific essence of funded projects, to highlight interdisciplinary 
areas and synergies, and to pinpoint the valuable contribution of ERC frontier research to 
help tackle global challenges. 
The versatility and power of these data is at the centre of this package, which includes:

>  This overview fact sheet.
>  A collection of 25 fact sheets with data from the ERC evaluation panels in the 

Starting, Consolidator or Advanced Grant schemes.

>  A fact sheet focusing on projects funded under the Synergy Grant scheme. 
>  A collection of three policy fact sheets. 

The overview offers an introduction with general statistics about the ERC’s H2020 project 
portfolio and includes highlights from all fact sheets to give a glimpse of the information 
they contain. 
The  panel-specific  and  Synergy  Grant  fact  sheets  provide  a  general  overview  of  the 
projects funded in the 25 ERC evaluation panels in three scientific domains (Life Sciences, 
9 panels; Physical Sciences and Engineering, 10 panels; Social Sciences and Humanities, 
6 panels), and under the Synergy Grant scheme. Encompassing all scientific fields, these 
fact sheets give a unique insight in the frontier research landscape of the ERC project 
portfolio.  
The  policy  fact  sheets  portray  the  contribution  of  the  ERC’s  H2020  frontier  research 
projects  to  three  key  policy  areas  of  the  European  Union,  namely  the  European  Green 
Deal, a Europe fit for the digital age and the EU4Health programme. Even though the ERC 
does not set thematic or policy priorities for the research it funds, many ERC grantees 
contribute knowledge to address European and global challenges, often offering innovative 
and sustainable solutions. 

Data as of December 2021

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Overview of ERC Frontier Research in H2020

This fact sheet provides some general information about the projects funded by the ERC under the ERC Starting 
Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG), Advanced Grant (AdG) and Synergy Grant (SyG) schemes in the H2020 
Framework Programme (2014–2020)*. It also includes highlights from the panel and policy fact sheets.

Over 54000 applications 

6707 projects funded 

€13.3 billion budget

2771 projects 
(€4.15 billion)

2253 projects 
(€4.39 billion)

1584 projects 
(€3.78 billion)

99 projects 
(€0.98 billion)

Domain distribution
(StG, CoG, AdG projects)

Physical sciences 
and engineering 
(PE) 
2950 projects 
(€5.58 billion)

Social sciences 
and humanities
(SH) 
1594 projects 
(€2.80 billion)

Life sciences
(LS) 
2064 projects 
(€3.93 billion)

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries (ACs) in H2020

The 6608 ERC projects funded under the single-investigator calls (ERC StG, CoG and AdG) are based in 24 EU Member States** 
and 7 ACs. When looking at the geographical distribution of projects funded in the 25 evaluation panels, there are some interesting 
patterns that emerge. Some of these patterns, together with the geographical share of the 6608 projects, are shown below: 

Germany is particularly strong in the LS and PE domains,
hosting the largest share of projects of all countries in 7 of
the 9 LS panels and 6 of the 10 PE panels.

EU Member States

ACs

In the case of the SH domain, the UK and the
Netherlands are the countries that have the
largest share of projects, hosting 40% of
these projects.

Some countries do particularly well
in specific
fields. For example, 21% of all projects funded in
the Mathematics (PE1) panel were hosted in
France, while 16% of the projects funded in the
Genetics, ‘Omics’, Bioinformatics and Systems
Biology (LS2) panel were hosted in Israel.

In some countries, a large share of
the project
portfolio accumulates in a specific field. For example,
18% of the projects hosted in Sweden were in the
Diagnostics,
Applied
Therapies and Public Health (LS7) panel. Likewise,
in Portugal, 16% are in the Products and Processes
Engineering
the
panel
Neuroscience and Neural Disorders (LS5) panel.

Technologies,

14% in

Medical

(PE8)

and

United Kingdom
1200 (18%)

Austria
209 (3%)

Greece 
21 (<1%)

Switzerland
456 (7%)

Germany
1114 (17%)

France
738 (11%)

Netherlands
602 (9%) 

Spain
370 (6%)

Italy 
361 (5%)

Belgium
243 (4%)

Sweden
234 (4%)

Denmark 
157 (2%)

Luxembourg
13 (<1%)

Finland 
122 (2%)

Ireland
90 (1%)

Portugal 
76 (1%)

Czech 
Republic
35 (<1%)

Hungary
27 (<1%)

Poland
26 (<1%)

Slovenia
12 (<1%)

Romania
10 (<1%)

Estonia
7 (<1%)

Cyprus
5 (<1%)

Croatia
3 (<1%)

Lithuania
1 (<1%)

Israel
350 (5%)

Norway
101 (2%)

Turkey
18 (<1%)

Iceland
4 (<1%)

Serbia
2 (<1%)

Ukraine
1 (<1%)

Interesting patterns can also be discerned in countries that host a
smaller share of projects. For example, 26% of the projects hosted
in Hungary are in the Neuroscience and Neural Disorders (LS5)
panel, while 31% of the projects hosted in Poland are in the
Computer Science and Informatics (PE6) panel.

*Data as of December 2021
** United Kingdom: Member State until 31st January 2020

Overview of ERC Frontier Research in H2020

Overview of ERC Frontier Research in H2020

This fact sheet provides some general information about the projects funded by the ERC under the ERC Starting 

Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG), Advanced Grant (AdG) and Synergy Grant (SyG) schemes in the H2020 

Most-used disciplines

Cell biology
Genetics
Neuroscience
Molecular biology
Immunology
Cancer
Evolutionary biology
Microbiology
Pathophysiology

Most-used topics

% of projects in the domain

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects
(StG, CoG, AdG projects)

% of projects in the domain
20%
19%
17%
16%
13%
12%
11%
10%
9%

Cell differentiation
Gene regulation
Epigenetics
Cell signalling and communication
Neural cell function
Molecular interactions
Protein biology
DNA biology
Systems and computational neuroscience

Materials engineering
Materials science
Physical chemistry
Condensed matter, solid state
Electronics, photonics
Organic chemistry
Computer science, cryptology
Fundamental interactions
Quantum physics

Economics
Political science
History
Cultural studies
Cognitive neuroscience
Sociology
Anthropology
Archaeology
Social psychology

10%
9%
9%
8%
8%
7%
6%
5%
5%

15%
15%
13%
12%
10%
9%
9%
8%
7%

Algorithms, algorithm development
Climate evolution and dynamics
Optoelectronic, photonic systems
Chemical synthesis
Machine learning
Spectroscopy
Semiconductor technology
Photonics, nano/non-linear optics
Nanomaterials

Cultural heritage
Human migration
Modern history
Development (economic, social)
Neural basis of cognition
Policy
Medieval history
Governance
Prehistory

10%
8%
8%
8%
6%
6%
6%
6%
5%

6%
5%
5%
5%
4%
4%
4%
3%
3%

7%
6%
5%
5%
5%
5%
5%
5%
4%

Scientific field use across the 25 panels*
(StG, CoG, AdG projects)

Top disciplines used in ≥7 panels

Top disciplines used in ≤2 panels

Cell biology
Genetics
Neuroscience
Molecular biology
Immunology
Electronics, photonics
Biochemistry
Microbiology
Biophysics
Ecology
Nanoscience

Cognitive neuroscience
Fundamental interactions
Archaeology
Mathematical physics
Cardiovascular systems
Biological, medicinal chemistry
Applied life sciences
Law
Chemical engineering
Physics of fluids
Particle, nuclear astrophysics

0

100

200

300

400

Number of projects

0

100

200

Number of projects

Broadly used disciplines, appearing in projects 
across several panels (≥7), generally correspond 
to fields in the life sciences (LS) domain. 
Cell biology and Neuroscience are the ones used 
in the largest number of panels (10).

Disciplines that tend to be more panel-specific,
even if they are used by many projects, 
generally correspond to fields in physical 
sciences and engineering (PE) and social 
sciences and humanities (SH).

** United Kingdom: Member State until 31st January 2020

*Data as of December 2021

Back to table of contents

*Only panels where ≥5 projects had these disciplines were considered

Framework Programme (2014–2020)*. It also includes highlights from the panel and policy fact sheets.

Over 54000 applications 

6707 projects funded 

€13.3 billion budget

2771 projects 

(€4.15 billion)

2253 projects 

(€4.39 billion)

1584 projects 

(€3.78 billion)

99 projects 

(€0.98 billion)

Domain distribution

(StG, CoG, AdG projects)

Physical sciences 

and engineering 

(PE) 

2950 projects 

(€5.58 billion)

Social sciences 

and humanities

(SH) 

1594 projects 

(€2.80 billion)

Life sciences

(LS) 

2064 projects 

(€3.93 billion)

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries (ACs) in H2020

The 6608 ERC projects funded under the single-investigator calls (ERC StG, CoG and AdG) are based in 24 EU Member States** 

and 7 ACs. When looking at the geographical distribution of projects funded in the 25 evaluation panels, there are some interesting 

patterns that emerge. Some of these patterns, together with the geographical share of the 6608 projects, are shown below: 

Germany is particularly strong in the LS and PE domains,

hosting the largest share of projects of all countries in 7 of

the 9 LS panels and 6 of the 10 PE panels.

In the case of the SH domain, the UK and the

Netherlands are the countries that have the

largest share of projects, hosting 40% of

these projects.

Some countries do particularly well

in specific

fields. For example, 21% of all projects funded in

the Mathematics (PE1) panel were hosted in

France, while 16% of the projects funded in the

Genetics, ‘Omics’, Bioinformatics and Systems

Biology (LS2) panel were hosted in Israel.

In some countries, a large share of

the project

portfolio accumulates in a specific field. For example,

18% of the projects hosted in Sweden were in the

Applied

Medical

Technologies,

Diagnostics,

Therapies and Public Health (LS7) panel. Likewise,

in Portugal, 16% are in the Products and Processes

Engineering

(PE8)

panel

and

14% in

the

Neuroscience and Neural Disorders (LS5) panel.

EU Member States

ACs

United Kingdom

1200 (18%)

Austria

209 (3%)

Greece 

21 (<1%)

Switzerland

456 (7%)

Denmark 

157 (2%)

Luxembourg

13 (<1%)

Germany

1114 (17%)

France

738 (11%)

Netherlands

602 (9%) 

Spain

370 (6%)

Italy 

361 (5%)

Belgium

243 (4%)

Sweden

234 (4%)

Finland 

122 (2%)

Ireland

90 (1%)

Portugal 

76 (1%)

Czech 

Republic

35 (<1%)

Hungary

27 (<1%)

Poland

26 (<1%)

Slovenia

12 (<1%)

Romania

10 (<1%)

Estonia

7 (<1%)

Cyprus

5 (<1%)

Croatia

3 (<1%)

Lithuania

1 (<1%)

Israel

350 (5%)

Norway

101 (2%)

Turkey

18 (<1%)

Iceland

4 (<1%)

Serbia

2 (<1%)

Ukraine

1 (<1%)

Interesting patterns can also be discerned in countries that host a

smaller share of projects. For example, 26% of the projects hosted

in Hungary are in the Neuroscience and Neural Disorders (LS5)

panel, while 31% of the projects hosted in Poland are in the

Computer Science and Informatics (PE6) panel.

Overview of ERC Frontier Research in H2020

Methodological developments in H2020 ERC-funded projects

LS

PE

SH

0%

25%

50%

75%

% of projects in the domain with methodological developments

New methods and instrumentations are developed as part of the scope of various ERC-funded projects; the main
methodological developments in the different domains are in the following areas:

 LS domain: Computational modelling, simulations, with a focus on demographic models and protein
computational prediction, and Animal models, with humanized and engineered mouse models being the focus.

 PE domain: Experimental methods, with a focus on climate models, and Computational modelling,
simulations, with neural networks being the focus; other methodological developments include Theoretical,
mathematical methods, with a focus on field theory and algorithms, and Synthetic methods, with organic
synthesis, chemistry and catalysis being the focus.

 SH domain: Theoretical analysis, with a focus on finance and economy, and Computational modelling,

simulations, with cognitive and learning models being the focus.

ERC frontier research relevant for European Commission (EC) policy areas

While the ERC encourages grantees to follow their scientific curiosity without any thematic priorities, their 
cutting-edge research generates results that address a wide range of issues with significant socioeconomic, 
environmental and policy relevance. This is exemplified by the contribution of this rich and diverse frontier 
project portfolio to these three EC policy priorities

European 
Green Deal

953 projects
€2.0 billion

Europe fit for 
the digital age

757 projects
€1.5 billion

EU4Health

2281 projects
€4.6 billion

PE
490 projects
(€1075M)

SH
211 projects
(€425M)

LS
252 projects
(€539M)

PE
632 projects
(€1226M)

SH
93 projects
(€165M)

LS
32 projects
(€75M)

PE
408 projects
(€844M)

SH
391 projects
(€723M)

LS
1482 projects
(€3046M)

400 
€619M

324 
€645M

201 
€497M

28 
€278M

332 
€496M

241 
€467M

177 
€426M

7
€77M

952 
€1444M

796 
€1579M

489
€1180M

44 
€410M

14% of H2020
ERC projects
contribute to the European Green
Deal. Of these projects, the largest
proportion (9% of all funded projects)
contributes to the Boosting climate
action area.

ERC projects
10% of H2020
the
contribute to a Europe fit
these
digital age. Almost half of
projects are in the area of Artificial
intelligence, constituting 4% of all
funded projects.

for

34% of H2020
ERC projects
contribute to EU4Health. Two of the
largest areas related to health are
Brain and human mind research and
Cancer, with 9% and 8% of all funded
projects, respectively.

ERC frontier research contribution
to the European Green Deal

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects relevant for the selected areas of the European Green Deal. 
The projects were funded under the Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG), Advanced Grant (AdG) and 
Synergy Grant (SyG) schemes launched in the H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)* 

Areas of interest for the European Green Deal

Boosting climate action

Sustainable and smart mobility

Farm to fork

Clean, affordable and secure energy

Biodiversity and ecosystems

953 ERC-funded projects, worth €2039 million

Physical sciences and engineering 
490 projects, €1075 million

Life sciences 
252 projects, €539 million

Social sciences and humanities 
211 projects, €425 million

1018 grantees lead 953 projects and are based in 22 EU Member States, 4 Associated Countries (ACs) and 2 non-EU/ACs 

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in H2020

25%

20%

205

15%

143

10%

5%

0%

% of grantees with number per country

EU 

ACs

Non-EU/ACs

99 96

78

41 37 37 34 33 30

12 9

9

7

3

3

2

1

1

1

1

1

4

73

29 29

UK DE FR NL ES SE BE IT FI DK AT IE EL PT CZ CY SI PL EE HR HU LU CH IL NO TR 1Non-EU/ACs

Host institutions with ≥16 funded projects

National Centre for Scientific Research (FR)

University of Cambridge (UK)

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (CH)

Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres (DE)

Delft University of Technology (NL)

Max Planck Society (DE)

Utrecht University (NL)

University of Oxford (UK)

Imperial College (UK)

62

32

25

23

20

20

20

18

16

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs 
(≤4 grouped together)

5

7

7

8

14

21

40

Russia

Australia

India

China

Canada

13 other non-EU/ACs

United States

*Data as of December 2021

Number of projects

Number of grantees

The scientific landscape of frontier research projects 
contributing to the selected European Green Deal areas

Farm to fork
270 projects, €587 million

Biodiversity and 
ecosystems
95 projects, €202 million

Clean, affordable and 
secure energy
277 projects, €586 million

Boosting 
climate action
574 projects, €1273 million

Sustainable and 
smart mobility
66 projects, €132 million

The word clouds represent the most prevalent scientific fields in the pool of ERC projects 
identified as relevant for each of the selected areas of the European Green Deal. The 
total number of projects under each area as well as the budget are indicated. 
29% of the 953 projects contribute to two or more of these areas.

Back to table of contents

Scientific synergies and methodological developments 
in the selected European Green Deal areas

Scientific synergies among European Green Deal areas

The nodes represent the selected areas of the European Green Deal and their size is proportional to the number of 
projects. These areas are interconnected and the strength of this connection is represented by the thickness of the 
arc, which is proportional to the number of shared scientific fields. The most representative scientific fields for the 
main connections, highlighted with letters, are listed.

a

b

c

d

e

f

a

b

c

d

e

f

Ecology; Evolutionary biology; Environmental social sciences; 

Biogeoscience

Ecology; Evolutionary biology; Environmental social sciences; 

Palaeobiology and palaeoecology; Biogeoscience

Energy; Aerospace; Physics of fluids; 

Environmental social sciences; Human geography

Energy; Urban studies; Human geography; 

Environmental social sciences; Physics of fluids; Aerospace 

Ecology; Evolutionary biology; Environmental social sciences; 

Marine biology; Microbiology 

Energy; Materials engineering; Chemical engineering; 

Organic chemistry; Physical chemistry 

Methodological developments in projects contributing to the selected European Green Deal areas

The main methodological development in the projects relevant for the selected European Green Deal areas is 
in the field of Computational modelling, simulations with the earth system, carbon cycle and sea level being the 
focus. Other prominent methodological developments are Experimental methods with a focus on climate 
change monitoring and CO2 emissions, and Synthetic methods with a focus on renewable energy and new 
materials.

Farm to fork

34%

Biodiversity and ecosystems

40%

Boosting climate action

64%

Clean, affordable and secure energy

73%

Sustainable and smart mobility

56%

0%

20%

40%

60%

% of projects with methodological developments

Examples of ERC-funded projects contributing 
to the selected European Green Deal areas

Award winning project SHARECITY explores urban food sharing initiatives, and how they can

become a real transformative mechanism for sustainable cities.

Food historian Dulce Freire examines the history of seeds in Europe in the project ReSEED,

which is an effort to rediscover ancient varieties that could help modern agriculture to become

more sustainable.

BIODESERT at the Dryland Ecology and Global Change Lab is led by renowned climate

change expert Fernando Maestre and includes the first global field survey focussing on how

aridity and grazing pressure changes affect dryland ecosystems.

LEGALARCHITECTURES looks into how policy makers can design environmental governance

laws to maximise compliance and involvement non-State actors in environmental governance.

BIGSEA produced the first global fishery model with interactive, dynamic management and

used it to provide the first-ever assessment of global fishery dynamics following an abrupt

climate shock.

Project urbisphere looks at cities to explore how urbanization, human behaviour and technology

impact climate change, and how urban populations are affected and adapt.

Back to table of contents

Examples of ERC-funded projects contributing 
to the selected European Green Deal areas

CC-TOP explores the Arctic Ocean to study the potential impact of methane release from

thawing permafrost to the atmosphere. The results have major relevance for future global

warming predictions.

COFLeaf focusses on new photocatalytic systems that efficiently harvest and convert light

into chemical energy such as hydrogen, opening the new research field ‘soft photocatalysis’.

NOVCARBFIX managed to engineer bacteria to use CO2 as the sole source to produce all

its biomass carbon, with important implications for agricultural productivity and renewable

energy storage.

SOLENALGAE and its proof of concept ASTAOMEGA successfully improved photosynthetic

efficiency of microalgae, bringing a 30 percent

increase in biomass. Besides potential

applications as sustainable biofuels, an innovative and commercially competitive production

platform for high value products as omega-3 and antioxidants was developed.

Scale-FreeBack aims to improve the management of large-scale road traffic networks, and

resulted in the Grenoble Traffic Lab, an experimental public platform for testing traffic

estimation, forecasting and control algorithms with real-time data.

2D4D brings together two important topics, decarbonisation and disruptive digitalisation, to

ensure that the digital revolution becomes a decarbonisation enabler and not a barrier.

ERC frontier research contribution 
to a Europe fit for the digital age

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects relevant for the selected areas of the Europe fit for the digital age. 
The projects were funded under the Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG), Advanced Grant (AdG) and 
Synergy Grant (SyG) schemes launched in the H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)* 

Foundational 
developments 
for the digital age

Advances in information 
and communication 
technologies

Areas of interest for a Europe fit for the digital age

Artificial intelligence 

Quantum technologies

Societal data science

Digital health

Cryptography 
and security

Other digital 
age-related 
research

757 ERC-funded projects, worth €1466 million

Physical sciences and engineering 
632 projects, €1226M

Life sciences 
32 projects, €75M

Social sciences and humanities 
93 projects, €165M

771 grantees lead 759 projects and are based in 22 EU Member States, 4 Associated Countries (ACs) and 2 non-EU/ACs 

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in Horizon 2020

122

116

86

57

45 44

36

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

% of grantees with number per country

EU

ACs

Non-EU/ACs

70

57

26 25

18

12 8

7

5

5

5

3

3

3

1

1

1

10

3

2

DE UK FR NL IT ES BE DK AT SE FI PL CZ HU IE LU EE PT SI CY IS RO IL CH NO TR 1

Non-EU/ACs

Host institutions with ≥16 funded projects

National Centre for Scientific Research (FR)

National Institute for Research in 
National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automatic Control (FR)
Computer Science and Automatic Control (FR)

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (CH)

Tel Aviv University (IL)

Max Planck Society (DE)

University of Oxford (UK)

University of Cambridge (UK)

University of Leuven (BE)

33

25

25

25

17

17

16

16

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs 
(≤4 grouped together)

5

7

7

9

20

22

Russia

Canada

India

Australia

United States

13 other non-EU/ACs

Number of projects

Number of grantees

*Data as of December 2021

The scientific landscape of frontier research projects contributing 
to the selected Europe fit for the digital age areas

Foundational developments 
for the digital age
118 projects, €221 million

Societal data science
64 projects, €113 million

Advances in information 
and communication technologies
43 projects, €87 million

Artificial intelligence 
301 projects, €562 million

Cryptography and security
103 projects, €185 million

Quantum technologies
98 projects, €199 million

Digital health
105 projects, €213 million

Other digital age-related research
45 projects, €110 million

The word clouds represent the most prevalent scientific fields in the pool of ERC projects 
identified as relevant for each of the selected areas of a Europe fit for the digital age. The 
total number of projects under each area as well as the budget are indicated. 
15% of the 757 projects contribute to two or more of these areas.

Back to table of contents

Scientific synergies and methodological developments 
in the selected Europe fit for the digital age areas 

Scientific synergies among Europe fit for the digital age areas

The nodes represent the selected areas of Europe fit for the digital age and their size is proportional to the 
number of projects. These areas are interconnected and the strength of this connection is represented by the 
thickness of the arc, which is proportional to the number of shared scientific fields. The most representative 
scientific fields for the main connections, highlighted with letters, are listed.

c

f

d

e

a

j

b

i

g

h

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

i

j

Applied computer science; Software engineering; 
Materials engineering 

Applied computer science; Materials engineering; 
Software engineering; Science and technology studies 

Cryptology, security, privacy; Computer systems; Software 
engineering; Applied mathematics; Electronics, photonics 

Electronics, photonics; Systems engineering; Communications 
engineering; Electronic engineering; Materials engineering 

Cryptology, security, privacy; Computer systems; 
Software engineering 

Cryptology, security, privacy; Computer systems; 
Software engineering; Web, information systems 

Systems engineering; Electronics, photonics; Communications 
engineering; Electronic engineering; Materials engineering 

Electronics, photonics; Materials engineering; 
Optics and laser physics 

Artificial intelligence; Applied computer science; 
Political science; Science and technology studies; 
Web, information systems 

Artificial intelligence; Biomedical engineering; Diagnostics; 
Control engineering 

Methodological developments in projects contributing to the selected Europe fit for the digital age areas

The main methodological development in the projects relevant for the selected Europe fit for the digital age areas 
is in the field of Computational modelling, simulations with Artificial Intelligence and complex systems being the 
focus. Other prominent methodological developments are Theoretical, mathematical methods with a focus on 
digital methods and Validation, demonstration, prototyping with a focus on digital developments and applications.

Foundational developments for the digital age

Societal data science

Advances in information and communication technologies

Artificial intelligence

Cryptography and security

Quantum technologies

Digital health

Other digital age-related research

68%

53%

84%

75%

66%

91%

80%

80%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

% of projects with methodological developments

Examples of ERC-funded projects contributing to 
the selected Europe fit for the digital age areas

COMPUTED drew on behavioural models from psychology to develop algorithms better suited to

design user interfaces, therewith improving human-computer interaction.

Using the latest techniques in Big Data, Magdalena Wojcieszak’s EXPO project analyses how

exposing people to dissimilar views in the media can be both risky and beneficial.

BNYQ is set to revolutionize the analogue-to-digital conversion systems with a crucial impact in

day-to-day applications, including ultrasound imaging and radar detection.

Tamed Cancer is a pioneering project aiming at improving personalized therapies by developing 

robust algorithms. This breakthrough concept could revitalize cancer treatment by calculating 

optimal drug dosages.  

INTERACT is developing new interactive learning algorithms to address sentences in text of 

speech that is often complex and compositional.

CIRCUS takes a comprehensive approach to cybersecurity. The team led by Karthik Bhargavan

was able to improve the Transport Layer Security protocol using downgrade cyber attacks 

simulations. 

Back to table of contents

Examples of ERC-funded projects contributing to 
the selected Europe fit for the digital age areas

SOPHIA aims to establish the scientific foundation for securing software against physical attacks,

and discovered two new security vulnerabilities in computer processors, named Meltdown and

Spectre, allowing unauthorised external access to personal data.

Grenadyn demonstrates that assemblies of imperfect, dynamical nanodevices can self-learn 

through physical principles, like biological neurons and synapses do. The team led by Julie Grollier

will produce a chip and achieve state-of-the-art recognition rates on AI image benchmarks

SPRINT made substantial advancements in surface polaritronics and Terahertz Detection with the 

ultimate goal to develop a new generation of passive mode-locked THz photonic laser resonators 

through the combination of quantum cascade laser technology with graphene

EAR proposes models linking sound to disease diagnosis. The team led by Cecilia Mascolo

launched an app to identify symptoms through voices and coughs to explore automatic diagnosis 

of COVID-19

EmbodiedTech demonstrated that the human brain can repurpose neurons to represent and 

control artificial limbs with the ultimate goal of finding the necessary conditions for the brain to 

recognise artificial limbs following an amputation. 

CALC establishes a computer-assisted framework for linguistics analysis, focussing on how 

languages convey emotion and its meaning across cultures.

ERC frontier research contribution 
to EU4Health

The European Research Council (ERC) follows a strictly bottom-up approach to funding 
research proposals, with excellence as the sole criterion for selection. The research that 
ERC grantees pursue, free of any thematic objectives, generates results that address a 
wide range of issues with significant socioeconomic, environmental and policy relevance. 
As a result, this rich and diverse portfolio of frontier research generates new knowledge 
and proposes concrete solutions for addressing some of the most pressing policy priorities 
of the European Commission. This is the case for the over 2000 projects funded by the 
ERC,  worth  more  than  €4  billion,  in  the  Horizon  2020  (H2020)  Framework  Programme 
(2014–2020) that are relevant for ‘EU4Health’.

Data as of December 2021

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ERC frontier research contribution 
to EU4Health

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects relevant for the selected areas of EU4Health. 
The projects were funded under the Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG), Advanced Grant (AdG) 
and Synergy Grant (SyG) schemes launched in the H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)* 

Cancer

Areas of interest for EU4Health

COVID-19

Other non-communicable diseases

Infectious diseases

Public health and healthcare

Tools, therapies and digital health

Other health-related research

Brain and human mind research 

2281 ERC-funded projects, worth €4613 million

Physical sciences and engineering 
408 projects, €844M

Life sciences 
1482 projects, €3046M

Social sciences and humanities 
391 projects, €723M

2377 grantees lead 2281 projects and are based in 23 EU Member States, 6 Associated Countries (ACs) and 3 non-EU/ACs 

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in Horizon 2020

20%

446

377

15%

10%

5%

0%

243

214

135

120

103 91

% of grantees with number per country

EU

ACs

Non-EU/ACs

164

142

67 63

42 39 36

12 11 9 8 4 3 2 1 1 1

25

7 3 1 7

DE UK FR NL IT ES SE BE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU EL PL SI HR LU BG CY RO CH IL NO TR IS RS 1Non-EU/ACs

Host institutions with ≥37 funded projects

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs 
(≤4 grouped together)

National Centre for Scientific Research (FR)

Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres (DE)

National Institute of Health and Medical Research (FR)

Max Planck Society (DE)

University of Cambridge (UK)

Weizmann Institute (IL)

University of Oxford (UK)

Karolinska Institute (SE)

87

69

67

67

52

49

39

37

Number of projects

Number of grantees

6

6

9

10

12

16

27

30

60

New Zealand

Russia

Japan

India

Australia

China

Canada

17 other non-EU/ACs

United States

*Data as of December 2021

The scientific landscape of frontier research projects 
contributing to the selected EU4Health areas

Cancer
527 projects, €1082 million

Other non-communicable diseases
280 projects, €550 million

Infectious diseases
222 projects, €438 million

COVID-19
192 projects, €420 million

Brain and human mind research 
600 projects, €1232 million

Public health and healthcare
316 projects, €618 million

Tools, therapies and digital health
678 projects, €1392 million

Other health-related research
299 projects, €590 million

The word clouds represent the most prevalent scientific fields in the pool of ERC 
projects identified as relevant for each of the selected areas of EU4Health. The 
total number of projects under each area as well as the budget are indicated. 
30% of the 2281 projects contribute to two or more of these areas. 

Scientific synergies and methodological developments 
in the selected EU4Health areas 

Scientific synergies among EU4Health areas

The nodes represent the selected areas of EU4Health and their size is proportional to the number of 
projects. These areas are interconnected and the strength of this connection is represented by the thickness 
of the arc, which is proportional to the number of shared scientific fields. The most representative scientific 
fields for the main connections, highlighted with letters, are listed.

d

c

e

a

b

i

j

f

g

h

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

i

j

Immunology; Genetics, Cell biology; Structural biology; 
Neuroscience 

Genetics; Immunology; Cell biology; Economics; 
Epidemiology; Neuroscience 

Immunology; Infectious diseases; Microbiology; Genetics; 
Cell biology; Structural biology; Epidemiology 

Immunology; Genetics; Cell biology; Microbiology; 
Infectious diseases; Structural biology 

Molecular biology; Cell biology; Genetics; Structural 
biology; Biochemistry; Immunology 

Cancer; Biomedical engineering; Diagnostics; 
Immunology; Pharmacology; Stem cells, regeneration 

Immunology; Cell biology; Genetics; Regenerative medicine; 
Biomedical engineering; Diagnostics; Molecular biology 

Immunology; Cell biology; Genetics; Molecular biology; 
Structural biology 

Immunology; Pathophysiology; Cell biology; Genetics; 
Biomedical engineering; Diagnostics; Molecular biology 

Cell biology; Genetics; Pathophysiology; Biomedical 
engineering; Diagnostics; Molecular biology 

Methodological developments in projects contributing to the selected EU4Health areas

The main methodological development in the projects relevant for the selected EU4Health areas is in the 
field of Computational modelling, simulations with in silico model and machine learning being the focus. 
Other prominent methodological developments are Experimental methods with a focus on imaging and 
microscopy and Animal models with a focus on humanized and engineered mouse models.

Other non-communicable diseases

Cancer

Infectious diseases

COVID-19

Brain and human mind research

Public health and healthcare

Tools, therapies and digital health

Other health-related research

37%

36%

31%

44%

29%

28%

70%

41%

0%

20%

40%

60%

% of projects with methodological developments 

Examples of projects contributing 
to the selected EU4Health areas

ERC grantee Irmela Jeremias’ LeukaemiaTargeted project focusses on effective leukaemia 

treatment. Their work introduces molecular target validation as an important step for precision 

medicine. 

At the University of Cyprus, Triantafyllos Stylianopoulos focusses on biomechanical aspects of 

tumour microenvironment to predict immunotherapy outcome. Their team developed a 

mathematical model for this Immuno-Predictor project that was also used to study COVID-19 

disease progression.

Nuria Montserrat studies kidney diseases and in particular how to regenerate mammal’s kidneys 

by modelling genetic kidney disorders. The engineered mini-organs developed with the 

REGMAMKID project have served as model to study SARS-CoV-2 infection. 

With vAMRes, Rino Rappuoli originally tackled antibiotic resistance through the technology of 

reverse vaccinology, which was then used to screen for preventive and therapeutic tools against 

SARS-CoV-2.

Csaba Pál’s resistance evolution project and its proof of concept Aware provide unprecedented

knowledge about antibiotic resistance evolution and tools to identify at an early stage of drug

development antibiotic agents that are less prone to resistance growth.

Madeleine Lowery's DBSModel project and its proof of concept DBScontrol aimed at improving the 

control of Parkinson’s disease symptoms by advancing the use of closed-loop deep brain 

stimulation.

Examples of projects contributing 
to the selected EU4Health areas

Juergen Knoblich’s MiniBrain generated brain organoids, a highly cost-effective tool

in the

discovery and development of therapies for neurodegenerative and developmental diseases.

The AGNES project studied the determinants and modifiers of active ageing, including a study on

the quality of life during COVID-19 pandemic.

Maria Collado studies the mechanisms behind the protective role of maternal microbes on the 

baby’s health. Their MAMI project opens up possibilities for research and applications in the field 

of personalized nutrition and medicine, for mothers and infants.

SmartCardiacPatch engineered a miniature heart, 3D-printed using biological materials from 

human patients, together with the next generation smart implantable cardiac patches to enable 

monitoring the organ in real-time.

Daniel Miller leads a world-wide SmartPhoneSmartAging project examining the global impact of 

new social media and how the rise of the smartphone is changing people’s relationship to age and 

health. 

The GutBCells project developed techniques to visualize the immune system and study the 

antibody immune response in the gut.

ERC Frontier Research 

in Life Sciences

This series of factsheets provides an overview of the projects funded 

by the European Research Council (ERC), in the Life Sciences domain, 

in the H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)

Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Structural Biology 

and Molecular Biophysics (LS1)

Genetics, ‘Omics’, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology (LS2)

Cellular and Developmental Biology (LS3)

Physiology, Pathophysiology and Endocrinology (LS4)

Neuroscience and Neural Disorders (LS5)

Immunity and Infection (LS6)

Applied Medical Technologies, Diagnostics,  

Therapies and Public Health (LS7)

Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology (LS8)

Applied Life Sciences, Biotechnology  

and Molecular and Biosystems Engineering (LS9)

Data as of December 2021

LS

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©

 
 
 
 
 
 
ERC Frontier Research 
in Life Sciences

This series of factsheets provides an overview of the projects funded 
by the European Research Council (ERC), in the Life Sciences domain, 
in the H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)

Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Structural Biology 
and Molecular Biophysics (LS1)

Genetics, ‘Omics’, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology (LS2)

Cellular and Developmental Biology (LS3)

Physiology, Pathophysiology and Endocrinology (LS4)

Neuroscience and Neural Disorders (LS5)

Immunity and Infection (LS6)

Applied Medical Technologies, Diagnostics,  
Therapies and Public Health (LS7)

Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology (LS8)

Applied Life Sciences, Biotechnology  
and Molecular and Biosystems Engineering (LS9)

Data as of December 2021

LS

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Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, 
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics (LS1)

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in the ‘Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Structural Biology 

and Molecular Biophysics’ panel in the Life Sciences (LS) domain (see ERC panel structure). The projects were 

funded under the Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) and Advanced Grant (AdG) calls launched in the 

H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)*

1356 applications
(2.5% of total)

188 projects funded
(2.8% of total)

70 projects
(€108M)

62 projects
(€124M)

56 projects
(€120M)

55 female grantees
(29% of grantees in this panel)

€352 million budget

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries in H2020

The 188 funded projects (numbers in the graph) are in 15 EU Member States and 3 Associated Countries (ACs)

47

32

26

15

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects in this panel

11 10

7

3 2 3

1

1

2 1

1

19

6

1

UK DE FR NL ES IT BE SE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU PL EL LU SI RO EE CY HR LT CH IL NO TR IS RS UA

Host institutions with ≥6 funded projects

National Centre for Scientific Research (FR)

16

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs
(≤3 grouped together)

Max Planck Society (DE)

13

University of Munich (DE)

8

Francis Crick Institute (UK)

University of Geneva (CH)

7

6

Number of projects

4

United States

9

6 other non-EU/ACs

Number of projects

*Data as of December 2021

Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics (LS1)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

Most-used disciplines

Molecular biology

Structural biology

% of projects

71%

55%

Biochemistry

40%

Cell biology

31%

Biophysics

18%

Microbiology

7%

Genetics

7%

Most-used topics
Molecular interactions

DNA biology

Protein biology

Cell differentiation

RNA biology

Genome organisation

Cell cycle

% of projects

32%

31%

27%

18%

15%

14%

13%

 Molecular biology, Cell biology, Cell signaling and communication, and Protein biology grew in use from 2014 to 2020

 Molecular biology, Biochemistry, Genome organisation and Cell cycle were used more in StG projects compared to

those funded in CoG and AdG schemes, while DNA biology was used more in AdG projects

 Around 1/4 of

the projects in this panel generate methodological developments, Biochemistry techniques, Single

molecule approaches and Structural biology techniques are the main ones

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 
which is proportional to the number of times they appear together

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 
proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 LS domain: the main interactions are with the Genetics, ’Omics’,
and
Bioinformatics
Developmental Biology
Life Sciences,
Biotechnology, and Molecular and Biosystems Engineering (LS9)
panels through the disciplines Cell biology, Molecular biology and
Biophysics

and Systems Biology
(LS3),

(LS2), Cellular

and Applied

 SH domain: the interaction is not very strong, but there is some
connection with The Human Mind and Its Complexity (SH4) panel

 PE domain:

the main interactions are with the Physical and
Analytical Chemical Sciences (PE4), Condensed Matter Physics
(PE3), and Products and Processes Engineering (PE8) panels
through the disciplines Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural
biology

ERC projects funded in the LS1 panel

Back to table of contents
Back to cover

Genetics, ‘Omics’, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology (LS2)

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in the ‘Genetics, ‘Omics’, Bioinformatics and 

Systems Biology’ panel in the Life Sciences (LS) domain (see ERC panel structure). The projects were 

funded under the Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) and Advanced Grant (AdG) calls launched 

in the H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)*

1466 applications
(2.7% of total)

192 projects funded
(2.9% of total)

84 projects
(€127M)

65 projects
(€132M)

43 projects
(€103M)

47 female grantees
(24% of grantees in this panel)

€362 million budget

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries in H2020

The 192 funded projects (numbers in the graph) are in 16 EU Member States and 2 Associated Countries (ACs)

33

23

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

18 18

12

11

7

7

4 5

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects
% of H2020 ERC-funded projects in this panel

30

18

1 1 1

1 1 1

UK DE FR NL ES IT BE SE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU PL EL LU SI RO EE CY HR LT CH IL NO TR IS RS UA

Host institutions with ≥5 funded projects

Weizmann Institute (IL)

17

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs
(≤3 grouped together)

National Centre for Scientific Research (FR)

European Molecular Biology Laboratory (DE)

Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres (DE)

Tel Aviv University (IL)

University of Copenhagen (DK)

Max Planck Society (DE)

10

9

9

6

6

5

4

United States

8

China

11

7 other non-EU/ACs

Number of projects

Number of projects

*Data as of December 2021

Genetics, ‘Omics’, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology  (LS2)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

Most-used disciplines

% of projects

Most-used topics

% of projects

Genetics

Omics

Molecular biology

Computational biology

Developmental biology

Systems biology

Cell biology

63%

33%

28%

18%

17%

16%

16%

Gene regulation

Epigenetics

32%

32%

RNA biology

23%

DNA biology

16%

Genome organisation

Protein biology

Cell differentiation

13%

12%

11%

 Computational biology, Bioinformatics and Microbiota grew in use from 2014 to 2020

 Omics, Computational biology, Systems biology and Gene regulation were used more in StG projects
compared to those funded in CoG and AdG schemes, while Epigenetics, RNA biology and Protein biology
were used more in CoG projects

 Around 1/4 of the projects in this panel generate methodological developments. Computational modelling,

simulations, Omics, and DNA and RNA analysis are the main ones

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 
which is proportional to the number of times they appear together

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 
proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 LS domain:

the main interactions are with the Cellular and
Developmental Biology
(LS3), Physiology, Pathophysiology and
Endocrinology (LS4), and Applied Life Sciences, Biotechnology, and
Molecular and Biosystems Engineering (LS9) panels through the
disciplines Genetics, Molecular biology and Developmental biology

 SH domain:

there is some
the interaction is not very strong, but
connection with The Human Mind and Its Complexity (SH4) panel
through the disciplines Neuroscience and Evolutionary biology

 PE domain: the main interactions are with the Physical and Analytical
Chemical Sciences (PE4), and Products and Processes Engineering
(PE8) panels through the discipline Biochemistry

ERC projects funded in the LS2 panel

Back to table of contents
Back to cover

Stem cells, regeneration

24%

Molecular biology

22%

Genetics

16%

Biophysics

15%

Embryology

Cell cycle

Developmental genetics

Organelle biology

21%

20%

20%

17%

17%

 Molecular biology, Biophysics, Cell signaling and communication, and Organelle biology grew in use from

2014 to 2020

 Cell biology, Cell differentiation and Cell cycle were used more in StG projects compared to those funded in

CoG and AdG schemes, while Developmental biology, Genetics, Embryology and Developmental genetics

were used more in AdG projects

 Around 1/3 of the projects in this panel generate methodological developments. Mathematical modelling,

Computational modelling, simulations, and Cell and tissue studies are the main ones

Cellular and Developmental Biology (LS3)

Cellular and Developmental Biology (LS3)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in the ‘Cellular and Developmental Biology’ 

panel in the Life Sciences (LS) domain (see ERC panel structure). The projects were funded under the 

Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) and Advanced Grant (AdG) calls launched in the 

H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)*

Most-used disciplines

% of projects

Most-used topics

% of projects

Cell biology

77%

Cell differentiation

41%

Developmental biology

47%

Cell signalling and communication

1300 applications
(2.4% of total)

177 projects funded
(2.7% of total)

70 projects
(€107M)

60 projects
(€122M)

47 projects
(€116M)

56 female grantees
(32% of grantees in this panel)

€345 million budget

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries in H2020

The 177 funded projects (numbers in the graph) are in 14 EU Member States and 4 Associated Countries (ACs)

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 

which is proportional to the number of times they appear together 

25%

20%

40

30

15%

24

10%

5%

0%

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects in this panel

12

11

9

3 4

1

3 4

7

2

17

7

1

1 1

UK DE FR NL ES IT BE SE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU PL EL LU SI RO EE CY HR LT CH IL NO TR IS RS UA

Host institutions with ≥6 funded projects

Max Planck Society (DE)

National Centre for Scientific Research (FR)

Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (BE)

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (NL)

University of Cambridge (UK)

17

17

7

6

6

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs
(≤3 grouped together)

9

United States

11

6 other non-EU/ACs

Number of projects

Number of projects

*Data as of December 2021

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 

proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 LS domain:

the main interactions are with the Genetics,

’Omics’,

Bioinformatics and Systems Biology

(LS2), Molecular Biology,

Biochemistry, Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics (LS1), and

Physiology, Pathophysiology and Endocrinology (LS4) panels through

the disciplines Cell biology, Molecular biology and Developmental

biology

 SH domain:

the interaction is not very strong, but

there is some

connection with The Human Mind and Its Complexity (SH4) panel

through the discipline Evolutionary biology

 PE domain:

the main interactions are with Physical and Analytical

Chemical Sciences (PE4), and Products and Processes Engineering

(PE8) panels through the disciplines Biophysics and Biochemistry

ERC projects funded in the LS3 panel

Back to cover

Cellular and Developmental Biology (LS3)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

Most-used disciplines

% of projects

Most-used topics

% of projects

Cell biology

77%

Cell differentiation

41%

Developmental biology

47%

Cell signalling and communication

Stem cells, regeneration

24%

Molecular biology

22%

Genetics

16%

Biophysics

15%

Embryology

Cell cycle

Developmental genetics

Organelle biology

21%

20%

20%

17%

17%

 Molecular biology, Biophysics, Cell signaling and communication, and Organelle biology grew in use from

2014 to 2020

 Cell biology, Cell differentiation and Cell cycle were used more in StG projects compared to those funded in
CoG and AdG schemes, while Developmental biology, Genetics, Embryology and Developmental genetics
were used more in AdG projects

 Around 1/3 of the projects in this panel generate methodological developments. Mathematical modelling,

Computational modelling, simulations, and Cell and tissue studies are the main ones

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 
which is proportional to the number of times they appear together 

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 
proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 LS domain:

the main interactions are with the Genetics,

’Omics’,
Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
(LS2), Molecular Biology,
Biochemistry, Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics (LS1), and
Physiology, Pathophysiology and Endocrinology (LS4) panels through
the disciplines Cell biology, Molecular biology and Developmental
biology

 SH domain:

there is some
the interaction is not very strong, but
connection with The Human Mind and Its Complexity (SH4) panel
through the discipline Evolutionary biology

 PE domain:

the main interactions are with Physical and Analytical
Chemical Sciences (PE4), and Products and Processes Engineering
(PE8) panels through the disciplines Biophysics and Biochemistry

ERC projects funded in the LS3 panel

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Physiology, Pathophysiology and Endocrinology (LS4)

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in the ‘Physiology, Pathophysiology and 

Endocrinology’ panel in the Life Sciences (LS) domain (see ERC panel structure). The projects were funded 

under the Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) and Advanced Grant (AdG) calls launched in the 

H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)*

1882 applications
(3.5% of total)

238 projects funded
(3.6% of total)

95 projects
(€146M)

83 projects
(€165M)

60 projects
(€148M)

74 female grantees
(31% of grantees in this panel)

€459 million budget

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries in H2020

The 238 funded projects (numbers in the graph) are in 16 EU Member States and 3 Associated Countries (ACs)

25%

20%

53

15%

31

10%

5%

0%

24

26

17

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects in this panel

10 11

7 7 7

4

2 3

1

2 2

18

12

1

UK DE FR NL ES IT BE SE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU PL EL LU SI RO EE CY HR LT CH IL NO TR IS RS UA

Host institutions with ≥6 funded projects

National Institute of Health and Medical Research (FR)

Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres (DE)

14

12

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs
(≤3 grouped together)

Max Planck Society (DE)

University of Cambridge (UK)

Weizmann Institute (IL)

Francis Crick Institute (UK)

Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL)

Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (ES)

7

7

6

6

6

6

16

12 other non-EU/ACs

Number of projects

Number of projects

*Data as of December 2021

Physiology, Pathophysiology and Endocrinology  (LS4)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

Most-used disciplines

% of projects

Most-used topics

% of projects

53%

47%

Pathophysiology

Cancer

Metabolism

Cardiovascular systems

Genetics

Cell biology

Physiology

24%

22%

19%

18%

18%

Tumourigenesis

Metabolic diseases

Epigenetics

Cell signalling and communication

Tumour niche and microenvironment

Vascular systems

Cell differentiation

18%

17%

14%

13%

13%

12%

12%

 Genetics, Cell biology, and Cell signalling and communication grew in use from 2014 to 2020

 Physiology was used more in StG projects compared to those funded in CoG and AdG schemes, while
Tumourigenesis and Vascular systems were used more in CoG projects and Cell biology and Cell
differentiation were used more in AdG projects

 Around 1/5 of the projects in this panel generate methodological developments. Animal models for cancer

and Biostatistics are the main ones

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 
which is proportional to the number of times they appear together

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 
proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 LS domain:

the main interactions are with the Applied Medical
Technologies, Diagnostics, Therapies and Public Health (LS7),
’Omics’, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology (LS2), and
Genetics,
Immunity and Infection (LS6) panels through the disciplines Cancer,
Genetics, Cardiovascular systems and Cell biology

 SH domain:

there is some
the interaction is not very strong, but
connection with The Human Mind and Its Complexity (SH4) panel
through the discipline Neuroscience

 PE domain:

the interaction is not very strong, but
connection with the Products and Processes Engineering (PE8) panel

there is some

ERC projects funded in the LS4 panel

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Neuroscience and Neural Disorders (LS5)

Neuroscience and Neural Disorders (LS5)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in the ‘Neuroscience and Neural Disorders’ 

Most-used disciplines

% of projects

Most-used topics

% of projects

panel in the Life Sciences (LS) domain (see ERC panel structure). The projects were funded under the 

Neuroscience

88%

Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) and Advanced Grant (AdG) calls launched in the 

Cognitive neuroscience

18%

H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)*

2093 applications
(3.9% of total)

284 projects funded
(4.3% of total)

122 projects
(€181M)

92 projects
(€179M)

70 projects
(€169M)

92 female grantees
(32% of grantees in this panel)

€529 million budget

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries in H2020

The 284 funded projects (numbers in the graph) are in 14 EU Member States and 3 Associated Countries (ACs)

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 

which is proportional to the number of times they appear together

Cell biology

13%

Physiology

6%

Developmental biology

4%

Molecular biology

Stem cells, regeneration

Genetics

2%

2%

2%

Systems and computational 

Systems and computational…

neuroscience

Neural cell function

Neural development

Sensation and perception

Neural basis of cognition

Behavioural neurosciences

36%

32%

27%

23%

21%

20%

Neurological disorders

19%

 Cognitive neuroscience and Neural cell function grew in use from 2014 to 2020

 Cognitive neuroscience, Cell biology, Molecular biology, Sensation and perception, Behavioural

neurosciences and Neurological disorders were used more in CoG projects compared to those funded in

StG and AdG schemes, while Neural cell function was used more in AdG projects

 Around 1/5 of the projects in this panel generate methodological developments. Animal models, and DNA,

RNA and protein delivery are the main ones

65

44

39

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects in this panel

13 11

7 5

8 8

3

2

11

7

1

32

26

2

UK DE FR NL ES IT BE SE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU PL EL LU SI RO EE CY HR LT CH IL NO TR IS RS UA

Host institutions with ≥9 funded projects

National Institute of Health and Medical Research (FR)

16

Max Planck Society (DE)

National Centre for Scientific Research (FR)

University College London (UK)

Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres (DE)

Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL)

Weizmann Institute (IL)

13

13

12

10

9

9

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs
(≤3 grouped together)

4

5

Australia

Japan

10

11

7 other non-EU/ACs

United States

Number of projects

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 

proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 LS domain:

the main interactions are with the Physiology,

Pathophysiology

and

Endocrinology

(LS4),

Applied Medical

Technologies, Diagnostics, Therapies and Public Health (LS7), and

Genetics, ’Omics’, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology (LS2) panels

through the disciplines Cell biology, Neuroscience and Physiology

 SH domain:

the interaction is not very strong, but

there is some

connection with The Human Mind and Its Complexity (SH4) panel

through the discipline Cognitive neuroscience

 PE domain:

the interaction is not very strong, but

there is some

connection with the Products and Processes Engineering (PE8) panel

Number of projects

*Data as of December 2021

ERC projects funded in the LS5 panel

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Neuroscience and Neural Disorders (LS5)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

Most-used disciplines

% of projects

Neuroscience

88%

Cognitive neuroscience

18%

Cell biology

13%

Physiology

6%

Developmental biology

4%

Molecular biology

Stem cells, regeneration

Genetics

2%

2%

2%

Most-used topics
Systems and computational 
neuroscience
Neural cell function

Systems and computational…

% of projects

36%

32%

Neural development

Sensation and perception

Neural basis of cognition

Behavioural neurosciences

27%

23%

21%

20%

Neurological disorders

19%

 Cognitive neuroscience and Neural cell function grew in use from 2014 to 2020

 Cognitive neuroscience, Cell biology, Molecular biology, Sensation and perception, Behavioural
neurosciences and Neurological disorders were used more in CoG projects compared to those funded in
StG and AdG schemes, while Neural cell function was used more in AdG projects

 Around 1/5 of the projects in this panel generate methodological developments. Animal models, and DNA,

RNA and protein delivery are the main ones

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 
which is proportional to the number of times they appear together

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 
proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 LS domain:

the main interactions are with the Physiology,
Pathophysiology
Applied Medical
Technologies, Diagnostics, Therapies and Public Health (LS7), and
Genetics, ’Omics’, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology (LS2) panels
through the disciplines Cell biology, Neuroscience and Physiology

Endocrinology

(LS4),

and

 SH domain:

there is some
the interaction is not very strong, but
connection with The Human Mind and Its Complexity (SH4) panel
through the discipline Cognitive neuroscience

 PE domain:

the interaction is not very strong, but
connection with the Products and Processes Engineering (PE8) panel

there is some

ERC projects funded in the LS5 panel

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Immunity and Infection (LS6)

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in the ‘Immunity and Infection’ panel in 

the Life Sciences (LS) domain (see ERC panel structure). The projects were funded under the 

Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) and Advanced Grant (AdG) calls launched in the 

H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)*

1442 applications
(2.7% of total)

187 projects funded
(2.8% of total)

73 projects
(€111M)

63 projects
(€130M)

51 projects
(€121M)

55 female grantees
(29% of grantees in this panel)

€362 million budget

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries in H2020

The 187 funded projects (numbers in the graph) are in 15 EU Member States and 2 Associated Countries (ACs)

54

26

26

35%

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects in this panel

9

7 8 10

1

3 3 1 3

7

1

1

16

11

UK DE FR NL ES IT BE SE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU PL EL LU SI RO EE CY HR LT CH IL NO TR IS RS UA

Host institutions with ≥5 funded projects

National Institute of Health and Medical Research (FR)

11

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs
(≤3 grouped together)

National Centre for Scientific Research (FR)

Weizmann Institute (IL)

Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres (DE)

University of Munich (DE)

Karolinska Institute (SE)

Max Planck Society (DE)

8

8

6

6

5

5

4

United States

6

6 other non-EU/ACs

Number of projects

Number of projects

*Data as of December 2021

Immunity and Infection (LS6)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

Most-used disciplines

% of projects

Most-used topics

% of projects

Immunology

Microbiology

Genetics

Cell biology

Infectious diseases

72%

45%

32%

32%

28%

Structural biology

11%

Cancer

10%

Innate immunity

Adaptive immunity

Immunological disease mechanisms

Mechanisms of infection

33%

32%

28%

27%

Gene regulation

18%

Bacteria

13%

Cell differentiation

12%

 Structural biology and Immune response regulation grew in use from 2014 to 2020

 Microbiology, Genetics, Cell biology and Gene regulation were used more in StG and CoG projects
compared to those funded in AdG scheme, while Cancer and Immunological disease mechanisms were
used more in AdG projects

 Around 1/5 of the projects in this panel generate methodological developments. Animal models and Cell and

tissue studies are the main ones

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 
which is proportional to the number of times they appear together

Synergies with other panels and domains based on shared disciplines

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, 
which are proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 LS domain:

the main interactions are with the Physiology,
Pathophysiology
’Omics’,
Bioinformatics and Systems Biology (LS2), and Applied Medical
Technologies, Diagnostics, Therapies and Public Health (LS7) panels
through the disciplines Genetics, Immunology and Cell biology

and Endocrinology

(LS4), Genetics,

 SH domain:

there is some
the interaction is not very strong, but
connection with The Human Mind and Its Complexity (SH4) panel
through the discipline Neuroscience

 PE domain:

there is some
the interaction is not very strong, but
connection with the Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences (PE4)
panel through the discipline Structural biology

ERC projects funded in the LS6 panel

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Applied Medical Technologies, Diagnostics, 
Therapies and Public Health (LS7)

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in the ‘Applied Medical Technologies, Diagnostics, 

Therapies and Public Health’ panel in the Life Sciences (LS) domain (see ERC panel structure). The projects were 

funded under the Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) and Advanced Grant (AdG) calls launched in the 

H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)*

3015 applications
(5.6% of total)

345 projects funded
(5.2% of total)

143 projects
(€219M)

118 projects
(€236M)

84 projects
(€207M)

104 female grantees
(30% of grantees in this panel)

€662 million budget

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries in H2020

The 345 funded projects (numbers in the graph) are in 14 EU Member States and 4 Associated Countries (ACs)

20%

15%

47

49

10%

31

27

5%

0%

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects in this panel

41

19 19

14

16

9 9

7

1

2

25

19

8

2

UK DE FR NL ES IT BE SE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU PL EL LU SI RO EE CY HR LT CH IL NO TR IS RS UA

Host institutions with ≥9 funded projects

Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres (DE)

12

Karolinska Institute (SE)

20

Leiden University Medical Center (NL)

Lund University (SE)

National Institute of Health and Medical Research (FR)

Tel Aviv University (IL)

University Medical Center Utrecht (NL)

University of Helsinki (FI)

10

10

10

9

9

9

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs
(≤3 grouped together)

4

China

8

4 other non-EU/ACs

Number of projects

Number of projects

*Data as of December 2021

Applied Medical Technologies, Diagnostics, Therapies and Public Health (LS7)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

Most-used disciplines

% of projects

Most-used topics

% of projects

Diagnostics

Cancer

Pharmacology

Biomedical engineering

Epidemiology

Immunology

Public health

27%

26%

20%

20%

17%

15%

15%

Drug design and delivery

Biomarkers

Immunotherapy

Gene therapy

Immunological disease mechanisms

Stem cell biology

16%

14%

8%

8%

8%

8%

 Immunology, Immunotherapy and Cell therapy grew in use from 2014 to 2020

 Biomedical engineering, Public health and Biomarkers were used more in StG projects compared to those
funded in CoG and AdG schemes, while Cancer, Pharmacology, Immunology, Immunotherapy and Gene
therapy were used more in AdG projects

 Around half of

the projects in this panel generate methodological developments. Animal models for

developing and testing therapies, and Whole organism imaging are the main ones

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 
which is proportional to the number of times they appear together

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 
proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 LS domain:

the main interactions are with the Physiology,
Pathophysiology
’Omics’,
Bioinformatics and Systems Biology (LS2), and Immunity and Infection
Immunology,
(LS6)
Cardiovascular systems and Genetics

disciplines Cancer,

and Endocrinology

(LS4), Genetics,

through

panels

the

 SH domain:

there is some
the interaction is not very strong, but
connection with The Social World, Diversity, Population (SH3), and The
Human Mind and Its Complexity (SH4) panels through the disciplines
Public health and Neuroscience

 PE domain: the main interactions are with the Products and Processes
Engineering (PE8), and Systems and Communication Engineering
(PE7) panels through the discipline Biomedical engineering

ERC projects funded in the LS7 panel

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Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology (LS8)

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in the ‘Ecology, Evolution and Environmental 

Biology’ panel in the Life Sciences (LS) domain (see ERC panel structure). The projects were funded 

under the Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) and Advanced Grant (AdG) calls launched in the 

H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)*

2014 applications
(3.7% of total)

259 projects funded
(3.9% of total)

110 projects
(€167M)

91 projects
(€183M)

58 projects
(€143M)

97 female grantees
(37% of grantees in this panel)

€493 million budget

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries in H2020

The 259 funded projects (numbers in the graph) are in 15 EU Member States and 3 Associated Countries (ACs)

66

30

26

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects
% of H2020 ERC-funded projects in this panel

14 12

17

13

6

3

6 4 6 4 4 3

24

14

7

UK DE FR NL ES IT BE SE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU PL EL LU SI RO EE CY HR LT CH IL NO TR IS RS UA

Host institutions with ≥7 funded projects

National Centre for Scientific Research (FR)

26

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs
(≤3 grouped together)

Lund University (SE)

University of Oxford (UK)

University of Vienna (AT)

Max Planck Society (DE)

University of Exeter (UK)

University of Edinburgh (UK)

9

9

9

8

8

7

5

Canada

7

6 other non-EU/ACs

17

United States

Number of projects

Number of projects

*Data as of December 2021

Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology (LS8)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

Most-used disciplines

Evolutionary biology

% of projects

73%

Ecology

40%

Genetics

20%

Microbiology

17%

Population biology

10%

Marine biology

8%

Most-used topics

% of projects

Evolutionary processes

Species interactions

31%

30%

Evolutionary ecology

22%

Behavioural ecology and evolution

16%

Ecosystem and community ecology

15%

Population genetics

14%

 Population biology, Microbiology and Evolutionary processes grew in use from 2014 to 2020

 Ecology, Population biology, and Ecosystem and community ecology were used more in StG projects
compared to those funded in CoG and AdG schemes, while Evolutionary processes and Population genetics
were used more in CoG projects and Microbiology, Marine biology and Evolutionary ecology were used
more in AdG projects

 Around 1/3 of the projects in this panel generate methodological developments. Computational modelling,

simulations and Statistical methods are the main ones

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 
which is proportional to the number of times they appear together

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 
proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 LS domain:

the main interactions are with the Genetics,

’Omics’,
Bioinformatics and Systems Biology (LS2),
Immunity and Infection
(LS6), and Applied Life Sciences, Biotechnology, and Molecular and
Biosystems Engineering (LS9) panels through the disciplines Genetics,
Microbiology and Evolutionary biology

 SH domain:

the interaction is not very strong, but

there are some
connections with The Study of the Human Past (SH6) and The Social
World, Diversity, Population (SH3) panels through the disciplines
Palaeobiology and palaeoecology, and Ecology

 PE domain:

there is some
the interaction is not very strong, but
connection with the Earth System Science (PE10) panel through the
disciplines Biogeoscience, and Palaeobiology and palaeoecology

ERC projects funded in the LS8 panel

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Applied Life Sciences, Biotechnology, 
and Molecular and Biosystems Engineering (LS9)

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in the ‘Applied Life Sciences, Biotechnology, and 

Molecular and Biosystems Engineering’ panel in the Life Sciences (LS) domain (see ERC panel structure).

The projects were funded under the Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) and Advanced Grant 

(AdG) calls launched in the H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)*

1460 applications
(2.7% of total)

194 projects funded
(2.9% of total)

85 projects
(€131M)

68 projects
(€135M)

41 projects
(€104M)

64 female grantees
(33% of grantees in this panel)

€370 million budget

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries in H2020

The 194 funded projects (numbers in the graph) are in 18 EU Member States and 3 Associated Countries (ACs)

30%

25%

51

20%

34

15%

10%

5%

0%

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects in this panel

16

10 11

8 7

4

5 4

3

4

17

13

1 1 1 1

1

1

1

UK DE FR NL ES IT BE SE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU PL EL LU SI RO EE CY HR LT CH IL NO TR IS RS UA

Host institutions with ≥5 funded projects

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (CH)

Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres (DE)

Max Planck Society (DE)

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (IL)

National Centre for Scientific Research (FR)

8

7

7

5

5

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs
(≤3 grouped together)

4

Canada

8

8

United States

6 other non-EU/ACs

Number of projects

Number of projects

*Data as of December 2021

Applied Life Sciences, Biotechnology, and Molecular and Biosystems Engineering (LS9)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

Most-used disciplines

% of projects

Most-used topics

% of projects

Biotechnology

Applied life sciences

41%

41%

Molecular biology

19%

Genetics

18%

Agriculture

16%

Microbiology

12%

Synthetic biology

27%

Applied plant sciences

21%

Chemical biology

Plant immunity

Species interactions

8%

7%

7%

Protein biology

7%

 Applied life sciences, Agriculture and Molecular interactions grew in use from 2014 to 2020

 Genetics, Microbiology and Species interactions were used more in StG projects compared to those funded
in CoG and AdG schemes, while Protein biology were used more in CoG projects and Agriculture, Applied
plant sciences and Chemical biology in AdG projects

 Around 1/3 of the projects in this panel generate methodological developments. Computational modelling,

simulations and Biochemistry techniques are the main ones

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 
which is proportional to the number of times they appear together

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 
proportional to the number of shared disciplines

and Systems Biology

the main interactions are with the Genetics,

 LS domain:
’Omics’,
Bioinformatics
(LS2), Applied Medical
Technologies, Diagnostics, Therapies and Public Health (LS7), and
Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Structural Biology and Molecular
Biophysics (LS1) panels through the disciplines Molecular biology,
Genetics, Biochemistry and Cell biology

 SH domain:

the interaction is not very strong, but

there are some
connections with The Human Mind and Its Complexity (SH4), and The
Social World, Diversity, Population (SH3) panels

 PE domain: the main interactions are with the Products and Processes
Engineering (PE8), and Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences
(PE4) panels through the disciplines Biochemistry and Biotechnology

ERC projects funded in the LS9 panel

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ERC Frontier Research 

in Physical Sciences and Engineering

This series of factsheets provides an overview of the projects funded  

by the European Research Council (ERC), in the Physical Sciences  

and Engineering domain, in the H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)

Mathematics (PE1)

Fundamental Constituents of Matter (PE2)

Condensed Matter Physics (PE3)

Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences (PE4)

Synthetic Chemistry and Materials (PE5)

Computer Science and Informatics (PE6)

Systems and Communication Engineering (PE7)

Products and Processes Engineering (PE8)

Universe Sciences (PE9)

Earth System Science (PE10)

Data as of December 2021

PE

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2

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e

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©

 
 
 
 
 
 
ERC Frontier Research 
in Physical Sciences and Engineering

This series of factsheets provides an overview of the projects funded  
by the European Research Council (ERC), in the Physical Sciences  
and Engineering domain, in the H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)

Mathematics (PE1)

Fundamental Constituents of Matter (PE2)

Condensed Matter Physics (PE3)

Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences (PE4)

Synthetic Chemistry and Materials (PE5)

Computer Science and Informatics (PE6)

Systems and Communication Engineering (PE7)

Products and Processes Engineering (PE8)

Universe Sciences (PE9)

Earth System Science (PE10)

Data as of December 2021

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Mathematics (PE1)

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in the ‘Mathematics’ panel in the Physical 

Sciences and Engineering (PE) domain (see ERC panel structure). The projects were funded under 

the Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) and Advanced Grant (AdG) calls launched in the 

H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)*

1836 applications
(3.4% of total)

231 projects funded
(3.5% of total)

92 projects
(€115M)

76 projects
(€118M)

63 projects
(€120M)

29 female grantees
(13% of grantees in this panel)

€353 million budget

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries in H2020

The 231 funded projects (numbers in the graph) are in 17 EU Member States and 3 Associated Countries (ACs)

50

48

26

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects in this panel

12 12

2

8

5 4

3 4

1 1 1

4

2

1

29

17

1

UK DE FR NL ES IT BE SE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU PL EL LU SI RO EE CY HR LT CH IL NO TR IS RS UA

Host institutions with ≥7 funded projects

National Centre for Scientific Research (FR)

27

Tel Aviv University (IL)

13

University of Cambridge (UK)

University of Oxford (UK)

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (CH)

Sorbonne University (FR)

University of Edinburgh (UK)

11

11

9

7

7

Number of projects

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs
(≤3 grouped together)

8

8

6 other non-EU/ACs

United States

Number of projects

*Data as of December 2021

Mathematics (PE1)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

Most-used disciplines

% of projects

Analysis

36%

Mathematical physics

28%

Probability

Algebraic geometry

Geometry

22%

20%

20%

Algebra

19%

Most-used topics

% of projects

Differential equations

27%

Group theory

Combinatorics

Varieties

Graph theory

Cohomology

Manifolds

17%

16%

12%

11%

10%

10%

 Algebraic geometry and Varieties grew in use from 2014 to 2020

 Geometry, Mathematical Physics, Differential equations and Graph theory were used more in StG projects
compared to those funded in CoG and AdG schemes, while Discrete mathematics and Stochastic Processes
were used more in CoG projects and Number theory, Applied mathematics and Quantum Field Theory in AdG
projects

 A high number of projects in this panel generate methodological developments. Analytic methods, Geometric

methods and Probabilistic methods are the main ones

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 
which is proportional to the number of times they appear together

Cryptology, security, privacy

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 
proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 PE domain: the main interactions are with the Computer Science and
Informatics (PE6), Systems and Communication Engineering (PE7), and
(PE2) panels through the
Fundamental Constituents of Matter
disciplines Mathematical physics, Applied mathematics and Discrete
mathematics

 LS domain: the interaction is not very strong, there are no particular

panels or disciplines highlighting any synergy

 SH domain: the interaction is not very strong, there are no particular

panels or disciplines highlighting any synergy

ERC projects funded in the PE1 panel

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Fundamental Constituents of Matter (PE2)

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in the ‘Fundamental Constituents of Matter’ panel 

in the Physical Sciences and Engineering (PE) domain (see ERC panel structure). The projects were funded 

under the Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) and Advanced Grant (AdG) calls launched in the 

H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)*

2561 applications
(4.7% of total)

326 projects funded
(4.9% of total)

129 projects
(€190M)

114 projects
(€216M)

83 projects
(€197M)

60 female grantees
(18% of grantees in this panel)

€603 million budget

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries in H2020

The 326 funded projects (numbers in the graph) are in 15 EU Member States and 4 Associated Countries (ACs)

81

48

44

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects in this panel

38

20

12

11 12

7

5

3 1 2

1 1

1

1

25

13

UK DE FR NL ES IT BE SE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU PL EL LU SI RO EE CY HR LT CH IL NO TR IS RS UA

Host institutions with ≥7 funded projects

National Centre for Scientific Research (FR)

24

Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres (DE)

Max Planck Society (DE)

French Alternative Energies and 
French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (FR)
Atomic Energy Commission (FR)

University of Amsterdam (NL)

13

13

10

9

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs
(≤3 grouped together)

5

Russia

12

13

9 other non-EU/ACs

United States

European Organization for Nuclear Research (CH)

7

Number of projects

Number of projects

*Data as of December 2021

Fundamental Constituents of Matter (PE2)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

Most-used disciplines

% of projects

Fundamental interactions

44%

Most-used topics

% of projects

Physics at accelerators

21%

21%

Atomic, molecular physics

29%

Physics beyond Standard Model

Quantum physics

Particle, nuclear astrophysics

Optics and laser physics

Nuclear, heavy-ion physics

Quantum information

Mathematical physics

25%

23%

22%

10%

10%

10%

Ultra-cold atoms

17%

Strong, electroweak interactions

Quantum optics

Photonics, nano/non-linear optics

14%

13%

13%

Quantum field theory

11%

 Quantum physics, Physics at accelerators and Physics beyond Standard Model grew in use from 2014 to

2020

 Mathematical physics and Strong, electroweak interactions were used more in StG projects compared to
those funded in CoG and AdG schemes, while Particle, nuclear astrophysics, Optics and laser physics, and
Quantum optics were used more in AdG projects

 A high number of projects in this panel generate methodological developments. Experimental methods in

physics, Theoretical, mathematical methods and Quantum methods are the main ones

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 
which is proportional to the number of times they appear together

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 
proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 PE domain:

the main interactions are with the Condensed Matter
Physics (PE3), and Systems and Communication Engineering (PE7)
panels through the disciplines Optics and laser physics, and Quantum
physics

 LS domain:

there is some
the interaction is not very strong, but
connection with the Applied Medical Technologies, Diagnostics,
Therapies and Public Health (LS7) panel

 SH domain: the interaction is not very strong, there are no particular

panels or disciplines highlighting any synergy

ERC projects funded in the PE2 panel

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Condensed Matter Physics (PE3)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

Most-used disciplines

% of projects

Condensed matter, solid state

67%

Biophysics

20%

Quantum physics

15%

Electronics, photonics

13%

Most-used topics

% of projects

Mesoscopic device physics

Low-dimensional materials

Strongly correlated systems

Superconductivity

21%

20%

17%

17%

16%

Condensed Matter Physics (PE3)

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in the ‘Condensed Matter Physics’ panel in 

the Physical Sciences and Engineering (PE) domain (see ERC panel structure). The projects were 

funded under the Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) and Advanced Grant (AdG) calls 

launched in the H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)*

2369 applications
(4.4% of total)

294 projects funded
(4.4% of total)

120 projects
(€190M)

103 projects
(€209M)

71 projects
(€171M)

51 female grantees
(17% of grantees in this panel)

€570 million budget

Soft condensed matter physics

10%

Transport in condensed matter

Nanoscience

8%

Magnetism and condensed matter

12%

 Quantum physics, Soft condensed matter physics and Non-equilibrium dynamics grew in use from 2014 to

2020

 Condensed matter, solid state, Strongly correlated systems, and Magnetism and condensed matter were

used more in StG projects compared to those funded in CoG and AdG schemes, while Biophysics, Low-

dimensional materials and Transport in condensed matter were used more in CoG projects

 Around 1/5 of projects in this panel generate methodological developments. Microscopy and Computational

modelling, simulations are the main ones

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries in H2020

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 

The 294 funded projects (numbers in the graph) are in 18 EU Member States and 4 Associated Countries (ACs)

which is proportional to the number of times they appear together

20%

54

51

43

15%

10%

5%

0%

27

22

11

1

8 8 7 8

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects in this panel

27

16

1 1 1 1

1 2

1

2 1

UK DE FR NL ES IT BE SE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU PL EL LU SI RO EE CY HR LT CH IL NO TR IS RS UA

Host institutions with ≥7 funded projects

National Centre for Scientific Research (FR)

36

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (CH)

University of Cambridge (UK)

Delft University of Technology (NL)

Max Planck Society (DE)

Aalto University (FI)

Weizmann Institute (IL)

10

10

9

9

7

7

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs
(≤3 grouped together)

4

5

India

Russia

8

10

United States

7 other non-EU/ACs

Number of projects

Number of projects

*Data as of December 2021

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 

proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 PE domain: the main interactions are with the Products and Processes

Engineering (PE8), Fundamental Constituents of Matter (PE2), and

Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences (PE4) panels through the

disciplines Quantum physics, Electronics, photonics and Biophysics

 LS domain:

the main interactions are with the Molecular Biology,

Biochemistry, Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics (LS1),

Cellular and Developmental Biology (LS3), and Applied Medical

Technologies, Diagnostics, Therapies and Public Health (LS7) panels

through the disciplines Biophysics and Cell biology

 SH domain: the interaction is not very strong, there are no particular

panels or disciplines highlighting any synergy

ERC projects funded in the PE3 panel

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Condensed Matter Physics (PE3)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

Most-used disciplines

% of projects

Condensed matter, solid state

67%

Biophysics

20%

Quantum physics

15%

Electronics, photonics

13%

Most-used topics

% of projects

Mesoscopic device physics

Low-dimensional materials

Strongly correlated systems

Superconductivity

21%

20%

17%

17%

16%

Soft condensed matter physics

10%

Transport in condensed matter

Nanoscience

8%

Magnetism and condensed matter

12%

 Quantum physics, Soft condensed matter physics and Non-equilibrium dynamics grew in use from 2014 to

2020

 Condensed matter, solid state, Strongly correlated systems, and Magnetism and condensed matter were
used more in StG projects compared to those funded in CoG and AdG schemes, while Biophysics, Low-
dimensional materials and Transport in condensed matter were used more in CoG projects

 Around 1/5 of projects in this panel generate methodological developments. Microscopy and Computational

modelling, simulations are the main ones

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 
which is proportional to the number of times they appear together

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 
proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 PE domain: the main interactions are with the Products and Processes
Engineering (PE8), Fundamental Constituents of Matter (PE2), and
Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences (PE4) panels through the
disciplines Quantum physics, Electronics, photonics and Biophysics

 LS domain:

the main interactions are with the Molecular Biology,
Biochemistry, Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics (LS1),
Cellular and Developmental Biology (LS3), and Applied Medical
Technologies, Diagnostics, Therapies and Public Health (LS7) panels
through the disciplines Biophysics and Cell biology

 SH domain: the interaction is not very strong, there are no particular

panels or disciplines highlighting any synergy

ERC projects funded in the PE3 panel

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Physical and Analytical Chemical  Sciences (PE4)

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in the ‘Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences’ 

panel in the Physical Sciences and Engineering (PE) domain (see ERC panel structure). The projects were 

funded under the Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) and Advanced Grant (AdG) calls launched in 

the H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)*

2192 applications
(4.1% of total)

267 projects funded
(4.0% of total)

104 projects
(€167M)

100 projects
(€203M)

63 projects
(€158M)

59 female grantees
(22% of grantees in this panel)

€528 million budget

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries in H2020

The 267 funded projects (numbers in the graph) are in 17 EU Member States and 3 Associated Countries (ACs)

57

42

28

22

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects in this panel

17

9 10 9

10 8

2 2 1 3 2

1 2

22

18

2

UK DE FR NL ES IT BE SE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU PL EL LU SI RO EE CY HR LT CH IL NO TR IS RS UA

Host institutions with ≥7 funded projects

National Centre for Scientific Research (FR)

16

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs
(≤3 grouped together)

Max Planck Society (DE)

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (CH)

University of Cambridge (UK)

Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres (DE)

Weizmann Institute (IL)

University of Oxford (UK)

10

9

9

8

8

7

7

United States

14

8 other non-EU/ACs

Number of projects

Number of projects

*Data as of December 2021

Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences (PE4)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

Most-used disciplines

Physical chemistry

% of projects

76%

Most-used topics

% of projects

Spectroscopy

35%

Theoretical chemistry

Analytical chemistry

25%

23%

Biochemistry

Materials science

13%

12%

Nanoscience

10%

Biophysics

9%

Biological systems

20%

Chemical reactions

Electrochemistry

Surface science

14%

13%

13%

Heterogeneous catalysis

13%

 Biochemistry, Biophysics and Chemical reactions grew in use from 2014 to 2020

 Theoretical chemistry, Heterogeneous catalysis and Electrochemistry were used more in StG projects
compared to those funded in CoG and AdG schemes, while Biochemistry, Spectroscopy and Surface science
were used more in AdG projects

 A high number of projects in this panel aim at generating methodological developments. Spectroscopic
techniques, Experimental methods in chemistry and Computational modelling, simulations are the main ones

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 
which is proportional to the number of times they appear together 

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 
proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 PE domain: the main interactions are with the Products and Processes
Engineering (PE8), Synthetic Chemistry and Materials (PE5), and
Condensed Matter Physics (PE3) panels through the disciplines
Materials science, Nanoscience, Physical chemistry and Biophysics

 LS domain:

the main interactions are with the Molecular Biology,
Biochemistry, Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics (LS1), and
Applied Life Sciences, Biotechnology, and Molecular and Biosystems
Engineering (LS9) panels through the discipline Biochemistry

 SH domain: the interaction is not very strong, there are no particular

panels or disciplines highlighting any synergy

ERC projects funded in the PE4 panel

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Synthetic Chemistry and Materials (PE5)

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in the ‘Synthetic Chemistry and Materials’ panel in the 

Physical Sciences and Engineering (PE) domain (see ERC panel structure). The projects were funded under the 

Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) and Advanced Grant (AdG) calls launched in the H2020 

Framework Programme (2014–2020)*

2653 applications
(4.9% of total)

335 projects funded
(5.1% of total)

143 projects
(€218M)

115 projects
(€228M)

77 projects
(€190M)

70 female grantees
(21% of grantees in this panel)

€636 million budget

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries in H2020

The 335 funded projects (numbers in the graph) are in 14 EU Member States and 4 Associated Countries (ACs)

30%

25%

82

20%

61

15%

10%

5%

0%

30 35 33

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects in this panel

11 8 9 9

5 4 5 3 2

23

13

1

1

UK DE FR NL ES IT BE SE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU PL EL LU SI RO EE CY HR LT CH IL NO TR IS RS UA

Host institutions with ≥8 funded projects

National Centre for Scientific Research (FR)

18

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs
(≤3 grouped together)

University of Manchester (UK)

Eindhoven University of Technology (NL)

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (CH)

Technical University of Munich (DE)

University of Cambridge (UK)

University of Muenster (DE)

10

9

8

8

8

8

4

China

6

Canada

12

9 other non-EU/ACs

Number of projects

Number of projects

*Data as of December 2021

Synthetic Chemistry and Materials (PE5)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

Most-used disciplines

% of projects

Organic chemistry

60%

Materials science

48%

Biological, medicinal chemistry

24%

Inorganic chemistry

17%

Nanoscience

11%

Physical chemistry

8%

Most-used topics

% of projects

Chemical synthesis

39%

Homogeneous catalysis

23%

Supramolecular chemistry

Coordination chemistry

Macromolecular, polymer chemistry

Chemical reactions

Chemical biology

Organometallics

13%

13%

12%

10%

10%

10%

 Homogeneous catalysis and Chemical biology grew in use from 2014 to 2020

 Biological, medicinal chemistry was used more in CoG projects compared to those funded in StG and AdG
schemes while Chemical synthesis, Supramolecular chemistry, Chemical biology and Organic chemistry
were used more in AdG projects

 More than half of the projects in this panel generate methodological developments. Synthetic methods and

Experimental methods in chemistry are the main ones

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 
which is proportional to the number of times they appear together

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 
proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 PE domain: the main interactions are with the Physical and Analytical
Chemical Sciences (PE4), and Products and Processes Engineering
(PE8) panels through the disciplines Materials science, Nanoscience
and Physical chemistry

 LS domain: the main interactions are with the Applied Life Sciences,
Biotechnology, and Molecular and Biosystems Engineering (LS9), and
Applied Medical Technologies, Diagnostics, Therapies and Public
Health (LS7) panels
through the disciplines Biochemistry and
Biotechnology

 SH domain: the interaction is not very strong, there are no particular

panels or disciplines highlighting any synergy

ERC projects funded in the PE5 panel

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Computer Science and Informatics (PE6)

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in the ‘Computer Science and Informatics’ 

panel in the Physical Sciences and Engineering (PE) domain (see ERC panel structure). The projects 

were funded under the Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) and Advanced Grant (AdG) calls 

launched in the H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)*

2789 applications
(5.2% of total)

348 projects funded
(5.3% of total)

160 projects
(€234M)

114 projects
(€215M)

74 projects
(€177M)

55 female grantees
(16% of grantees in this panel)

€626 million budget

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries in H2020

The 348 funded projects (numbers in the graph) are in 19 EU Member States and 4 Associated Countries (ACs)

20%

65

15%

46

38

10%

5%

0%

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects in this panel

44

29

20

14

14 12

19

7

9 7

8

1 1 3 1

3

1 2

3 1

UK DE FR NL ES IT BE SE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU PL EL LU SI RO EE CY HR LT CH IL NO TR IS RS UA

Host institutions with ≥9 funded projects

National Institute for Research in Computer Science 
 for Research in Computer
and Automatic Control (FR)

National Institute 
…

Tel Aviv University (IL)

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (CH)

Max Planck Society (DE)

National Centre for Scientific Research (FR)

Technion - Israel Institute of Technology (IL)

University of Cambridge (UK)

20

14

13

11

10

10

9

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs
(≤3 grouped together)

4

India

13

United States

18

13 other non-EU/ACs

Number of projects

Number of projects

*Data as of December 2021

Computer Science and Informatics (PE6)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

Most-used disciplines

% of projects

Most-used topics

% of projects

Cryptology, security, privacy

43%

Algorithms, algorithm development

29%

Artificial intelligence

35%

Machine learning

23%

Computer systems

Software engineering

18%

17%

Applied computer science

11%

Web, information systems

10%

ICT security

13%

Computer vision

11%

Computational complexity

11%

Parallel, distributed computing

9%

 Applied computer science, Algorithms, algorithm development and Machine learning grew in use from 2014

to 2020

 Applied mathematics, Machine learning and Parallel, distributed computing were used more in StG projects
compared to those funded in CoG and AdG schemes, while Software engineering and ICT security were
used more in AdG projects

 More than half of

the projects in this panel generate methodological developments. Theoretical,

mathematical methods and Computational modelling, simulations are the main ones

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 
which is proportional to the number of times they appear together

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 
proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 PE domain:

the main interaction is with the Systems and
Communication Engineering (PE7) panel and to a lesser extent with the
Mathematics (PE1), and Products and Processes Engineering (PE8)
panels through the disciplines Applied mathematics, Applied computer
science and Software engineering

 LS domain:

there is some
the interaction is not very strong, but
connection with the Applied Medical Technologies, Diagnostics,
Therapies and Public Health (LS7) panel

 SH domain:

the interaction is not very strong, but

there are some
connections with The Human Mind and Its Complexity (SH4), and
Institutions, Values, Environment and Space (SH2) panels

ERC projects funded in the PE6 panel

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Systems and Communication  Engineering (PE7)

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in the ‘Systems and Communication Engineering’ 

panel in the Physical Sciences and Engineering (PE) domain (see ERC panel structure). The projects were 

funded under the Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) and Advanced Grant (AdG) calls launched in 

the H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)*

2226 applications
(4.1% of total)

276 projects funded
(4.2% of total)

122 projects
(€193M)

91 projects
(€188M)

63 projects
(€160M)

54 female grantees
(20% of grantees in this panel)

€541 million budget

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries in H2020

The 276 funded projects (numbers in the graph) are in 17 EU Member States and 4 Associated Countries (ACs)

20%

15%

36

39

30

27

24

19

17

12

8

5

10%

5%

0%

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects in this panel

26

17

2 2

1

1 1 1

1

3 4

UK DE FR NL ES IT BE SE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU PL EL LU SI RO EE CY HR LT CH IL NO TR IS RS UA

Host institutions with ≥7 funded projects

National Centre for Scientific Research (FR)

21

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (CH)

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (CH)

Delft University of Technology (NL)

University of Leuven (BE)

University of Twente (NL)

Italian Institute of Technology (IT)

Technical University of Denmark (DK)

11

10

8

8

8

7

7

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs
(≤3 grouped together)

4

4

4

Canada

India

United States

16

9 other non-EU/ACs

Number of projects

Number of projects

*Data as of December 2021

Systems and Communication Engineering (PE7)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

Most-used disciplines

% of projects

Most-used topics

% of projects

Electronics, photonics

49%

Algorithms, algorithm development

Systems engineering

27%

Materials engineering

Biomedical engineering

Electronic engineering

Control engineering

Optics and laser physics

20%

20%

20%

17%

17%

Semiconductor technology

Optoelectronic, photonic systems

Optical devices and systems

Signal processing

Micro/nano electromechanical systems

Photonics, nano/non-linear optics

18%

17%

15%

13%

12%

11%

11%

 Control engineering and Adaptive, learning, autonomous systems grew in use from 2014 to 2020

 Electronics, photonics, Biomedical engineering, Photonics, nano/non-linear optics, and Optical devices and systems
were used more in StG and CoG projects compared to those funded in AdG scheme, while Control engineering was
used more in AdG projects

 A high number of projects in this panel generate methodological developments. Experimental methods in
engineering, Computational modelling, simulations and Validation, demonstration, prototyping are the main ones

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 
which is proportional to the number of times they appear together

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 
proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 PE domain: the main interactions are with the Products and Processes
Engineering (PE8), Computer Science and Informatics (PE6), and
Fundamental Constituents of Matter
(PE2) panels through the
disciplines Materials engineering, Biomedical engineering, Optics and
laser physics, Electronics, photonics and Applied mathematics

 LS domain:

the main interaction is with the Applied Medical
Technologies, Diagnostics, Therapies and Public Health (LS7) panel
through the discipline Biomedical engineering

 SH domain:

the interaction is not very strong, but

there are some
connections with The Human Mind and Its Complexity (SH4), and the
Institutions, Values, Environment and Space (SH2) panels through the
disciplines Artificial intelligence and Neuroscience

ERC projects funded in the PE7 panel

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Products and Processes Engineering (PE8)

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in the ‘Products and Processes Engineering’ 

panel in the Physical Sciences and Engineering (PE) domain (see ERC panel structure). The projects were 

funded under the Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) and Advanced Grant (AdG) calls launched 

in the H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)*

3148 applications
(5.8% of total)

369 projects funded
(5.6% of total)

157 projects
(€246M)

121 projects
(€243M)

91 projects
(€227M)

91 female grantees
(25% of grantees in this panel)

€716 million budget

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries in H2020

The 369 funded projects (numbers in the graph) are in 18 EU Member States and 4 Associated Countries (ACs)

46 47

43

38

39

33

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects in this panel

17

9 9 7

13 15

12

2 1 2 3

2

2 3 1

25

UK DE FR NL ES IT BE SE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU PL EL LU SI RO EE CY HR LT CH IL NO TR IS RS UA

Host institutions with ≥10 funded projects

National Centre for Scientific Research (FR)

20

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (CH)

15

University of Cambridge (UK)

12

Delft University of Technology (NL)

Polytechnic University of Milan (IT)

Spanish National Research Council (ES)

11

11

10

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs
(≤3 grouped together)

5

5

China

India

8

United States

13

13 other non-EU/ACs

Number of projects

Number of projects

*Data as of December 2021

Products and Processes Engineering (PE8)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

Most-used disciplines

% of projects

Most-used topics

% of projects

Materials engineering

57%

Fluid mechanics

13%

Chemical engineering

21%

Energy

19%

Physics of fluids

17%

Biomedical engineering

16%

Manufacturing engineering

14%

Microfluidics, nanofluidics

Biomaterials

Nanomaterials

Optoelectronic, photonic systems

10%

9%

8%

8%

 Materials science and Fluid mechanics grew in use from 2014 to 2020

 Energy was used more in StG and CoG projects compared to those funded in AdG scheme, while Chemical
engineering, Physics of fluids, Manufacturing engineering, Fluid mechanics and Microfluidics, nanofluidics were used
more in AdG projects

 A high number of projects in this panel generate methodological developments. Computational modelling, simulations

and Micro/nanoengineering are the main ones

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 
which is proportional to the number of times they appear together

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 
proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 PE domain:

the main interactions are with the Systems and
Communication Engineering (PE7), Physical and Analytical Chemical
Sciences (PE4), and Synthetic Chemistry and Materials (PE5) panels
through the disciplines Materials engineering, Biomedical engineering,
and Materials science

 LS domain:

the main interactions are with the Applied Medical
Technologies, Diagnostics, Therapies and Public Health (LS7), and
Applied Life Sciences, Biotechnology, and Molecular and Biosystems
Engineering
disciplines Biomedical
through
engineering and Biotechnology

panels

(LS9)

the

 SH domain:

there is some
the interaction is not very strong, but
connection with the Institutions, Values, Environment and Space (SH2)
panel through the discipline Energy

ERC projects funded in the PE8 panel

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Universe Sciences (PE9)

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in the ‘Universe Sciences’ panel in the 

Physical Sciences and Engineering (PE) domain (see ERC panel structure). The projects were funded 

under the Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) and Advanced Grant (AdG) calls launched in 

the H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)*

2049 applications
(3.8% of total)

242 projects funded
(3.7% of total)

87 projects
(€131M)

92 projects
(€181M)

63 projects
(€159M)

73 female grantees
(30% of grantees in this panel)

€471 million budget

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries in H2020

The 242 funded projects (numbers in the graph) are in 16 EU Member States and 3 Associated Countries (ACs)

53

41

35

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects in this panel

22

18

9

11

8

4 3 4

2

1 2 1 2

14

8

4

UK DE FR NL ES IT BE SE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU PL EL LU SI RO EE CY HR LT CH IL NO TR IS RS UA

Host institutions with ≥6 funded projects

National Centre for Scientific Research (FR)

21

Max Planck Society (DE)

15

Leiden University (NL)

University of Geneva (CH)

University of Leuven (BE)

University of Oxford (UK)

8

7

6

6

Number of projects

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs
(≤3 grouped together)

5

Canada

8

9

United States

9 other non-EU/ACs

Number of projects

*Data as of December 2021

Universe Sciences (PE9)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

Most-used disciplines

% of projects

Most-used topics

% of projects

Galaxy formation, evolution

Cosmology

Interstellar medium, star formation

Solar, stellar physics

Planetary science

High-energy astronomy

10%

29%

26%

24%

24%

22%

Galaxy dynamics

Stellar structure, evolution

Exoplanets

20%

19%

18%

Interstellar medium

17%

Stellar systems

10%

Black holes

9%

 Planetary science and Exoplanets grew in use from 2014 to 2020. Noteworthy is the increase of projects studying the
atmospheres and climates of (exo)planets, analysing their habitability and searching for signatures of life beyond Earth

 Cosmology, High-energy astronomy and Stellar systems were used more in StG projects compared to those funded in
CoG and AdG schemes, while Solar, stellar physics and Stellar structure, evolution were used more in CoG projects
and Galaxy formation, evolution and Galaxy dynamics in AdG projects

 Around 3/4 of projects in this panel generate methodological developments. Computational modelling and Observations

are the main ones

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 
which is proportional to the number of times they appear together

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 
proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 PE domain: the main interaction is with the Fundamental Constituents
of Matter (PE2) panel and to a lesser extent with the Earth System
Science (PE10) panel through the disciplines Fundamental interactions,
Gas and plasma physics, Atmospheric science and Interstellar medium,
star formation

 LS domain: the interaction is not very strong, there are no particular

panels or disciplines highlighting any synergy

 SH domain: the interaction is not very strong, there are no particular

panels or disciplines highlighting any synergy

ERC projects funded in the PE9 panel

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Earth System Science (PE10)

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in the ‘Earth System Science’ panel in the 

Physical Sciences and Engineering (PE) domain (see ERC panel structure). The projects were funded 

under the Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) and Advanced Grant (AdG) calls launched in 

the H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)*

2324 applications
(4.3% of total)

262 projects funded
(4.0% of total)

99 projects
(€162M)

96 projects
(€199M)

67 projects
(€184M)

87 female grantees
(33% of grantees in this panel)

€545 million budget

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries in H2020

The 262 funded projects (numbers in the graph) are in 16 EU Member States and 3 Associated Countries (ACs)

25%

59

20%

51

15%

36

10%

5%

0%

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects in this panel

20

6 8

4

9

10

7

2

1

1

2

1

1

27

12

5

UK DE FR NL ES IT BE SE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU PL EL LU SI RO EE CY HR LT CH IL NO TR IS RS UA

Host institutions with ≥6 funded projects

National Centre for Scientific Research (FR)

33

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs
(≤3 grouped together)

Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres (DE)

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (CH)

Utrecht University (NL)

University of Oxford (UK)

University of Bergen (NO)

University of Helsinki (FI)

14

11

9

8

6

6

5

6

4 other non-EU/ACs

Canada

14

United States

Number of projects

Number of projects

*Data as of December 2021

Earth System Science (PE10)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

Most-used disciplines

% of projects

Most-used topics

% of projects

Climatology, palaeoclimatology

41%

Climate evolution and dynamics

54%

Atmospheric science

Geochemistry, petrology

27%

26%

Earth's mantle and crust evolution

Geology in the critical zone

29%

27%

Biogeoscience

24%

Natural hazards monitoring

13%

Geophysics, geodynamics

21%

Ocean's physics, chemistry, biology

12%

Tectonics, geomagnetism

16%

Biogeochemical cycles

9%

 Geophysics, geodynamics, Tectonics, geomagnetism, Earth's mantle and crust evolution, and Natural hazards

monitoring grew in use from 2014 to 2020

 Atmospheric science, Geochemistry, petrology, Tectonics, geomagnetism and Natural hazards monitoring were
used more in StG projects compared to those funded in CoG and AdG schemes, while Geology in the critical zone
was used more in CoG projects and Geophysics, geodynamics was used more in AdG projects

 A high number of projects in this panel generate methodological developments. Computational modelling and

Experimental methods in earth system research are the main ones

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 
which is proportional to the number of times they appear together

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 
proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 PE domain:

the interaction is not very strong, but

there are some
connections with the Products and Processes Engineering (PE8), and
Universe Sciences (PE9) panels

 LS domain:

there is some
the interaction is not very strong, but
connection with the Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology (LS8)
panel through the disciplines Biogeoscience, and Palaeobiology and
palaeoecology

 SH domain:

there is some
the interaction is not very strong, but
connection with The Study of the Human Past (SH6) panel through the
discipline Palaeobiology and palaeoecology

ERC projects funded in the PE10 panel

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ERC Frontier Research 
in Social Sciences and Humanities

This series of factsheets provides an overview of the projects funded by the 
European Research Council (ERC), in the Social Sciences  
and Humanities domain, in the H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)

Individuals, 
Markets and Organisations (SH1)

Institutions, Values, 
Environment and Space (SH2)

The Social World, 
Diversity, Population (SH3)

The Human Mind 
and Its Complexity (SH4)

Cultures 
and Cultural Production (SH5)

The Study 
of the Human Past (SH6)

Data as of December 2021

SH

2
2
0
2
y
c
n
e
g
A
e
v
i
t
u
c
e
x
E

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i

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o
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r
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e
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e
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©

 
 
 
 
 
 
Individuals, Markets and Organisations (SH1)

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in ‘Individuals, Markets and Organisations’ panel 

in the Social Sciences & Humanities (SH) domain (see ERC panel structure). The projects were funded under 

the Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) and Advanced Grant (AdG) calls launched in the 

H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)*

1404 applications
(2.6% of total)

193 projects funded
(2.9% of total)

76 projects
(€95M)

66 projects
(€97M)

51 projects
(€84M)

47 female grantees
(24% of grantees in this panel)

€276 million budget

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries in H2020

The 193 funded projects (numbers in the graph) are in 11 EU Member States and 4 Associated Countries (ACs)

68

40%

35%

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects in this panel

23

19

25

18

5

7

3

1

3 2

8

6

3

2

UK DE FR NL ES IT BE SE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU PL EL LU SI RO EE CY HR LT CH IL NO TR IS RS UA

Host institutions with ≥8 funded projects

London School of Economics and Political Science (UK)

21

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs
(≤3 grouped together)

University College London (UK)

Bocconi University Milan (IT)

Pompeu Fabra University (ES)

London Business School (UK)

University of Oxford (UK)

15

14

9

8

8

7

United States

14

8 other non-EU/ACs

Number of projects

Number of projects

*Data as of December 2021

Individuals, Markets and Organisations (SH1)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

% of projects

93%

Most-used disciplines

Economics

Finance

16%

Political science

Political economy

Management

Public health

7%

6%

4%

3%

Most-used topics

% of projects

Markets

Labour

Macroeconomics

Decision-making

Behavioural/neuro- economics

Financial regulation

Policy

Trade

18%

12%

11%

11%

10%

9%

9%

9%

 Political economy, Markets, Labour and Behavioural/neuro-economics grew in use from 2014 to 2020

 Behavioural/neuro-economics and Decision-making were used more in StG projects compared to those funded in
CoG and AdG schemes, while Macroeconomics was used more in CoG projects and Political science and
Management Financial regulation in AdG projects

 Around half of the projects in this panel generate methodological developments. Theoretical analysis, Econometrics

and Computational modelling, simulations are the main ones

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 
which is proportional to the number of times they appear together

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 
proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 SH domain:

the main interactions are with the Institutions, Values,
Environment and Space (SH2), The Social World, Diversity, Population
(SH3) and The Study of the Human Past (SH6) panels through the
disciplines Economics, Political science and Political economy

 PE domain: the interaction is not very strong, there are no particular

panels or disciplines highlighting any synergy

 LS domain: the interaction is not very strong, there are no particular

panels or disciplines highlighting any synergy

ERC projects funded in the SH1 panel

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Institutions, Values, Environment and Space (SH2)

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in the ‘Institutions, Values, Environment and

Space’ panel in the Social Sciences & Humanities (SH) domain (see ERC panel structure). The projects were 

funded under the Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) and Advanced Grant (AdG) calls launched 

in the H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)*

2975 applications
(5.5% of total)

310 projects funded
(4.7% of total)

150 projects
(€216M)

101 projects
(€189M)

59 projects
(€138M)

144 female grantees
(46% of grantees in this panel)

€543 million budget

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries in H2020

The 310 funded projects (numbers in the graph) are in 18 EU Member States and 3 Associated Countries (ACs)

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

75

59

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects in this panel

20

6

16 17 15

17

10 10

8 10

2 2

1 1

1 1

19

15

5

UK DE FR NL ES IT BE SE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU PL EL LU SI RO EE CY HR LT CH IL NO TR IS RS UA

Host institutions with ≥7 funded projects

University of Amsterdam (NL)

16

Utrecht University (NL)

13

University of Copenhagen (DK)

University College London (UK)

10

9

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs
(≤3 grouped together)

4

Canada

United States

7 other non-EU/ACs

12

12

University of Oxford (UK)

7

Number of projects

Number of projects

*Data as of December 2021

Institutions, Values, Environment and Space (SH2)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

Most-used disciplines

% of projects

Most-used topics

% of projects

Political science

47%

Law

23%

International relations

18%

Human geography

16%

Environmental social sciences

15%

Sociology

13%

Governance

Policy

Sustainability

Climate change impact

Institutions

Human rights

Political systems

15%

15%

10%

10%

10%

9%

9%

 Human geography, Climate change impact and Institutions grew in use from 2014 to 2020

 Law and International relations were used more in StG projects compared to those funded in CoG and AdG schemes,

while Political science and Governance were used more in AdG projects

 Around 1/4 of the projects in this panel generate methodological developments. Theoretical analysis, Data collection

and Empirical methods are the main ones

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 
which is proportional to the number of times they appear together

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 
proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 SH domain: the main interactions are with The Social World, Diversity,
Population (SH3), The Study of the Human Past (SH6), and Cultures
and Cultural Production (SH5) panels through the disciplines Political
science, Sociology, Human geography and Anthropology

 PE domain:

the interaction is not very strong, but

there are some
connections with the Computer Science and Informatics (PE6), and
Products and Processes Engineering (PE8) panels through the
disciplines Artificial intelligence and Energy

 LS domain:

the interaction is not very strong, but

there are some
connections with the Applied Medical Technologies, Diagnostics,
and
Therapies
Environmental Biology (LS8), and Applied Life Sciences, Biotechnology,
and Molecular and Biosystems Engineering (LS9) panels

(LS7), Ecology, Evolution

and Public Health

ERC projects funded in the SH2 panel

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The Social World, Diversity,  Population (SH3)

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in the ‘The Social World, Diversity, Population’ 

panel in the Social Sciences & Humanities (SH) domain (see ERC panel structure). The projects were funded 

under the Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) and Advanced Grant (AdG) calls launched in the 

H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)*

2010 applications
(3.7% of total)

245 projects funded
(3.7% of total)

125 projects
(€181M)

76 projects
(€143M)

44 projects
(€103M)

128 female grantees
(52% of grantees in this panel)

€427 million budget

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries in H2020

The 245 funded projects (numbers in the graph) are in 15 EU Member States and 5 Associated Countries (ACs)

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

61

52

22

5

18

14

11

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects in this panel

8 6 8

7

4

4

1

1

10

5 5

2 1

UK DE FR NL ES IT BE SE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU PL EL LU SI RO EE CY HR LT CH IL NO TR IS RS UA

Host institutions with ≥6 funded projects

University of Amsterdam (NL)

University of Oxford (UK)

13

13

University College London (UK)

9

Utrecht University (NL)

Free University and Medical Center Amsterdam (NL)

University of Oslo (NO)

7

6

6

Number of projects

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs
(≤3 grouped together)

11

9 other non-EU/ACs

13

United States

Number of projects

*Data as of December 2021

The Social World, Diversity, Population (SH3)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

Most-used disciplines

% of projects

Most-used topics

% of projects

Sociology

36%

Social psychology

22%

Demography

Political science

Anthropology

Science and technology studies

17%

17%

16%

14%

Inequality

Family

Human migration

Integration

Prosocial, antisocial behavior

Social practices

Social transformation

11%

11%

10%

9%

7%

7%

7%

 Social psychology, Anthropology, and Knowledge and belief grew in use from 2014 to 2020

 Science and technology studies was used more in StG projects compared to those funded in AdG and CoG
schemes, while Family and Human migration were used more in CoG projects and Sociology and Integration were
used more in AdG projects

 Around 1/5 of projects in this panel generate methodological developments. Digital participatory methods and

Statistical methods are the main ones

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 
which is proportional to the number of times they appear together

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 
proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 SH domain:

the main interactions are with Institutions, Values,
Environment and Space (SH2), Cultures and Cultural Production
(SH5), and The Study of the Human Past (SH6) panels through the
disciplines Political science, Sociology and Anthropology

 PE domain: the interaction is not very strong, but there is some
connection with the Computer Science and Informatics (PE6) panel

 LS domain: the interaction is not very strong, but there is some
connection with the Applied Medical Technologies, Diagnostics,
through the discipline
Therapies and Public Health (LS7) panel
Public health

ERC projects funded in the SH3 panel

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The Human Mind and Its Complexity (SH4)

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in the ‘The Human Mind and Its Complexity’ panel 

in the Social Sciences & Humanities (SH) domain (see ERC panel structure). The projects were funded under 

the Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) and Advanced Grant (AdG) calls launched in the 

H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)*

2583 applications
(4.8% of total)

299 projects funded
(4.5% of total)

139 projects
(€208M)

95 projects
(€185M)

65 projects
(€153M)

109 female grantees
(36% of grantees in this panel)

€546 million budget

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries in H2020

The 299 funded projects (numbers in the graph) are in 14 EU Member States and 3 Associated Countries (ACs)

35%

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

86

55

49

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects in this panel

23

19

10

5

2 5 5 6 6

2

3

10 8

5

UK DE FR NL ES IT BE SE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU PL EL LU SI RO EE CY HR LT CH IL NO TR IS RS UA

Host institutions with ≥7 funded projects

Free University and Medical Center Amsterdam (NL)

National Centre for Scientific Research (FR)

University of Amsterdam (NL)

Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)

Max Planck Society (DE)

University College London (UK)

University of Bristol (UK)

15

14

12

10

8

7

7

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs
(≤3 grouped together)

4

4

4 other non-EU/ACs

Australia

7

Canada

20

United States

Number of projects

Number of projects

*Data as of December 2021

The Human Mind and Its Complexity (SH4)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

Most-used disciplines

% of projects

Most-used topics

% of projects

Cognitive neuroscience

54%

Neural basis of cognition

27%

Cognitive psychology

32%

Clinical psychology

20%

Linguistics

Developmental psychology

18%

16%

Social psychology

14%

Cognition

Perception

Psychiatric and psychological disorders

Decision-making

Social cognition

13%

12%

11%

11%

11%

 Cognitive neuroscience, Cognitive psychology and Cognition grew in use from 2014 to 2020

 Cognitive psychology, Clinical psychology, Perception and Decision-making were used more in StG and CoG

projects compared to those funded in AdG scheme, while Linguistics was used more in AdG projects

 Around 1/4 of

the projects in this panel generate methodological developments. Computational modelling,

simulations, and Experimental methods in behavior and psychology are the main ones

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 
which is proportional to the number of times they appear together

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 
proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 SH domain: the main interactions are with The Social World, Diversity,
Population (SH3), and Cultures and Cultural Production (SH5) panels,
and to a lesser extent with the Institutions, Values, Environment and
Space (SH2) panel
through the disciplines Social psychology,
Philosophy and Linguistics

 PE domain:

the interaction is not very strong, but
connection with the Computer Science and Informatics (PE6) panel

there is some

 LS domain: the main interaction is with the Neuroscience and Neural
Disorders (LS5) panel through the discipline Cognitive neuroscience

ERC projects funded in the SH4 panel

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Cultures and Cultural Production (SH5)

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in the ‘Cultures and Cultural Production’ panel 

in the Social Sciences & Humanities (SH) domain (see ERC panel structure). The projects were funded 

under the Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) and Advanced Grant (AdG) calls launched in the 

H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)*

2421 applications
(4.5% of total)

274 projects funded
(4.1% of total)

109 projects
(€153M)

97 projects
(€185M)

68 projects
(€157M)

140 female grantees
(51% of grantees in this panel)

€495 million budget

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries in H2020

The 274 funded projects (numbers in the graph) are in 20 EU Member States and 5 Associated Countries (ACs)

60

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

38

33

28

18

17

6

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects in this panel

12

2

4

11

8

4 2

3 2

3 1 1 1

6 6 6

1 1

UK DE FR NL ES IT BE SE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU PL EL LU SI RO EE CY HR LT CH IL NO TR IS RS UA

Host institutions with ≥7 funded projects

University of Munich (DE)

University of Oxford (UK)

Utrecht University (NL)

Ghent University (BE)

Leiden University (NL)

University College London (UK)

University of Venice (IT)

10

10

10

8

8

7

7

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs
(≤3 grouped together)

4

Australia

14

15

8 other non-EU/ACs

United States

Number of projects

Number of projects

*Data as of December 2021

Cultures and Cultural Production (SH5)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

Most-used disciplines

% of projects

Cultural studies

53%

Literature

Philology

Anthropology

Philosophy

History of ideas

Religious studies

26%

19%

18%

14%

13%

12%

Performing arts

12%

Most-used topics

% of projects

30%

Cultural heritage
Identity
Culture
Period-specific studies
Music
Medieval history
Social practices
Media
Modern history

11%

10%

9%

9%

8%

8%

8%

8%

 Cultural studies and Codicology grew in use from 2014 to 2020

 Cultural studies was used more in StG projects compared to those funded in CoG and AdG schemes, while Culture

was used more in CoG projects and Philosophy and Identity were used more in AdG projects

 Around 1/3 of the projects in this panel generate methodological developments. Digital humanities and Comparative

methods are the main ones

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 
which is proportional to the number of times they appear together

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 
proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 SH domain: the main interactions are with The Study of the Human
Past
(SH6), The Social World, Diversity, Population (SH3), and
Institutions, Values, Environment and Space (SH2) panels through the
disciplines Anthropology, History of ideas and Cultural studies

 PE domain:

the interaction is not very strong, but

there is some

connection with the Computer Science and Informatics (PE6) panel

 LS domain:

the interaction is not very strong, but

there are some
connections with the Neuroscience and Neural Disorders (LS5), and
Applied Medical Technologies, Diagnostics, Therapies and Public
Health (LS7) panels

ERC projects funded in the SH5 panel

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The Study of the Human Past (SH6)

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in the ‘The Study of the Human Past’ panel in 

the Social Sciences & Humanities (SH) domain (see ERC panel structure). The projects were funded 

under the Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) and Advanced Grant (AdG) calls launched in the 

H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)*

2383 applications
(4.4% of total)

273 projects funded
(4.1% of total)

107 projects
(€155M)

94 projects
(€181M)

72 projects
(€172M)

126 female grantees
(46% of grantees in this panel)

€508 million budget

Distribution of ERC-funded projects in EU Member States and Associated Countries in H2020

The 273 funded projects (numbers in the graph) are in 21 EU Member States and 5 Associated Countries (ACs)

25%

20%

55

15%

37

10%

5%

0%

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects

% of H2020 ERC-funded projects in this panel

29

25

18 19

15

9

6

8

5 4 6

3 1 3 5

1 3 1 1

7

4

4 3

1

UK DE FR NL ES IT BE SE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU PL EL LU SI RO EE CY HR LT CH IL NO TR IS RS UA

Host institutions with ≥6 funded projects

National Centre for Scientific Research (FR)

16

University of Oxford (UK)

12

Leiden University (NL)

Max Planck Society (DE)

University of Vienna (AT)

University of Cambridge (UK)

University of Copenhagen (DK)

9

8

8

7

6

Number of projects

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs
(≤3 grouped together)

4

Australia

10

United States

12

8 other non-EU/ACs

Number of projects

*Data as of December 2021

The Study of the Human Past (SH6)

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in this panel

Most-used disciplines

% of projects

History

62%

Archaeology

42%

History of ideas

16%

Paleoanthropology

16%

History of science

13%

Cultural studies

11%

Most-used topics

% of projects

Prehistory

Modern history

25%

24%

Medieval history

19%

Contemporary history

Development (economic, social)

Ancient history

Human migration

14%

14%

11%

11%

 Paleoanthropology, History of science and Landscape archaeology grew in use from 2014 to 2020

 Paleoanthropology, Prehistory, Modern history and Contemporary history were used more in StG projects compared

to those funded in CoG and AdG schemes, while History of science was used more in AdG projects

 Around 1/3 of the projects in this panel generate methodological developments. Archival research and Archaeological

material analysis are the main ones

Connections between disciplines and topics in this panel

The strength of the connection between disciplines (blue) and topics (grey) is represented by the thickness of the arcs, 
which is proportional to the number of times they appear together 

Synergies with other panels and domains

The strength of the connections is represented by the thickness of the arcs and the numbers indicated, which are 
proportional to the number of shared disciplines

 SH domain: the main interactions are with the Cultures and Cultural
Production (SH5), Institutions, Values, Environment and Space (SH2),
and The Social World, Diversity, Population (SH3) panels through the
disciplines History of ideas, Cultural studies and Religious studies

 PE domain:

there is some
the interaction is not very strong, but
connection with the Earth System Science (PE10) panel through the
discipline Palaeobiology and palaeoecology

 LS domain:

there is some
the interaction is not very strong, but
connection with the Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology (LS8)
panel through the discipline Palaeobiology and palaeoecology

ERC projects funded in the SH6 panel

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ERC Frontier Research 
in the Synergy Grant calls

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in the three Synergy Grant calls 
launched in the H2020 Framework Programme (2014-2020). Unlike single-investigator grants 
(Starting Grant, Consolidator Grant and Advanced Grant), the Synergy Grant funds a group 
of  two  to  four  principal  investigators,  working  together  and  combining  different  skills  and 
resources to tackle ambitious research problems. Synergy projects are often interdisciplinary 
and cover several of the ERC’s scientific domains. The ERC’s ambition for the Synergy Grants 
scheme is to become a world benchmark in funding transformative research.

Data as of December 2021

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i
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Synergy Grant calls

This fact sheet provides an overview of the projects funded in the three Synergy (SyG) calls 

launched in the H2020 Framework Programme (2014–2020)*

Scientific domains

1029 applications

Physical sciences 
and engineering 
(PE) 
38 projects
16% are cross-domain

Social sciences 
and humanities
(SH)
19 projects
63% are cross-domain

62 female grantees
(19% of SyG grantees)

99 projects funded, 332 PIs
79 projects in >1 country
88 projects have >2 PIs

Life sciences
(LS) 
42 projects
40% are cross-domain

€981 million budget
(7% of ERC’s H2020 budget)

The 332 PIs of the 99 funded projects are in 20 EU Member States, 3 Associated Countries (ACs) and 5 non-EU/ACs 

Distribution of SyG PIs in Horizon 2020

25%

79

55

20%

15%

10%

30

5%

0%

% PIs - StG, CoG, AdG

% PIs - SyG

20

16

11

16

9 10

3

2 2 2 2 4 2 3

1 2

1

28

10

6

18

UK DE FR NL ES IT BE SE AT DK FI

IE PT CZ HU PL EL LU SI ROEE CYHR LT BGCH IL NOTR IS RS UA

Non-EU/ACs

Host institutions with ≥5 SyG PIs

Country of origin of grantees 
other than EU or ACs 
(≤4 grouped together)

Max Planck Society (DE)

National Centre for Scientific Research  (FR)

National Institute of Health and Medical Research (FR)

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (CH)

University of Copenhagen (DK)

French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (FR)

University of Geneva (CH)

Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)

17

16

9

8

8

6

5

5

5

7

Russia

4 other non-EU/ACs

20

United States

Number of PIs

Number of PIs

*Data as of December 2021

Disciplinary and topical clustering of Synergy projects

Clusters of SyG projects

Materials science
16 projects, €169M 

Mathematics, quantum physics 
and universe sciences
10 projects, €112M

Societal resilience and equality
4 projects, €39M 

Culture, religion and language
8 projects, €80M 

Climate and environmental research, 
and Earth System Science
17 projects, €177M 

Structures and functions of molecules, cells 
and organisms
22 projects, €203M 

Biomedical engineering, brain studies 
and the human mind 
13 projects, €122M 

Integrative biology in physiology and disease
9 projects, €77M 

The 99 SyG projects were grouped into thematic clusters to better capture their scientific landscape.
The clustering was achieved by exploring common disciplines and topics between individual projects,
where a total of 336 terms were used as classifiers, including 117 disciplines and 219 topics. The
scope of each cluster spans across a range of scientific areas that are reflected in the cluster’s name.

SyG clusters in the 3 scientific domains

SyG clusters are spread across the 3-domain space. Five clusters are more focused on a single domain
and three clusters have a strong inter-domain component

PE

LS

 Mathematics,

quantum physics

and
universe science and Materials science are
predominantly PE.
Integrative biology in
physiology and disease is mainly LS.
Culture, religion and language and Societal
resilience and equality are substantially SH.

 Climate and environmental research, and
Earth System Science lies at the intersection
of the three domains, which contribute equally
to the cluster. In the Structures and functions
of molecules, cells and organisms cluster,
the projects have an LS
the majority of
orientation with several having a strong PE
component. Biomedical engineering,
the
brain and the human mind is at
the
intersection between LS and SH domains with
a predominant LS orientation.

SH

Scientific landscape of ERC-funded projects in Synergy:
exploring the clusters 

Mathematics, quantum physics 
and universe sciences

Climate and environmental research, 
and Earth System Science

Materials science

Integrative biology in physiology and disease

Biomedical engineering, the brain and the 
human mind 

Structures and functions of molecules, 
cells and organisms

Societal resilience and equality

Culture, religion and language

The word clouds represent the most prevalent scientific fields in the pool of 
SyG ERC projects under each scientific cluster.

Scientific synergies and methodological developments in Synergy

Main connections between the clusters of SyG projects

The nodes, whose size is proportional to the number of projects, represent scientific clusters of the Synergy
projects. These clusters are interconnected and the strength of this connection is represented by the
thickness of the arc that is proportional to the number of shared scientific fields. The most representative
scientific fields of the main connections, tagged with letters, are listed.

g

d

f

c

b

a

e

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

Cell biology; Computational biology; Cell 
differentiation; Cancer; Molecular biology 

Computational biology; Mathematical biology; 
Neurological disorders; Molecular biology; 
Physiology; Structural biology; Cell differentiation; 
Cell signaling and communication; Cell biology; 
Optical devices and systems

Systems biology; Computational biology; 
Genetics; Molecular biology; Pathophysiology; 
Cell biology; Cell differentiation

Climatology and paleoclimatology; 
Paleoanthropology; Climate change impact

Biochemistry; Physical chemistry; Spectroscopy 

Atomic molecular physics; Optics and laser physics; 
Gas and plasma physics; Quantum information, 
physics, optics; Electronics photonics; Materials 
engineering; Nanoscience; Topology; Optoelectronic 
photonic systems; Spectroscopy; Thermodynamics 

Governance; Anthropology; Economics; Political 
Science; Social psychology; Policy

Landscape of methodological developments in SyG projects

The main methodological development across all domains is in the field of Computational modelling,
simulations with a substantial contribution to models and algorithm development for Earth system studies.
The largest share of projects contributing towards methodological developments is found in the PE domain
followed by the LS domain and to a lesser extent in the SH domain.

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Neither the Agency nor any person acting on behalf of the Agency is responsible for the use that might be 
made of the following information.

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2023

© European Research Council Executive Agency, 2023

ERCEA’s reuse policy is implemented by the Decision of 12 December 2011 - reuse of Commission documents.

Unless otherwise indicated (e.g. in individual copyright notices), content owned by the ERCEA and/or EU on 
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This means that reuse is allowed, provided appropriate credit is given and changes are indicated.

For any use or reproduction of photos or other material that is not under the EU copyright, permission must 
be sought directly from the copyright holders.

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“The European Research Council is the European Union’s funder of curiosity-driven, 

excellent  research.  The  ERC  trusts  the  best  researchers  in  Europe  to  pursue  their 

best ideas and to push the frontiers of knowledge. The cutting-edge discoveries and 

innovations of ERC grantees are making a visible impact for the benefit of society.”

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ERC President  
and Chair of the ERC Scientific Council 

EuropeanResearchCouncil

@ERC_Research

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