The results of the 2023 European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant call (call deadline 2 February 2023) were published. Consolidator Grants are open to researchers with 7-12 years of experience since completion of PhD (extensions are possible under certain documented circumstances), a scientific track record showing great promise and an excellent research proposal.

Proposals are evaluated in 27 evaluation panels in three research domains (Physical Sciences and Engineering, Social Sciences and Humanities and Life Sciences) composed of top scientists and scholars coming from all over the world and in addition by remote referees with necessary specialised expertise (two to five per proposal).

Of the 2130 submitted proposals 308 researchers with 43 different nationalities received an ERC Consolidator Grant: 89 In Life Sciences, 129 in Physical Sciences and Engineering and 90 in Social Sciences and Humanities. In the ERCEA news articles more background on the evaluation results, call statistics and several project examples are highlighted.

However the statistics and list of successful candidates for this call are provisional since the UK will only be formally associated to Horizon Europe as of 1 January 2024 and the association would apply only for award procedures implementing 2024 budget and onwards. For this and other calls from the 2023 Work Programme, the transitional arrangement applies and the recommended for funding UK-based applicants may receive EU funding if they choose to transfer their proposal to an eligible Host Institution.

Among the 308 selected researchers are eleven based at Flemish host institutions. The projects of these eleven Principal Investigators (PIs) are presented in the news articles of Universiteit Gent, KU Leuven and VIB.

• Bart Bogaerts, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, “CertiFOX - CertiFOX: Certified First-Order Model Expansion”, panel Physical Sciences and Engineering 6
• Pieter De Frenne, Universiteit Gent, “CanopyChange - Novel light regimes and drought effects on temperate forest plant biodiversity”, panel Life Sciences 8
• Steven Goderis, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, “FLUX - Tracing the FLUX of cosmic dust arriving to Earth during the Phanerozoic”, panel Physical Sciences and Engineering 10
• Jutho Haegeman, Universiteit Gent, “GaMaTeN - Probing Gauge Symmetries and Gauge-Matter Interactions using Tensor Networks”, panel Physical Sciences and Engineering 2
• Merlijn Hurx, KU Leuven, “URBAN-DELTA - Metropolises in the Mud Innovation in Delta Building Technology in Europe and China in the pre-Industrial Age”, panel Social Sciences and Humanities 5
• Ben Jeurissen, Universiteit Antwerpen, “ADAMI - A Data-driven Approach to Microstructural Imaging”, panel Life Sciences 7
• Jonathan Maelfait, Universiteit Gent, “ZIGNALLING - Molecular and Functional Characterisation of Z-nucleic Acid-induced Signalling”, panel Life Sciences 3
• Olivier Namur, KU Leuven, “IronHeart - The origin and evolution of a blastered Mercury”, panel Physical Sciences and Engineering 10
• Wim Thiery, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, “LACRIMA - LAgrangian Climate Risk and Impact Attribution”, panel Physical Sciences and Engineering 10
• Roosmarijn Vandenbroucke, Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie, “DeliChoP - Drug DELIvery to the brain via CHOroid Plexus targeting”, panel Life Sciences 7
• Lynn Vanhaecke, Universiteit Gent, “MeMoSA - Metabolomics-driven Molecular Source Analysis for personalized medicine in children”, panel Life Sciences 2