ERC turns spotlight on support for lagging countries

Ten per cent funding quota urged for ‘widening’ countries, despite recent improvement in performance

The European Research Council has highlighted actions it is taking to improve the performance of countries that fare badly in its grant competitions—alongside what else it and the EU could do.

Fifteen member states are classed by the EU as ‘widening countries’, meaning that they are eligible for additional research and innovation funding schemes due to their low participation in the bloc’s main R&I schemes, such as the ERC. They include the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary and Poland.