Alliance attracts the best European universities in a workshop on the European Research Council

On November 6th, the leading European universities participating in European Research Council (ERC) competitions participated in A-4U workshop on “Experiences in ERC Promotion: a practical view from grant university managers”.

The ERC grants have become a symbolic capital, not only for researchers, but also for research organisations. They are intended to support excellent research at the frontier of knowledge. The promotion of ERC grants is one of the key objectives of A-4U universities as part of their excellence and internationalisation strategy.

The workshop was hosted by Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and brought together 11 of the most successful universities participating in ERC grants: University of Zurich, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen, University of Bristol, University of Edinburgh, Hebrew University of Jeusalen, Aarhus University, Copenhagen University, Eidfenossische Technische Hoghschule in Zurich, King´s College in London, and Università di Bologna.

The workshop provided a platform for discussion and exchange of good practices in universities to attract ERC grants, taking into account the national, regional, and institutional policy frameworks aimed at attracting and retaining talent.

The discussions focused on central themes, on which basis good practices and recommendations were identified: mobilisation of potential in house ERC candidates in universities, attraction and retention of ERC talent, as well as good governance of European Research Offices at universities.

The workshop was part of two day’s programme focused on ERC. The conference jointly organised by the ERC and UPF on “Enhancing the attractiveness of European Research Activities as a destination for world class researchers” and the ERC information session on latest developments in the 2013 call (Synergy and Consolidators Grants) preceded the workshop.