The European Research Council (ERC) offers a series of highly competitive and internationally recognized grants for scientific projects. Last week, the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) held an information session on this program in the Blas Cabrera Felipe Auditorium at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of La Laguna. The session was co-organized locally by the university's European Projects Office. This regional ERC information day served to highlight the latest developments and opportunities offered by the program.
The opening of the session was led by the Vice-Rector for Research and Transfer, Antonio Aparicio, who welcomed the FECYT National Contact Point, Leticia Riaza Gambero; and the director of the Canary Agency for Research, Innovation and Information Society (ACIISI), Javier Franco Hormiga.
The audience actively participated with questions at each presentation of the day, whose agenda included a talk on regional initiatives to boost participation in projects of the Horizon Europe call, given by Javier Roo, from ACIISI; the new features of the 2025 call for ERC aid and the new “lump sum” model of the 2024 Advanced Grant call, by the aforementioned Leticia Riaza.
There was also time for a round table discussion in which three success stories from this call were presented by their protagonists: Deiene Rodríguez Barreto, from the University of La Laguna; Jonathan Santana Cabrera, from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; and Eduardo Martín Guerrero de Escalante, from the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands.
Of particular note was the special interest generated by this panel, during which the audience and speakers were able to exchange experiences, advice, and strategies for submitting successful proposals. Furthermore, the National Contact Point provided personalized support through bilateral meetings with those who had previously requested them. The following day, another session on ERC calls for proposals was held at the IAC.
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