Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia disseminates information about EU funded research projects in frames of the European Research Council grants - the projects set up to promote and support historical heritage and carefully preservation of cultural values. Please see the following examples of the funded successful projects: History lessons for more resilient future A wide-ranging EU-funded analysis of rural Western European societies. Its aim is to identify common characteristics that make some societies more resilient against disaster than others. Launched in 2014 and due for completion in 2019 and focused on Western Europe in the period between 1300 and 1800. The approach taken by the project has been to consider history as a living ‘laboratory’, where historical records can be analyzed to test hypotheses. Malta case study in the raise and fall of Civilization EU-funded scientists the clearest picture yet of the complex and hidden history of ancient Malta. The findings could help us understand how cultures become sustainable, or collapse. This was a key objective of the Fragsus project, which has examined the impact of the first human settlements on Malta to assess the rapidity of deforestation, erosion and degradation. New insights to Great Gothic Vaults The existing knowledge about gothic vaulting and ribbed arches turn out to be very incomplete.  EU funded project which orientates Design Principles in Late-Gothic Vault Construction – A New Approach Based on Surveys, Reverse Geometric Engineering and a Reinterpretation of the Sources.  Novel methods in 3D reconstruction can offer heritage preservers and curators new insights The EU funded project ,,TITANIUM” is orientated on urban modeling Geometric models that are accurate and visually faithful. This is significant way to perform and set up urban modeling. It is improved way to scanning and presentation of historical site and turn it into a tangible subject. New radiocarbon dating techniques reveal secrets of early Saharan civilization The EU supported project TRANS-SAHARA has challenged that position by exploring several key themes: trade, settlement type and economic activity, technological change, burial rites and identity, and migration. research reveals that the Sahara was much more densely populated in the pre-Islamic era than previously believed Further information about the projects is available on ERC webpage    

SRNSFG disseminates information about appointment of seven experts in the committee to conduct the search for the next president of the European Research Council (ERC). According to the European Research, Science and Innovation Commissioner Carlos Moedas, t he committee will be chaired by former European Commissioner Mario Monti, President of Bocconi University, also former Prime Minister of Italy. The committee will make recommendations to the European Commission in time for the next ERC president to take up duties on 1 January 2020, as successor to the current president, Professor Jean-Pierre Bourguignon. Moedas also noted that ERC has become a powerhouse of science and will be a key pillar in an even more ambitious research and innovation framework programme that will follow Horizon 2020. The search committee members are: Chair Mario MONTI Helga NOWOTNY , Professor emeritus of Social Studies of Science, ETH Zurich, Former President of the ERC Scientific Council  Fabiola GIANOTTI , Director-General of CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research Carl-Henrik HELDIN , Director of the Ludwig Institute at Uppsala University, Chairman of the board of the Nobel Foundation Jules A. HOFFMANN , Chair of Integrative Biology, University of Strasbourg, 2011 Nobel Prize in Medicine Alice GAST , President of Imperial College London   Maciej ZYLICZ , President and Executive Director of the Foundation for Polish Science Further information can be accessed on the website .

Shota Rustaveli National science foundation of Georgia disseminates information about ERC funded projects with striking impact by 79% with breakthrough or major advances . The study was conducted on a random sample of 223 projects of Starting and Advanced Grant from a pool of 470 completed projects. Statistics show that 79% of projects were of major impact : 19% led to a breakthrough and 60% to a major scientific advance . Projects have already left their mark on the economy, society and policy-making . Only 21% of evaluated projects were considered as having incremental or no appreciable scientific contribution ( See the diagram ). Further  information about ERC projects results is available on website . ERC funded projects can be accessed on webpage .

SRNSFG disseminates information about ERC Advanced Grant forthcoming call as part of Horizon 2020. The opening of the call 2018 is expected on May 23, 2018 with a deadline in August 2018 .  The call will be open to established, leading researchers of any nationality and from any field of research, with a track-record of significant research achievements in the last 10 years. European Research Council (ERC) call of Advanced Grant applications must be submitted by a single Principal Investigator (PI) in conjunction with and on behalf of their Host Institution, called the applicant legal entity. Legally the host institutions must be based in one of the EU member states or one of the associated countries, including Georgia. Advanced grants may be awarded up to € 2.5 million for a period of 5 years. For detailed information about the forthcoming call, please visit the European Commission’s  Participant Portal. Further information can be accessed on the European Research Council’s webpage.  

SRNSFG disseminates information about the European Research Council’s annual entertaining webcomics, which is the part of an ambitious creative project ERComics. Over the next four years, you will find in this page 16 webcomics promoting and explaining the achievements of ERC funded research projects. Stay tuned! Please visit the link to see the comics.

Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia (SRNSFG) pre-announces the new grant scheme for Early Career Researchers’ Fellowship to visit ERC Grantee. The scheme aims to support Georgian researchers’ participation in the ERC Grant Calls and their integration into the international scientific community. Successful applicants are early career researchers, who conduct scientific research in accredited public or private research universities or research centers in Georgia. Applicants must be citizens of Georgia currently residing in Georgia, shall have sufficient fluency in written and spoken English (or the language of the receiving country) and be affiliated to accredited research universities or research centers of Georgia. Eligibility time-window: maximum 12 years after PhD (or equivalent degree) by the time applicable call is open. The call is open to researchers working in all scientific fields (OECD/EUROSTAT classificatory) 1-7 ( http://rustaveli.org.ge/en/Classification/page/1016 ) .  For further Information regarding the upcoming grant scheme, please see the concept of the Call . Estimated announcement: August 2018 ( will be modified, depending on the feedback from ERC and from the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia). Application open all year round. First cycle application estimated deadline: October - November 2018 (will be defined later) Estimated end of evaluation and publication of results for first cycle: December 2018. Estimated start period of the fellowship: I - II quarters of 2019. Detailed regulatory document for call administration and application submission procedures will be published in Georgian language in Summer 2018 by SRNSFG.  Applications are to be submitted to the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia.  For additional enquiries, you can contact: Ms. Mariam Keburia ( mkeburia@rustaveli.org.ge ); Head of IR unit, ERC NCP.

Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia (SRNSFG) disseminates information about the results of ERC Proof of Concept Grant. 50 ERC grantees have been funded to bring research findings to market. The awarded projects cover a variety of topics: a promising advance in the development of a universal flu vaccine, an atlas of the human sub-cortex for deep brain stimulation of people suffering Parkinson's and other neurological diseases, a new environment-friendly process to produce menthol, and deep learning algorithms for the automatic detection of fake news. Proof of Concept grants, worth €150,000 each, can be used for example, to explore business opportunities, prepare patent applications or verify the practical viability of scientific concepts To date, the ERC has funded around 8,500 top researchers at various stages of their careers. With its additional Proof of Concept grant scheme, the ERC helps grantees to bridge the gap between grantees' pioneering research and early phases of its commercialisation. 

SRNSFG disseminates information about the published document by the European Research Council (ERC) on the Transport and Mobility. 2018 report focuses on the wide variety of topics in areas ranging from transportation science and technology, impact assessment of transport on environment and health, to the transport policy. The overall aim today is to improve transport infrastructure, vehicles and operations, while reducing its environmental footprint and integrating societal aspects, for example user behaviour, traffic planning and urban design. Detailed information about the report can be accessed via the link .

The SRNSFG disseminates information about the successful project examples of the ERC Advanced Grants . The call is for the established, leading principal investigators who wabts log-term funding to pursue ground-breaking, high-risk projects. Advanced Grants may be awarded up to € 2.5 million for a period of 5 years. ERC publishes examples of successful projects under the 2017 Call: Salvador Aznar Benitah from Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Barcelona aims to provide fundamental insights into the mechanisms of metastases and how they are influenced by diet with his project “Dietary Influences on Metastasis: How, When, and Why (LIPOMET)”; Michael Bruter and his team at the London School of Economics and Political Science set to examine the causes and consequences of electoral hostility at individual, group, and aggregate levels. It will combine methods such as visual and physiological experiments, election diaries, and panel study surveys in 27 countries. Lies and fraud can have considerable financial and societal costs. A new study led by Salvatore Maria Aglioti at Università degli Studi Di Roma La Sapienza, will test whether we can alter peoples' dishonest tendencies, by changing their perception of themselves during interactions with both virtual avatars and with real people. More examples of the ERC Advanced Grants can be accessed on the website.