A 60% growth in applications to one of the world's most prestigious research-grant programmes could result in an exceptionally low success rate, raising fears that quality scientific ideas will go unfunded. This rise is attributable, in part, to the ease of writing applications with artificial-intelligence tools. 'The number is a bit scary,' says Maria Leptin, president of the European Research Council (ERC) in Brussels, noting it's increasingly difficult for their staff and peer reviewers to tackle so many applications. The ERC's Starting Grant programme ' which offers base funds of up to '1.5 million (US$1.7 million) over five years to early-career scientists ' received 7,710 proposals for 2027 grants before the deadline on 14 October, up from 4,807 last year (see 'Rising torrent'). With up to 373 grants available, down from 421 last year because of funding constraints, that will mean a success rate of less than 5%, compared with 8.8% for the 2026 grant call. 'It's almost a...
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