The four Oxford winners are among 51 UK grant recipients, a total surpassing that of any other country. UK researchers qualify for the grants because the UK is an “associated country” to the ERC under the Horizon Europe scheme. Writing on their website, the ERC describes the research as “for the benefit of all EU citizens”. The ERC further noted the importance of strong UK-EU ties, and told Cherwell “up to half” of those ERC Starting Grants in the UK are EU nationals.