The grants of the European Research Council (ERC) aim to support »frontier research«. In other words, they encourage the pursuit of questions at or beyond the frontiers of knowledge, without regard for established disciplinary boundaries. ERC grants are awarded through open competition to projects headed by starting and established researchers, irrespective of their origins, who are working or moving to work in Europe. Thereby, the sole criterion for selection is scientific excellence. In this presentation, Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker explains the ERC funding instruments and exemplifies their mode of operation citing a number of selected projects in Germany.