ERC grantees represent the seed for future European leading research activities in all fields of scientific knowledge. Due to the diversity of European research funding they conduct their work in a great variety of situations. The speakers will highlight in the first place the exciting science they are carrying out. They will share their motivation and respond to the ‘what for’ question, illustrating that mixture of curiosity and drive arising from issues challenging society. They will make the case for Europe as a fertile breeding ground for the highest quality research and attracting the best minds from all over the world if only the right conditions are put in place. Then this will strongly help to establish a European (ERC) spirit among those engaged in the scientific community. The launching of the Young Academy of Europe exemplifies this.