The European Research Council (ERC), after a short gestation period, dubbed a "miracle," opened its doors in February 2007, and its annual budget rose to over €1 billion (close to $1.5 billion) in 2010. In this short time, many challenges have been overcome, leading to the creation of an entirely new funding organization that is already highly regarded on the world stage. ERC funding is open to all fields of science, scholarship, and engineering and to all researchers regardless of nationality as long as they are based in, or moving to, Europe. Scientific excellence is the sole evaluation criterion. The ERC places particular emphasis on the frontiers of knowledge. In particular, proposals of an interdisciplinary nature that cross the boundaries between different fields of research are encouraged. Pioneering ideas addressing new and emerging fields of research or introducing unconventional, innovative approaches and scientific inventions are also encouraged. The speakers will offer their perspectives on the ERC and on the importance of funding frontier research. They will also provide insight into upcoming challenges and the ERC's possible future direction as well as the internationalization of science. Examples of funded projects will be highlighted.