ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the social structure of research funding in Europe and in particular on the role of research funding organizations (RFOs) taking the supranational European Research Council (ERC) as an example. According to Crothers, Merton neglected the organizational environments of scientific activity in favor of focusing on the underlying structure of science in generating recognition priorities. As a policy-concept the European Research Area (ERA) was designed to accompany the EU Lisbon Strategy with its ambitious objective "to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world". Recalling Merton's differentiation between anticipated and unanticipated consequences of social action in relation to evaluation and peer review is relevant for understanding institutionalized forms of RFOs' control in the scientific system and for governance strategies in the scientific system in general. Regarding opportunities and constraints structuring RFO actors' choices in the peer review process and consider formal and informal criteria and the role of ignorance and visibility involved.
