ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the social mechanisms operative in starting and advancing careers in more detail, based on data on European Research Council (ERC) grantees obtained by curriculum vitae (CV) analysis and in-depth interviews. In their concurrence, they all contribute to cumulative (dis)advantage in symbolic reputation and a resulting Matthew Effect in European research funding. For examining the role of age for symbolic reputation, the chapter compares two groups, early careers and established senior researchers, among recipients of the Starting and the Advanced grant ERC programmes. Comparing two cohorts also reveals change in scientific mobility during the last decades. International mobility rates, or 'mobility capital', of researchers across all disciplines significantly increased. In both cohorts, researchers on average visited two or three foreign countries and three different institutions, half of the latter in the US. Publication differences are more pronounced between disciplines than between cohorts.
