The European Research Council recently published a Guide for Peer Reviewers for the Synergy Grants scheme. The first ever pilot call for "Synergy Grants" opened in October 2011 and closed in January 2012. The goal of the Synergy Grants is to support small research teams to bringing together complementary skills, knowledge, and resources, to jointly address research problems at the frontier of knowledge.

A total of 710 proposals were submitted, from which it is likely that between ten and 15 proposals will be funded. The results of the first stage of the peer review process are expected to be sent out in July 2012, while the final results are scheduled for around the end of 2012. It is expected that a second Synergy Grants call is likely to open in autumn 2012 and close in 2013, details of which will appear in the 2013 ERC Work programme, due to be published around mid-July 2012.
The Guide sets out the responsibilities of the scheme's peer reviewers, describes the evaluation process, and provides practical guidelines for the reviewers to follow.

More information: http://erc.europa.eu/documents/erc-guide-peer-reviewers-applicable-erc-synergy-grants