ERC - Who's Afraid of h-index

The urban myth about h-index and ERC is that the h-index serves as a means for comparing applicants and assessing their scientific productivity and impact. Since an impressive publications list is the “bread and butter of a successful ERC application”, many applicants tend to rely mainly on h-index as an indicator for their performance as scientists. Therefore, one may assume that if your h-index is not high enough you should not even consider applying to ERC. But is that really so?