nice, smart colleauges
access to conferences
well paid
good connection with industry
easy to talk with researchers from other fields
Cons
not so much collaboration between research groups
if you don't finish your doctoral thesis in time, they don't care and expect you to finish it unpaid. this is a form of free labor
access to lots of equipment and consumables; well-established protocols shared between labs; open and diverse working environment
Cons
work-life balance; the PIs are a bit inconsiderate of ERCs; at the time of writing there is no possibility of growth beyond postdoc; strong pressure on high-impact publication means that some ERCs are leaving after years of research with almost no publications