European Research Council

European Research Council

The ERC aims to encourage the highest quality research in Europe through competitive funding and to support investigator-driven frontier research across all fields. The ERC funds ground-breaking basic research projects across all fields of science to support European leadership in world-class research. Support is given to outstanding Principal Investigators (PI) based on the scientific excellence of their project proposal.

ERC offers 4 types of grants:

Starting grant (StG) aimed at researchers of any nationality, emerging research leaders, with 2-7 years of experience gained after obtaining a PhD (or equivalent qualification). The ideal recipient of funding is therefore the talented early career researcher, ready to work independently and demonstrate the potential to be a future research leader. The funding can reach 1.5 million euros for each project for a maximum duration of 5 years. 

Consolidator Grant (CoG) is intended for researchers of any nationality with 7-12 years of experience acquired after obtaining a PhD (or other equivalent qualification) and with a very promising scientific curriculum. It is aimed at researchers who aim to strengthen their research independence by establishing a research group and continuing to develop a successful career in Europe. Application for this funding scheme is open even if the researcher proposing the proposal has recently established an excellent independent research team and intends to strengthen it. Funding can reach 2 million euros per single project for a maximum duration of 5 years.

Advanced Grant (AdG) enables exceptional and accomplished research leaders of any age and nationality to carry out innovative and high-risk projects that open up new directions in their research fields and in other sectors. Researchers must be scientifically independent, have been active in research for the last ten years and have a profile that identifies them as a leader in their respective research field. The funding can reach 2.5 million euros per single project for a maximum duration of 5 years.

Synergy Grant (SyG) promotes substantial advances in the frontier of knowledge and encourages new lines of research as well as new methods and techniques. It is intended for groups of a minimum of two and a maximum of four Principal Investigators (PIs), each of whom may have their own research team. The funding can reach 10 million euros per single project for a maximum duration of 6 years.

 

Lastly, ERC offers grants for Proof of Concept (PoC) which aims to ensure the link between basic research and the market. The scheme is aimed at researchers who have already obtained ERC funding. It is aimed at researchers already awarded an ERC grant, who have a project still in progress or completed no more than 12 months after the date of publication of the call. Beneficiaries have access to a grant of 150,000 euros for 18 months.

 

NOTE: ELIGIBILITY CAN BE EXTENDED UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES, SUCH AS FOR MATERNITY/PATERNITY LEAVE, CLINICAL TRAINING, MILITARY SERVICE AND LONG-TERM ILLNESS

 

The general budget of the ERC from 2021 to 2027 is over EUR 16 billion as part of the Horizon Europe programme.

Click here for more details about funding grants of ERC.

The team