ERC Grant Types

ERC Synergy Grants (ERC SyG)

Enabling 2-4 Principal Investigators and their teams to bring together complementary skills, knowledge, and resources in new ways, in order to address ambitious research problems.

Eligibility: Applicants should present a track record of achievements appropriate to their career stage (see ERC-StG, ERC-CoG and ERC-AdG). One of the PrincipaI Investigators may be based outside the EU and Associated Countries. Dedicated Time: Principal Investigators must spend a minimum of 50% of their total working time in an EU Member State or Associated Country (except the Principal Investigator, if any, based outside the EU) and a minimum of 30% of their total working time on the ERC project. Budget: Maximum of EUR 10 000 000 (+EUR 4 000 000 for certain costs; see ERC Budget Instructions for further information) for a period of 6 years (up to 100% of the total eligible and approved direct costs and flat-rate financing of indirect costs on the basis of 25% of the total eligible direct costs).

ERC Starting Grants (ERC StG)

Supporting excellent Principal Investigators starting their own independent research team or programme

Eligibility: Applicants should have been awarded their first PhD ≥ 2 and ≤ 7 years prior to 1st January of the call year, and must have already shown the potential for research independence and evidence of maturity, for example by having produced at least one important publication without the participation of their PhD supervisor. Applicants should also be able to demonstrate a promising track record of early achievements appropriate to their research field and career stage, including significant publications (as main author) in major international peer-reviewed journals. They may also demonstrate a record of invited presentations in well-established international conferences, granted patents, awards, prizes etc. Dedicated Time: Principal Investigators must spend a minimum of 50% of their total working time in an EU Member State or Associated Country and a minimum of 50% of their total working time on the ERC project. Budget: Maximum of EUR 1 500 000 (+EUR 1 000 000 for certain costs; see ERC Budget Instructions for further information) for a period of 5 years (up to 100% of the total eligible and approved direct costs and flat-rate financing of indirect costs on the basis of 25% of the total eligible direct costs).

ERC Consolidator Grants (ERC CoG)

Supporting excellent Principal Investigators consolidating their own independent research team or programme

Eligibility: Applicants should have been awarded their first PhD > 7 and ≤ 12 years prior to 1 January of the call year and must have already shown research independence and evidence of maturity, for example by having produced several important publications without the participation of their PhD supervisor. Applicants should also be able to demonstrate a promising track record of early achievements appropriate to their research field and career stage, including significant publications (as main author) in major international peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journals, or in the leading international peer-reviewed journals of their respective field. They may also demonstrate a record of invited presentations in well-established international conferences, granted patents, awards, prizes etc. Dedicated Time: Principal Investigators must spend a minimum of 50% of their total working time in an EU Member State or Associated Country and a minimum of 40% of their total working time on the ERC project. Budget: Maximum of EUR 2 000 000 (+EUR 1 000 000 for certain costs; see ERC Budget Instructions for further information) for a period of 5 years (up to 100% of the total eligible and approved direct costs and flat-rate financing of indirect costs on the basis of 25% of the total eligible direct costs).

ERC Advanced Grants (ERC AdG)

Supporting excellent Principal Investigators at the career stage at which they are already established research leaders with a recognised track record of research

Eligibility: There are no restrictions on eligibility. ERC Advanced Grant Principal Investigators are expected to be active researchers and to have a track record of significant research achievements in the last 10 years which must be presented in the application. There is little prospect of an application succeeding in the absence of such a record, which identifies investigators as exceptional leaders in terms of originality and significance of their research contributions. Dedicated Time: Principal Investigators must spend a minimum of 50% of their total working time in an EU Member State or Associated Country and a minimum of 30% of their total working time on the ERC project. Budget: Maximum of EUR 2 500 000 (+EUR 1 000 000 for certain costs; see ERC Budget Instructions for further information) for a period of 5 years (up to 100% of the total eligible and approved direct costs and flat-rate financing of indirect costs on the basis of 25% of the total eligible direct costs).

ERC Proof of Concept Grants (ERC PoC)

Supporting holders of an ERC frontier research grant to verify the innovation potential of ideas arising from their ERC-funded project

Eligibility: Only Principal Investigators of an ERC frontier research grant may apply. The relation between the idea to be taken to proof of concept and the ERC frontier research project in question must be demonstrated. Budget: Maximum of EUR 150 000 for a period of 18 months (up to 100% of the total eligible and approved direct costs and flat-rate financing of indirect costs on the basis of 25% of the total eligible direct costs; see ERC Budget Instructions for further information).