European Research Council (ERC) Grants

ERC Starting Grants (ERC StG)

Individual grants for excellent Principal Investigators starting their own independent research team or programme

• Applicants must have successfully defended their first PhD ≥ 2 and ≤ 7 years prior to 1st January of the call year (expected to change for the 2027 calls) and should have a scientific track record showing great promise and an excellent research proposal. Applicants need to show 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.
• Principal Investigators must spend a minimum of 50% of their total working time on the ERC project and 50% of their total working time in an EU Member State or Associated Country.
• Up to EUR 1 500 000 (+EUR 1 000 000 for certain costs; see ERC Budget Instructions for further information) for a period of 5 years.
• ERC Starting Grant website for more information.

ERC Consolidator Grants (ERC CoG)

Individual grants for excellent Principal Investigators consolidating their own independent research team or programme

• Applicants must have successfully defended their first PhD > 7 and ≤ 12 years prior to 1 January of the call year (expected to change for the 2027 calls) and should have already shown research independence and evidence of maturity, for example by having produced several important publications without the participation of their PhD supervisor.
• Principal Investigators must spend a minimum of 40% of their total working time on the ERC project and 50% of their total working time in an EU Member State or Associated Country.
• Up to EUR 2 000 000 (+EUR 1 000 000 for certain costs; see ERC Budget Instructions for further information) for a period of 5 years.
• ERC Consolidator Grant webpage for more information.

ERC Advanced Grants (ERC AdG)

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

• 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
• Principal Investigators must spend a minimum of 30% of their total working time on the ERC project and 50% of their total working time in an EU Member State or Associated Country
• Up to EUR 2 500 000 (+EUR 1 000 000 for certain costs; see ERC Budget Instructions for further information) for a period of 5 years.
• ERC Advanced Grant webpage for more information.

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

• For those who already have an ERC award to establish proof of concept of an idea that was generated in the course of their ERC-funded projects.
• Up to EUR 150 000 for a period of 18 months (see ERC Budget Instructions for further information).
• ERC Proof of Concept webpage for more information.

ERC Synergy Grants (ERC SyG)

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

• 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.
• Principal Investigators must spend a minimum of 30% of their total working time on the ERC project and 50% of their total working time in an EU Member State or Associated Country (except the Principal Investigator, if any, based outside the EU).
• Up to EUR 10 000 000 (+EUR 4 000 000 for certain costs; see ERC Budget Instructions for further information) for a period of 6 years.
• ERC Synergy Grant webpage for more information. 

ERC Plus Grants

New funding scheme to support outstanding principal investigators with bold ideas and a vision for transformative research that goes beyond the scope of existing ERC programmes.

• Up to EUR 7 000 000 for 4-7 years.
• Will be added to the 2026 workprogramme with expected deadline September 2026.
• Webinar for ERC Plus Grant for more information.