The ERC Consolidator Grants are designed to support excellent Principal Investigators at the career stage at which they may still be consolidating their own independent research team or programme. Principal Investigators must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their scientific proposal.
Summary
The ERC aims to encourage the highest quality research, regarding all the research fields in Europe by reinforcing the excellence of the Union’s science base. Its goal is to consolidate the European Research area, in order to make the Union’s research and innovation system more competitive on a global scale.
Programme Description
The fundamental activity of the ERC is to provide attractive, long-term funding, for a period of up to five years for the Starting, Consolidator and Advanced Grants, to support excellent investigators and their research teams to pursue ground breaking, high-gain/high-risk research. Furthermore, research funded by the ERC is expected to lead to advances at the frontiers of knowledge setting also, a clear and inspirational target for frontier research across Europe. The ERC aims to use procedures that maintain the focus on excellence, encourage initiative and combine simplicity, flexibility with accountability. Also, it is continuously looking for ways to improve its procedures in order to fulfil these principles.
Applications can be made in any field of research. In particular, it encourages proposals of a multi- or interdisciplinary nature which cross the boundaries between different fields of research, pioneering proposals addressing new and emerging fields of research or proposals introducing unconventional, innovative approaches and scientific inventions. Thus, the ERC’s sole criterion is the scientific excellence that every research grant have to be awarded with and this is evident by the Scientific Council review of every grant’s funding conditions in order to make sure that everyone remains competitive both at European and international level.
Independent researchers of any age and career stage as well as from anywhere in the world can apply for attractive long-term funding. However, in order to be eligible the host institution must be established in an EU Member State or Associated Country. The ERC frontier research grants aims to empower individual researchers and provide the best settings to foster their creativity and therefore, it awards funding to excellent investigators looking to set up or consolidate their own independent research team or programme, as well as the existing research leaders. Specifically, grants, either Starting, Consolidator or Advanced, will support projects carried out by individual teams which are headed by a single Principal Investigator. Additionally, the ERC welcomes applications from Principal Investigators and their teams hosted by public or private institutions – profit research centres, including industrial laboratories or universities and research organisations. Briefly, host institutions are expected to make all appropriate efforts to provide the conditions to attract and retain scientists and scholars of the calibre to be awarded an ERC grant.
In conclusion, the ERC, is committed to provide free online access o variety of research material such as the published output of research, including in particular peer reviewed articles, monographs as well as the open access to research data and data related products (e.g. computer code).
Total Budget
€ 16 billion
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
Funding rate 100% / 25% for indirect costs.
Thematic Categories
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
Eligibility for Participation
- Educational Institutions
- Private Bodies
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
Programme Opening Date
25/02/2021
Programme Closing Date
31/12/2027
National Contact Point(s)
Research and Innovation Foundation
Address: 29a Andrea Michalakopoulou, 1075 Nicosia, P.B. 23422, 1683 Nicosia
Telephone: +357 22205000
Fax: +357 22205001
Email: support@research.org.cy
Website: https://www.research.org.cy/en/
Contact Person:
Dr. Leda Skoufari – Themistou
Senior Scientific Officer
Email: leda@research.org.cy
EU Contact Point
Website
Programme/Sub-programme/Plan Calls
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ERC PROOF OF CONCEPT GRANTS
ClosedCode: 39531 | Identifier Code: ERC-2026-POC | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 20/01/2026 | End submission calls: 17/03/2026
The ERC Proof of Concept Grants aim at facilitating exploration of the commercial and social innovation potential of ERC funded research and are therefore available only to Principal Investigators whose proposals draw substantially on their ERC funded research.
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ERC Public Engagement with Research Award
ClosedCode: 38385 | Identifier Code: ERC-2026-PERA | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 14/10/2025 | End submission calls: 15/01/2026
The Public Engagement with Research Award is established to recognise and reward those Principal Investigators who successfully engage audiences outside their domain with ERC-funded research. The purpose of this award is also to recognise good practice and to encourage more ERC grantees to develop public engagement activities. For this award, public engagement is defined as the involvement of the public in the design, conduct or dissemination of activities funded by the ERC. Engagement is a two way process, involving interaction and mutual understanding for mutual benefit.
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ERC Consolidator Grants
ClosedCode: 38205 | Identifier Code: ERC-2026-COG | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 25/09/2025 | End submission calls: 13/01/2026
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ERC SYNERGY GRANTS
ClosedCode: 38122 | Identifier Code: ERC-2026-SyG | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 10/07/2025 | End submission calls: 05/11/2025
The aim is to provide support for a small group of two to four Principal Investigators to jointly address ambitious research problems that could not be addressed by the individual Principal Investigators and their teams working alone.
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ERC STARTING GRANTS
ClosedCode: 38014 | Identifier Code: ERC-2026-STG | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 09/07/2025 | End submission calls: 14/10/2025
The Starting Grant supports excellent Principal Investigators starting or having recently started their own independent research team or programme.
A Starting Grant Principal Investigator should have already shown evidence of the potential for research independence, for example, by having produced at least one important publication as its main author or a publication without the participation of their PhD supervisor.
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ERC Advanced Grants
ClosedCode: 36442 | Identifier Code: ERC-2025-ADG | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 22/05/2025 | End submission calls: 28/08/2025
ERC Advanced Grants are designed to support excellent Principal Investigators at the career stage at which they are already established research leaders with a recognised track record of research achievements. Principal Investigators must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their research proposal.
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ERC Proof of Concept Grants
ClosedCode: 35211 | Identifier Code: ERC-2025-POC | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 13/11/2024 | End submission calls: 18/09/2025
The ERC Proof of Concept Grants aim at facilitating exploration of the commercial and social innovation potential of ERC funded research and are therefore available only to Principal Investigators whose proposals draw substantially on their ERC funded research.
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ERC Consolidator Grants
ClosedCode: 34938 | Identifier Code: ERC-2025-COG | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 26/09/2024 | End submission calls: 14/01/2025
The ERC Consolidator Grants are designed to support excellent Principal Investigators at the career stage at which they may still be consolidating their own independent research team or programme. Principal Investigators must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their research proposal.
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ERC Starting Grant
ClosedCode: 34222 | Identifier Code: ERC-2025-STG | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 10/07/2024 | End submission calls: 15/10/2024
The ERC Starting Grants are designed to support excellent Principal Investigators at the career stage at which they are starting their own independent research team or programme. Principal Investigators must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their research proposal.
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ERC Synergy Grants
ClosedCode: 34183 | Identifier Code: ERC-2025-SyG | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 11/07/2024 | End submission calls: 06/11/2024
The aim of the ERC Synergy Grants is to provide support for a small group of two to four Principal Investigators to jointly address ambitious research problems that could not be addressed by the individual Principal Investigators and their teams working alone.
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ERC Advanced Grants
ClosedCode: 33812 | Identifier Code: ERC-2024-ADG | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 29/05/2024 | End submission calls: 29/08/2024
ERC Advanced Grants are designed to support excellent Principal Investigators at the career stage at which they are already established research leaders with a recognised track record of research achievements.
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ERC Proof of Concept Grants
ClosedCode: 31665 | Identifier Code: ERC-2024-POC | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 16/11/2023 | End submission calls: 17/09/2024
The ERC Proof of Concept Grants aim at facilitating exploration of the commercial and social innovation potential of ERC funded research and are therefore available only to Principal Investigators whose proposals draw substantially on their ERC funded research.
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ERC Public Engagement with Research Award - ERC-2024-PERA
ClosedCode: 31622 | Identifier Code: ERC-2024-PERA | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 14/11/2023 | End submission calls: 21/02/2024
With the ERC Public Engagement with Research award, the ERC wishes to recognise and reward outstanding science communicators among its Principal Investigators who successfully engage audiences outside their domain with ERC-funded research.
Public engagement is defined for the purposes of this prize as the involvement of the public in the design, conduct or dissemination of activities funded by the ERC. Engagement is a two-way process, involving interaction and mutual understanding for mutual benefit.
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ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS
ClosedCode: 30840 | Identifier Code: ERC-2024-COG | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 12/09/2023 | End submission calls: 12/12/2023
The ERC Consolidator Grants are designed to support excellent Principal Investigators at the career stage at which they may still be consolidating their own independent research team or programme. Principal Investigators must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their scientific proposal.
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ERC SYNERGY GRANTS
ClosedCode: 30017 | Identifier Code: ERC-2024-SyG | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 12/07/2023 | End submission calls: 15/11/2023
The aim is to provide support for a small group of two to four Principal Investigators to jointly address ambitious research problems that could not be addressed by the individual Principal Investigators and their teams working alone.
-
ERC STARTING GRANTS
ClosedCode: 30002 | Identifier Code: ERC-2024-STG | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 11/07/2023 | End submission calls: 07/11/2023
The ERC Starting Grants are designed to support excellent Principal Investigators at the career stage at which they are starting their own independent research team or programme. Principal Investigators must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition, and feasibility of their research proposal.
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ERC PROOF OF CONCEPT GRANTS
ClosedCode: 24979 | Identifier Code: ERC-2023-POC | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 20/10/2022 | End submission calls: 24/01/2023
The ERC Proof of Concept Grants aim at facilitating exploration of the commercial and social innovation potential of ERC funded research, by funding further work (i.e. activities which were not scheduled to be funded by the original ERC frontier research grant) to verify the innovation potential of ideas arising from ERC funded projects. Proof of Concept Grants are therefore on offer only to Principal Investigators whose proposals draw substantially on their ERC funded research.
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ERC Science Journalism Initiative
ClosedCode: 24472 | Identifier Code: ERC-2023-SJI-1 | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 15/09/2022 | End submission calls: 15/12/2022
The ERC wishes to support an organisation or a consortium of organisations to set up a funding scheme that would facilitate 3-5-month stays of journalists at research institutions. The purpose is to give the journalists opportunities to learn and work on in-depth reporting projects by immersing themselves in the research environment and interacting with scientists and scholars.
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ERC ADVANCED GRANTS
ClosedCode: 24003 | Identifier Code: ERC-2023-AdG | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 08/12/2022 | End submission calls: 23/05/2023
ERC Advanced Grants are designed to support excellent Principal Investigators at the career stage at which they are already established research leaders with a recognised track record of research achievements.
Principal Investigators must demonstrate the groundbreaking nature, ambition, and feasibility of their research proposal.
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ERC Consolidator Grants
ClosedCode: 24000 | Identifier Code: ERC-2023-CoG | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 28/09/2022 | End submission calls: 02/02/2023
The ERC Consolidator Grants are designed to support excellent Principal Investigators at the career stage at which they may still be consolidating their own independent research team or programme.
Principal Investigators must demonstrate the groundbreaking nature, ambition, and feasibility of their research proposal. -
ERC STARTING GRANTS
ClosedCode: 23721 | Identifier Code: ERC-2023-STG | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 12/07/2022 | End submission calls: 25/10/2022
The ERC Starting Grants are designed to support excellent Principal Investigators at the career stage at which they are starting their own independent research team or programme. Principal Investigators must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their scientific proposal.
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ERC PROOF OF CONCEPT GRANTS
ClosedCode: 22251 | Identifier Code: ERC-2022-POC2 | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 16/11/2021 | End submission calls: 29/09/2022
The ERC Proof of Concept Grants aim to maximise the value of the excellent research that the ERC funds, by funding further work (i.e. activities which were not scheduled to be funded by the original ERC frontier research grant) to verify the innovation potential of ideas arising from ERC funded projects. Proof of Concept Grants are therefore on offer only to Principal Investigators whose proposals draw substantially on their ERC funded research.
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ERC ADVANCED GRANTS
ClosedCode: 17939 | Identifier Code: ERC-2022-ADG | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 20/01/2022 | End submission calls: 28/04/2022
ERC Advanced Grants are designed to support excellent Principal Investigators at the career stage at which they are already established research leaders with a recognised track record of research achievements. Principal Investigators must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their scientific proposal.
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INVOLVE (CITIZEN SCIENCE)
ClosedCode: 15200 | Identifier Code: ERC-2022-PERA-1 | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 04/11/2021 | End submission calls: 03/02/2022
Involve (citizen science): for activities conducted in collaboration or consultation with the public at any stage of the frontier research project, including its design. Citizen science initiatives comprise activities such as public consultations or citizen juries.
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INFLUENCE (MEDIA AND POLICY)
ClosedCode: 15190 | Identifier Code: ERC-2022-PERA-3 | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 04/11/2021 | End submission calls: 03/02/2022
Influence (media and policy): for activities that foster consultation and exchange with citizen groups to raise awareness on a topic, to address a societal challenge or to contribute to an issue in the public debate. These activities can be undertaken based on preliminary or final project results as well as any particular result or output generated in the context of an ERC frontier research project. Examples of people and organisations that are likely to be engaged under this category include journalists, policy makers at regional, national or international level, non-governmental organisations, citizen or patient groups, product users.
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INSPIRE (PUBLIC OUTREACH)
ClosedCode: 15187 | Identifier Code: ERC-2020-PERA-2 | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 04/11/2021 | End submission calls: 03/02/2022
Inspire (public outreach): for activities putting the spotlight on a research topic, by disseminating its content, promoting discussion, and/or inspiring potential future researchers. Public outreach initiatives can consist of diverse activities, such as art and science projects, educational programmes, exhibitions, and can include diverse audiences and venues such as students, schools, museums or science festivals.
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ERC STARTING GRANTS
ClosedCode: 15185 | Identifier Code: ERC-2022-STG | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 23/09/2021 | End submission calls: 13/01/2022
The ERC Starting Grants are designed to support excellent Principal Investigators at the career stage at which they are starting their own independent research team or programme. Principal Investigators must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their scientific proposal.
-
ERC Consolidator Grants
ClosedCode: 15182 | Identifier Code: ERC-2022-COG | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 19/10/2021 | End submission calls: 17/03/2022
The ERC Consolidator Grants are designed to support excellent Principal Investigators at the career stage at which they may still be consolidating their own independent research team or programme. Principal Investigators must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their scientific proposal.
-
ERC ADVANCED GRANTS
ClosedCode: 12431 | Identifier Code: ERC-2021-ADG | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 20/05/2021 | End submission calls: 31/08/2021
ERC Advanced Grants are designed to support excellent Principal Investigators at the career stage at which they are already established research leaders with a recognised track record of research achievements. Principal Investigators must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their scientific proposal.
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ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS
ClosedCode: 12428 | Identifier Code: ERC-2021-COG | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 11/03/2021 | End submission calls: 20/04/2021
The ERC Consolidator Grants are designed to support excellent Principal Investigators at the career stage at which they may still be consolidating their own independent research team or program. Principal Investigators must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their scientific proposal.
-
ERC Synergy Grants
ClosedCode: 12424 | Identifier Code: ERC-2022-SyG | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 15/07/2021 | End submission calls: 10/11/2021
The aim is to provide support for a small group of two to four Principal Investigators to jointly address ambitious research problems that could not be addressed by the individual Principal Investigators and their teams working alone.
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ERC PROOF OF CONCEPT GRANTS
ClosedCode: 12416 | Identifier Code: ERC-2022-POC1 | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 15/07/2021 | End submission calls: 14/10/2021
ERC Proof of Concept grants are intended to facilitate the exploration of the commercial and social potential and economics of ERC-funded research and are therefore only available to lead researchers whose proposals are essentially based on ERC funding.
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ERC Starting Grants
ClosedCode: 3785 | Identifier Code: ERC-2021-STG | Programme name: European Research Council (ERC) | Sub-program: European Research Council (ERC) | Start submission calls: 25/02/2021 | End submission calls: 08/04/2021
The ERC Starting Grants are designed to support excellent Principal Investigators at the career stage at which they are starting their own independent research team or programme. Additionally, they must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their scientific proposal.