European Research Council (ERC) Grants
ERC Work Programme grants are highly competitive, so an outstanding track record is an important factor of success. Along with seeking groundbreaking research, the program aims to recognize the most ambitious ideas and talents.
ERC Grants
Multiple types of grants are available within the 2026 ERC Work Programme for multiple stages of your career (Starting, Advanced, and Consolidator), a follow-up (Proof of Concept) of your running ERC grant, or a consortium grant (Synergy). In addition, in 2026 there is a new programme, ERC Plus Grant. The ERC Work Programme has a total budget of €2.7 billion in 2026.
ERC Starting Grant
Subsidy: €1,500,000 – €2,000,000
Deadlines:
- 2026 Call Opening date: 9 July 2025; Full proposal: 14 October 2025
Scope: 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. Applicant Principal Investigators must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their scientific proposal.
ERC Consolidator Grant
Subsidy: up to €2,000,000 (+ €1,000,000)
Deadlines:
- 2026 Opening date: 25 September 2025; Full proposal: 13 January 2026
Scope: 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. Applicant Principal Investigators must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their scientific proposal.
More about the Consolidator Grant
ERC Advanced Grant
Subsidy: up to €2,500,000 (+ €1,000,000)
Deadlines:
- 2026 Call Opening date: 28 May 2026; Full proposal: 27 August 2026
Scope: 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. Applicant Principal Investigators must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their scientific proposal.
ERC Proof of Concept Grant
Subsidy: €150,000
Deadlines:
- Opening date: 13 November 2024
- Full proposal: 17 March 2026 (Passed); Second Cut-off: 17 September 2026
Scope: The objective is to provide funds to enable ERC-funded ideas to be brought to a pre-demonstration stage where potential commercialisation or societal opportunities have been identified.
More about the Proof of Concept Grant
ERC Synergy Grant
Subsidy: max. €10,000,000 + additional €4,000,000 in specific cases (moving, purchase of major equipment or access to large facilities)
Deadlines:
- 2026 Call: Opening date: 10 July 2025; Full proposal: 5 November 2025
Scope: Synergy Grant aims to bring together complementary skills, knowledge, and resources in new ways, in order to jointly address ambitious research problems is to address ambitious research questions in any field that can only be answered by the coordinated work of a small group of 2-4 principal investigators.
ERC – Plus Grant 2026
Deadline: 2 September 2026
Funding: Up to €7M lump sum
Funding rate: 100%
Total budget: €210M
Project duration: 4-7 years
Consortium: Single Principal Investigator applying with a Host Institution in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe associated country. Researchers of any age, nationality, and career stage may apply, provided they have an outstanding scientific track record. Team members may be of any nationality and may include members located outside of Europe.
Scope: Bottom-up funding for any field of research. Projects must address a major scientific challenge and be too ambitious or large in scope for a regular ERC grant, for example because they aim to transform an existing field or open a new field of research.
About ERC
The ERC Work Programme 2026 grants are highly competitive and an outstanding track record is an important factor of success. As well as the research carried out by the researcher, it is an ambitious program aiming to recognise the best ideas and talents. Multiple types of grants are available within the ERC Work Programme.
About Catalyze
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