The European Research Council (ERC) supports outstanding scientists and their teams with groundbreaking research projects in various funding lines for the appropriate career stage in the following funding measures:
‘Starting Grants’ for scientists 2 – 7 years after completing their doctorate, with up to 1.5 million euros over a maximum of five years;
‘Consolidator Grants’ for scientists 7 – 12 years after obtaining their doctorate, with up to €2 million over a maximum of five years
‘Advanced Grants’ for established scientists, with up to €2.5 million over a maximum of five years
‘Synergy Grants’ support groups of 2 to 4 researchers and their teams with up to €10 million over a maximum of six years.
The supplementary ‘Proof of Concept’ (POC) funding line enables ideas from ERC projects that are currently still ongoing or were completed no more than 12 months ago to be transformed into innovations.
Researchers who have been awarded a PoC grant are also eligible to apply for the ‘Transition Open’ programme, newly introduced in Horizon Europe as part of the ‘European Innovation Council’ (EIC) funding line.
From 2021 to 2027, the ERC will be funded by the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, Horizon Europe. Researchers from all disciplines are eligible for funding. The decisive evaluation criterion is the scientific excellence of the research project submitted and the applicant.