The ERC is the European Commission’s agency that funds excellent researchers of any age and nationality wishing to carry out frontier research in the EU Member States or associated countries.
The ERC offers 5 main grant schemes: Starting Grants, Consolidator Grants, Advanced Grants, Synergy Grants, and Proof of Concept and –news for 2026- ERC Plus.
please also have a look to “ERC position towards AI use in proposal writing and evaluation” 24.03.2026
ERC Work Programme 2026 (currently active only for AdGs and Plus)
- Webinar Part 1 – General overview of the 2026 work programme by ERC
- Webinar Part 2 – In-depth look at changes and opportunities for applicants by ERC
- 29.04.2026 webinar organised by the MERCURY Project (the network of National Contact Points for ERC) on “Towards an ERC Advanced Grant: from groundbreaking idea to successful proposal“
- 11.06.2026 webinar organised by APRE as National Contact Point ; only for UNISI staff – 11.06.2026 Come scrivere una proposta ERC Starting
ERC AdG Advanced Grants 2026 (deadline: 27/08/2026) These grants are for active researchers with a track record of significant research achievements in the last 10 years
ERC Plus Grant 2026 (deadline: 02/09/2026) The new funding scheme, ERC Plus Grant supports outstanding principal investigators who address major scientific challenges. Applications for ERC Plus Grants should be for projects that could not be carried out with a regular ERC grant. Be aware that every year, only some 30 ERC Plus Grants can be awarded across all fields and all career stages
ERC PoC Proof of concept 2026 (deadline: 17/09/2026) These grants are for researchers who have already received an ERC grant for their frontier research project and now want to explore the commercial or societal potential of it
ERC StG Starting Grants 2027 (deadline: October 2026) These grants are for researchers up to 10 years of experience since the completion of their Ph.D., a scientific track record showing an excellent research proposal. ERC CoG Consolidator Grants 2027 (deadline: January 2027) These grants are for researchers from 5 to 15 years of experience since the completion of a Ph.D., a scientific track record showing great promise, and an excellent research proposal
ERC SyG Synergy Grants 2027 (deadline: May 2027 TBC) These grants are for two to a maximum four researchers working together and bringing different skills and resources to tackle ambitious research problems.