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 2027 Information & Resources
To support prospective applicants preparing proposals under the upcoming European Research Council calls, the presentation materials from the National Info Day on the ERC Work Programme 2027 (organized by APRE in collaboration with the Italian Ministry of University and Research – MUR) are available for download.
These resources provide key insights into the novelties, evaluation criteria, and strategic participation guidelines for the 2027 calls:
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European Research Council (ERC): Work Programme 2027 and ERC Plus Scheme (G. Gagliardi, ERCEA)
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Italian Participation in ERC Calls: Performance, Data, and Statistics (A. D’Agostino, APRE)
- National Info Day Horizon Europe ERC: Q&A and Frequently Asked Questions
For those who were unable to attend live or wish to review the key insights and discussions shared during the session, the full video recording of the event is now available alongside the speakers’ presentation slides and the Q&A summary document: Watch the recording: Horizon Europe ERC National Info Day
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
Open and Upcoming Calls
ERC StG Starting Grants 2027 (deadline: 14/10/2026) 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: 12/01/2027) 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: 11/05/2027 TBC) These grants are for two to a maximum four researchers working together and bringing different skills and resources to tackle ambitious research problems.
ERC Advanced Grants 2027 (deadline 26/08/2027)
ERC PLUS 2027 (deadline: 1/09/2027)