The 2025 Work Programme of the European Research Council (ERC) has been adopted. The Programme sets out funding opportunities, budgets of the calls, the calendar of grant competition and conditions for ERC funding. The document had been drafted and endorsed by the ERC Scientific Council, and adopted by the European Commission.
More than 2.7 billion euro will be available for research grants in the coming year. This includes contributions from the countries associated to Horizon Europe. In addition, EU countries can allocate resources from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to help the ERC fund proposals rated as excellent, but which cannot be funded due to budget constraints. These grants must however remain hosted at an institution in the country which contributes their ERDF funds.
Indicative summary of calls from the 2025 budget
The work programme also introduces new grounds for the extension of the eligibility periods for Starting Grants and Consolidator Grants. Extensions will be granted in duly documented cases, where the applicant has been prevented from working or their working hours have been reduced due to a disability or a major natural or man-made disaster.
Other planned actions for 2025 include supporting national contact points (NCPs) in sharing best practices, continuing to evaluate and monitor the impact of ERC funding, as well as communicating the ERC’s activities to a broader audience, and promoting open science.
The 2025 Work Programme of the European Research Council is available HERE.
ERC Starting and ERC Synergy grant open for applications
The ERC Starting Grant and ERC Synergy Grant are open for applications. These calls are open to European researchers conducting frontier research, in all fields. Both young and established scientists are eligible.
The ERC Starting Grant: Researchers with two to seven years of experience after completing a PhD may be eligible for the ERC Starting Grant. The Starting Grant enables researchers to carry out independent research. You can apply for ERC Starting Grant until 15 October 2024.
ERC Synergy Grant: Collaborating researchers with different skills to tackle major research problems may be eligible for the ERC Synergy Grant. A minimum of two and a maximum of four researchers work together on the project. This requires the scientists to have a track record of early achievements or a 10-year track record. Applications for ERC Synergy Grant can be submitted until 6 November 2024.
Source: European Research Council