ERC 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. Principal Investigators must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their research proposal.
Size of ERC Advanced Grants: Advanced Grants may be awarded up to a maximum of EUR 2 500 000 for a period of 5 years (the maximum amount of the grants is reduced pro rata temporis for projects of a shorter duration). However, up to an additional EUR 1 000 000 can be requested in the proposal to cover (a) eligible "start-up" costs for Principal Investigators moving to the EU or an Associated Country from elsewhere as a consequence of receiving the ERC grant, and/or (b) the purchase of major equipment, and/or (c) access to large facilities, and/or (d) other major experimental and field work costs, excluding personnel costs. (As any additional funding is to cover major one-off costs it is not subject to pro-rata temporis reduction for projects of shorter duration. All funding requested is assessed during evaluation). The Advanced Grant will be awarded as a single lump sum contribution for the entirety of the project. The lump sum will cover the beneficiaries' estimated costs for the project.
Profile of the ERC Advanced Grant Principal Investigator: ERC Advanced Grant Principal Investigators are expected to be active researchers and to have a track record of significant research achievements.
Admissibility and Eligibility Conditions: The conditions specific to ERC grants are described in the ERC Work Programme 2024 under the heading 'Admissibility and eligibility criteria' and in the ERC Rules of Submission. An overview is provided below:
Admissible and eligible proposals: All proposals must be complete, readable and accessible. They must be submitted by eligible Principal Investigators before the relevant call deadline. A complete proposal needs to include all parts or sections (see 'Proposal submission and description' below). Proposals which do not meet these criteria may be declared inadmissible. The content of the proposal must relate to the objectives and to the grant type set out in the call, as defined in the ERC Work Programme 2024. If a proposal is considered not to relate to the objectives of the grant and/or call for proposals, it will be declared ineligible. Applications where the Principal Investigator proposes to commit less time in the EU or an Associated Country, or to the project than the minimum percentages set out in the section 'Minimum time commitment' of the Work Programme will be declared ineligible. If it becomes clear before, during or after the peer review evaluation phase that one or more of the admissibility or eligibility criteria have not been met, the proposal will be declared inadmissible or ineligible and it will be rejected. Where there is a doubt on the admissibility or eligibility of a proposal, the peer review evaluation may proceed pending a decision following an admissibility and eligibility review committee.
Eligible Principal Investigators: The ERC actions are open to researchers of any nationality who intend to conduct their research activity in any EU Member State or Associated Country (see Annex 3 of the ERC Work Programme 2024). Principal Investigators may be of any age and nationality and may reside in any country in the world at the time of the application. All Principal Investigators funded through an ERC Advanced Grant must spend a minimum of 50% of their working time in an EU Member State or Associated Country and a minimum of 30% of their working time on the ERC project.
Eligible Host Institution: The Host Institution (Applicant Legal Entity) must engage and host the Principal Investigator for at least the duration of the project, as defined in the grant agreement. It must either be established in an EU Member State or Associated Country (see Annex 3 of the ERC Work Programme 2024) as a legal entity created under national law, or it may be an international European research organisation (such as CERN, EMBL, etc.), the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) or any other entity created under EU law. International organisations with headquarters in a Member State or Associated Country will be deemed to be established in that Member State or Associated Country. Any type of legal entity, public or private, including universities, research organisations and undertakings can host Principal Investigators and their teams.