European Research Council (ERC)

ERC is part of the European Union’s research and innovation framework programme (currently Horizon Europe).

The ERC supports research that pushes the boundaries of knowledge in a given field (frontier research) across Europe. Support is provided to outstanding individual Principal Investigators (PIs) and their research teams. Grant applicants are expected to come up with a completely new, revolutionary idea that is not merely a continuation of their previous successes, but one that can significantly influence the field, push its boundaries, or open up new research perspectives. The only evaluation criteria are the excellence of the proposed research and the PI. There are no thematic restrictions on projects. ERC grants provide long-term funding that is simple and flexible in its procedures. Once awarded a grant, PIs have considerable freedom in managing their projects and budgets, allowing them to pursue "high-risk, high-gain" research.

ERC Work Programme 2026 and related information document (eligibility criteria, ERC grant logic, etc.). We recommend reading it (it is concise, clearly structured, and easy to identify the sections that apply to you).

Changes to the 2026 and 2027 Work Programmes – official information on some significant changes in the structure of the proposal and evaluation.

Major change regarding the "window" of eligibility for ERC Starting 2027 (expected deadline: October 2026) and ERC Consolidator 2027 (expected deadline: January 2027) will be:

  • ERC Starting: 0–10 years after PhD (applicants will be eligible immediately after their PhD defense.)
  • ERC Consolidator: 5–15 years after PhD
  • PIs will be eligible to receive a maximum of one ERC Starting Grant and a maximum of one ERC Consolidator Grant throughout their career.

This will create a five-year overlap between these "eligibility windows." We hope that the ERC will explain the logic behind this new approach well in advance.

 

Faculty Support in Applying for ERC Grants

If you are planning or considering submitting an ERC project proposal, please contact us (Ludmila Dohnalová) well in advance (e.g., 1–2 years) so that you can take full advantage of the support offered to ERC grant applicants.

Please note that the submission of project applications for ERC grants at CTU FEE is governed by the Dean's directive: 

and that, within one month prior to the relevant deadline, an agreement must be reached between the applicant, the relevant department, and the faculty management on the conditions under which the project will be carried out if it is successful in the ERC competition, and this agreement must be approved by the Dean's Council.

Furthermore, one month before the deadline, the OVV administrator must be given access to the submitted project application in the Funding and Tenders portal, and a preliminary version of the complete project proposal and a list of future financial, personnel, material, and operational-technical commitments arising from the ERC grant must be entered into EZOP. 

Administrative information to be filled in the proposal submitted by the Funding & Tender Opportunities Portal:

  • Your organisation: CESKE VYSOKE UCENI TECHNICKE V PRAZE
  • Short name: CVUT
  • PIC: 999848744
  • Main Host Institution Contact:
    • Ludmila Dohnalová, ludmila.dohnalova@cvut.cz
    • Position in org.: International projects officer
    • Department: Office for Science and Research, Faculty of Electrical Engineering
    • Address: Technická 2, Praha, 16627, Czechia
    • Website: https://fel.cvut.cz/cs/fakulta/lide/555-ludmila-dohnalova
    • Phone: +420 22435 2826

Does the organization have a Gender Equality Plan (GEP)?: Yes

 

Workshops for ERC Grant Applicants

We strongly recommend that applicants for ERC Starting and ERC Consolidator Grants participate in the workshop for ERC applicants organised by the Czech NCP - Technology Centre Prague. 

Technology Centre Prague and the Expert Group for Supporting ERC Applicants have announced the details about the preparatory workshops in 2026. The workshops focus on applicants to the ERC Starting Grant and ERC Consolidator Grant calls and are intended to support researchers preparing their proposals in these categories. The workshop (currently) consists of three parts scheduled a few weeks apart and an ERC applicant should participate in all of them.

  • Registration opens: March 16, 2026, 12:00 p.m. (online registration + appendixes: proposal abstract, CV and track record)
  • Registration deadline: March 22, 2026, 11:59 p.m.

All details are to be found in the Instructions provided by Technology Centre Prague and on the TCP website.

 

Information Support in Preparing Applications for ERC grants

 

Types of ERC Grants

ERC Starting Grants (ERC StG)

  • Grants for PIs 2-7 years after PhD who are starting their own independent research team or programme.
    The 2-7 years eligibility criteria is calculated towards 1 January of the year in the call title. The time elapsed since the PhD defence can be reduced e.g. by time spent on parental leave (for details, see the “Eligibility criteria” part of current Work Programme).
  • ERC StG may be awarded for a period of 5 years.
  • Maximum grant amount of €1.5 million (plus up to €1 million for "additional costs," such as the purchase of equipment or extensive field research).
  • A competitive ERC StG applicant should have produced at least one important publication as main author or without the participation of their PhD supervisor and be able to demonstrate a promising track record of early achievements appropriate to their research field and career stage. It is crucial for the PI to demonstrate his/her potential for research independence.
  • Opening: July 9, 2025
    Closing: October 14, 2025    , expected October, 2026

ERC Consolidator Grants (ERC CoG)

  • Grants for PIs 7-12 years after PhD (calculated towards 1 January of the year in the call title) who already have a “core” of their own independent research team or programme, but still need to consolidate it.
    The time elapsed since the PhD defence can be reduced e.g. by time spent on parental leave (for details, see the “Eligibility criteria” part of current Work Programme).
  • ERC CoG may be awarded for a period of 5 years.
  • Maximum grant amount of €2 million (plus up to €1 million for "additional costs," such as the purchase of equipment or extensive field research).
  • A competitive ERC CoG applicant should have produced at least several important publication as main author or without the participation of their PhD supervisor and be able to demonstrate a promising track record of early achievements appropriate to their research field and career stage. It is also relevant if the PI can demonstrate that he/she have scientific collaborations with leading scientists in their research field at European or global scale or that he/she has trained excellent young researchers (doctoral students or postdocs).
  • Opening: September 25, 2025
    Closing: January 13, 2026

ERC Advanced Grants (ERC AdG)

  • Grants for internationally recognised PIs (usually more than 12 years after PhD) who have substantially influenced their research field.
  • ERC AdG may be awarded for a period of 5 years.
  • Maximum grant amount of €2.5 million (plus up to €1 million for "additional costs," such as the purchase of equipment or extensive field research).
  • A competitive ERC AdG applicant should be already established research leader with a recognised track record of research achievements.
  • Opening: May 28, 2026.
    Closing: August 27, 2026

ERC Synergy Grants (ERC SyG)

  • Grants support multidisciplinary projects of 2-4 PIs (and their research teams). The projects must demonstrate added value of the collaboration that could lead to breakthroughs which would be impossible by the individual PIs working alone.
  • ERC SyG may be awarded for a period of 6 years.
  • Maximum grant amount of €10 million (plus up to €4 million for "additional costs," such as the purchase of equipment or extensive field research).
  • Each of the PIs must have a track record of research achievements that would be at least competitive when applying for ERC Starting, Consolidator or Advanced grant depending on the PI’s career stage.
  • Opening: July 10, 2025
    Closing: November 5, 2025

ERC Plus Grants

  • Intended for PIs at any stage of their career. A new type of ERC grant planned as part of the Choose Europe for Science initiative and introduced in 2026. These grants are intended to support outstanding principal investigators with bold ideas and a vision for transformative research that could not be realized within the framework of a standard ERC grant (Starting, Consolidator, Advanced, Synergy).
  • What should you know about the ERC Plus Grants? – basic information about these grants explained by the ERC President in an 11-minute video.
  • ERC Plus Grants: Q&A.
  • Project duration up to 4-7 years.
  • Maximum grant amount of €7 million.
  • Opening: June 2, 2026
    Closing: September 2, 2026

ERC Proof of Concept Grants (ERC PoC)

  • Only successful PIs of already awarded ERC frontier research grants (StG, CoG, AdG or SyG) can apply. Grants support further work on results or ideas arising from the funded ERC projects to verify their innovation potential.
  • ERC PoC financial contribution is awarded as a lump sum for a period of 18 months.
  • Closing: March 17, 2026, September 17, 2026

 

Za obsah odpovídá: RNDr. Patrik Mottl, Ph.D.