ERC Fellowship
The European Research Council (ERC) promotes and supports frontier research in all areas of knowledge on the basis of scientific excellence
About the ERC program
The ERC seeks to fund projects that go beyond the current state of the art, and are innovative, ambitious and cutting-edge, while at the same time being feasible.
The research projects must cover research topics at the frontier of knowledge in any scientific field, including social sciences and interdisciplinary studies.
The grants are suitable for excellent researchers starting (Starting Grants) or consolidating (Consolidator Grants) their team/groups or research lines and recognized stablished leaders (Advanced Grants).
Three different ERC grants support projects carried out by an individual researcher (the "principal investigator"), of any nationality, and his/her team. The project will finance his/her working contract and the one of the staff of his/her research team to develop the project for a period of up to five years in a hosting institution such as the UPM in a Member State or associated country. Additionally, the ERC offers the Synergy Grants to consortia of up to 4 PIs that collaborate to address ambitious challenges; and the Proof of Concept Grants that explores the potential of the results of funded ERC projects. The different schemes are summarized in the table below.
| Call | Eligibility Criteria | Grant Request |
|---|---|---|
| ERC Starting Grants | For promising early-career researchers with 2 to 7 years experience after PhD | Up to 1.5€ million for 5 years |
| ERC Consolidator Grants | For excellent researchers with 7 to 12 years experience after PhD |
Up to 2€ million for 5 years |
| ERC Advanced Grants | For established research leaders with a recognised track record of research achievements | Up to 2.5€ million for 5 years |
| ERC Proof of Concept | For existing ERC grant holders to bring their research ideas closer to market | Lump Sum Grant of 150.000€ for 18 months |
| Synergy Grants | To address ambitious research questions that can only be answered by the coordinated work of a small group of 2-4 principal Investigators | Up to 10€ million for 6 years |
The evaluation of proposals is carried out by panels of recognized experts on the basis of excellence as the sole criterion, applied both to the research project and the PI.
Check the deadlines of the different calls
Submit your ERC grant with the UPM
If you are a researcher from anywhere in the world, you have excellent research project idea and you want to make use of the excellent research infrastructure of the UPM, the International Project Office helps you to get your grant with the ERC.
We will advise and coach you during the preparation of your project proposal (e.g. resolution of queries, assistance to find the most suitable evaluation panel, training on how to write the proposal, proposal draft review, phase 2 interview training, etc).
We also have at your disposal a number of tools and documents available at the UPM Researcher's Portal to guide you during the proposal writing and definition of the budget and needed resources.
Contact at UPM: Patricia Benito
For more information:
