ERC: European Research Council

ERC Starting Grants

ERC Starting Grants aim to support up-and-coming research leaders who are about to establish a proper research team and to start conducting independent research in Europe. The scheme targets promising researchers who have the proven potential of becoming independent research leaders. It will support the creation of excellent new research teams.

Starting Grants in brief:

• For researchers of any nationality with 2-7 years of experience since completion of PhD (or equivalent degree) and scientific track record showing great promise
• An excellent research proposal
• Research must be conducted in a public or private research organisation (known as a Host Institution/HI) located in one of the EU Member State or Associated Countries
• Funding per grant: up to € 1.5 million (in some circumstances up to € 2 million)
• Duration: up to 5 years
• Evaluation criterion: scientific excellence
• Calls for proposals: published once a year

2025 Call

• Call opening: 10 July 2024 
• Deadline: 15 October 2024 

Full description on ERC website 

ERC Consolidator Grants

ERC Consolidator Grants are designed to support researchers at the stage at which they are consolidating their own independent research team or programme. The scheme will strengthen independent and excellent new individual research teams that have been recently created.

ERC Consolidator Grants in brief

• For researchers of any nationality with 7-12 years of experience since completion of PhD (or equivalent degree) and scientific track record showing great promise
• An excellent research proposal
• Research must be conducted in a public or private research organisation (known as a Host Institution/HI) located in one of the EU Member State or Associated Countries
• Funding per grant: up to € 2 million (in some circumstances up to € 2.75 million)
• Duration: up to 5 years
• Evaluation criterion: scientific excellence
• Calls for proposals: published once a year

2025 Call

• Call opening: 26 September 2024
• Deadline: 14 January 2025

Full description on ERC website

ERC Advanced Grants

ERC Advanced Grants allow exceptional established research leaders of any nationality and any age to pursue ground-breaking, high-risk projects that open new directions in their respective research fields or other domains.
The ERC Advanced Grant funding targets researchers who have already established themselves as independent research leaders in their own right.

ERC Advanced Grants in brief

• Research field: any field of science, engineering and scholarship
• Researchers: any nationality, any age. Applicants must be scientifically independent and have a recent research track-record and profile which identifies them as leaders in their respective field(s) of research
• Evaluation Criterion: scientific excellence
• Host Institution: research must be conducted in a public or private research organisation (known as a Host Institution/HI) located in one of the EU Member States or Associated Countries
• Funding: up to € 2.5 million per grant (in some circumstances up to € 3.5 million per grant)
• Duration: up to 5 years
• Calls for proposals: published once a year

2025 Call

• Call opening: 22 May 2025
• Deadline: 28 August 2025 

Full description on ERC website

ERC Synergy Grants

ERC Synergy Grants are intended to enable minimum two to maximum four Principal Investigators (PIs) and their teams to bring together complementary skills, knowledge, and resources in new ways, in order to jointly address ambitious research questions. Independent researchers of any age and career stage can apply for up to six years funding.

Synergy Grants in brief:

• A small group of PIs (2 to 4) with a designated corresponding PI (cPI) can apply for funding
• Scientific excellence is the sole criterion on the basis of which ERC frontier research grants are awarded - synergetic aspects enrich this criterion.
• Applications must demonstrate that the proposed research cannot be carried out by a single PI working alone.
• Synergy grants aims to tackle truly bold scientific challenges through a unique combination of skills and knowledge of the PIs.
• Applications can be made in any field of research.
• PIs from anywhere in the world can apply for an ERC grant.
• Host Institutions must be established in an EU Member State or an Horizon Europe-Associated Country.
• Grants are awarded to the corresponding Host Institution that engages and hosts the corresponding PI. The cPI will be employed by the cHI, while other applicant PIs may be engaged by different Host Institutions.
• Grants are awarded for up to 6 years, with a normal grant size of up to EUR 10.000.000, with an additional up to EUR 4.000.000 in special cases as specified below.
• Host Institutions must provide conditions for the PIs' independence to direct the research and manage its funding.

2025 call 

• Call opening: 11 July 2024 
• Deadline: 6 November 2024 

Full description on ERC website

ERC Grantees Recruitment

Ca’ Foscari is constantly hiring ERC awardees as associate and full professors.
The Principal Investigator has the right to require the transfer of the research project to a new beneficiary, as long as the research objectives of the project are preserved.
Grant portability is likely to further empower researchers giving them freedom to bring their research and research team with them.
Ca’ Foscari has a long experience in moving project and provides full support to the researcher, giving benefits for a faster integration and incentives to guarantee excellent recruitment and working conditions.

Please contact  research@unive.it if you want to move your project to Ca’ Foscari.
Meet all our ERC grantees!

“I am happy to have chosen Ca’ Foscari as host institution for my ERC Grant. Administration and Faculty struck me from the very beginning for their dynamism and enthusiasm. Timing is everything in the portability a ERC project and they were extremely experienced and efficient in handling all the operations, but also attentive in creating a welcoming academic environment for me and my team. I was honoured to accept their offer as Associate Professor, which I am sure will allow me to develop my scholarly career at its best”.

Sabrina Marchetti, P.I. of ERC Starting Grant “DomEQUAL”