The ERC’s mission is to encourage the highest quality research in Europe through competitive funding and to support investigator-driven frontier research across all fields, on the basis of scientific excellence.
Being ‘investigator-driven’, or ‘bottom-up’, in nature, the ERC approach allows researchers to identify new opportunities and directions in any field of research, rather than being led by priorities set by politicians.
ERC grants support projects carried out by an individual researcher who can employ researchers of any nationality as team members. It is also possible to have one or more team members located in a non-European country.
Indicative summary of calls – 2021 Deadlines
| Starting Grant | Consolidator Grant | Advanced Grant | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Call identifier | ERC-2023-StG | ERC-2023-CoG | ERC-2023-AdG |
| Call opens | 12/07/2022 | 28/09/2022 | 08/12/2022 |
| Call deadline | 25/10/2022 | 02/02/2023 | 23/05/2023 |
Proof of Concept
The ERC Proof of Concept is a top-up grant for existing ERC awardees (€150K), meant to explore the commercial or societal potential of their project.
This opportunity is open to ERC PI from all panels and disciplines.
In the video below, Professor Anna Davies talks about this opportunity in relation to SSH and Social innovation.
The 2023 dates are included in the table below.
| Cut off dates | Eligibility | Launch Remote Evaluation | Remote Evaluation | Expected feedback to applicants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 January 2023 | February 2023 | 2 February 2023 | March 2023 | 21 April 2023 |
| 20 April 2023 | May 2023 | end April- beginning May 2023 | May 2023 | end July 2023 |
| 21 September 2023 | end October 2023 | end September- beginning October 2023 | October 2023 | end December 2023 |
Useful links
ERC_WorkProgramme_2023.pdf (europa.eu)
ERC official website: https://erc.europa.eu/
ERC WP 2023: ERC Work Programme 2022 (europa.eu)
Dr Chiara Loda is the European Research Council National Contact Point (SSH) based at the Irish Universities Association.
The Irish Research Council holds the national support roles for ERC (SSH). The NCP service is carried out by the IUA under a partnership with the IRC, the national support agency for Horizon Europe Cluster 2 and joint NCP for ERC.
Dr Maria Nash is the ERC National Delegate and ERC National Contact Point (Life Sciences and Physical Sciences & Engineering), based in SFI.