From 1st January 2021, Horizon 2020 will be replaced by Horizon Europe, the next 7-year EU Research and Innovation programme. No agreement has yet been reached on the UK’s participation in Horizon Europe.
European Research Council [ERC] funding schemes are open to top researchers of any nationality or age who wish to carry out their frontier research in the 28 EU Member States or associated countries. There are 3 core funding schemes and 1 additional scheme for ERC grant holders. There are also opportunities to work or gain experience in ERC teams.
ERC Starting Grants | Internal Process | For top researchers with 2-7 years experience after PhD. Grants up to €1.5 million for 5 years.
ERC Starting Grants are intended to enable exceptional researchers between 2 and 7 years from PhD completion to become fully independent research leaders. They are particularly intended to enable the researcher to create or strengthen their own research team or programme.
Maximum funding: €1.5 million over 5 years, rising to €2.5 million in special cases
Internal process: Applicants are required to complete a brief University application form for internal review. The internal application form should be submitted to eu-research@bristol.ac.uk
ERC Consolidator Grants | Internal Process | For top researchers with 7-12 years experience after PhD. Grants up to €2 million for 5 years.
ERC Consolidator Grants are intended to enable exceptional researchers between 7 and 12 years from PhD completion to become fully independent research leaders. They are particularly intended to enable the researcher to strengthen their own independent research team or programme.
Maximum funding: €2 million over 5 years, rising to €3 million in special cases
Internal process: Applicants are required to complete a brief University application form for internal review. The internal application form should be submitted to eu-research@bristol.ac.uk
ERC Advanced Grants | Internal Process | For established researchers who have a recent research track-record which identifies them as leaders in their respective field of research. A maximum of € 2.5 million over 5 years is available (€ 3.5 million in special cases). All research fields are supported. Call for proposals will be published in May with a deadline of August. External applicants based anywhere in the world at the time of application are eligible to apply and the ERC is particularly keen to encourage proposals from researchers based outside of Europe. University of Bristol internal review process. Proposals will be handled though the University’s major bids process. Applicants are required to complete a brief University stage application form for internal review.
Contact: For further information on the call and the internal process please contact eu-research@bristol.ac.uk
Deadline for internal applications: May | if you would like to submit your application earlier please do and we will seek to provide feedback as soon as possible.
ERC Proof of Concept (For ERC grant holders only): Applicants must be Principal Investigators in an ERC frontier research project, that is either on going or has ended less than 12 months before 1 January 2017, are eligible to participate and apply for an ERC Proof of Concept Grant. The Principal Investigator must be able to demonstrate the relation between the idea to be taken to proof of concept and the ERC frontier research project (Starting, Consolidator, Advanced or Synergy) in question.
Contact: For further information please contact eu-research@bristol.ac.uk
Additional Opportunities | There are 4 routes for this:
- Jobs in ERC teams: Recipients of ERC grants can use their funding to recruit other researchers and team members for their project. On average, each team has 4-5 members. Since its inception, ERC funding has helped create jobs for thousands of researchers.
- Visiting Research Fellowships: A number of European countries fund research visits to established ERC projects in order to develop researchers’ potential before they apply for their first ERC grant.
- International Arrangement funding: International agreements with funding agencies and science ministries in China, South Africa, the United States and some other countries support early-career researchers to temporarily join ERC teams in Europe.
- Mentoring Initiative : the mentoring initiative will boost existing support programmes for ERC applicants by helping to identify international experts to provide coaching and advice.