According to the conditions applied to the ERC-2019-ADG call or any other ERC 2019 frontier research Grants, there are three main restrictions to be considered for PIs in this regard:1) A PI may submit proposals to different ERC frontier research Grant calls made under the same Work Programme, but only the first eligible proposal will be evaluated.2) A researcher may participate as PI in only one ERC frontier research project at any one time (NB: A new frontier research project can only start after the duration of the project fixed in a previous frontier research grant agreement has ended).3) A researcher participating as PI in an ERC frontier research project may not submit a proposal for another ERC frontier research grant, unless the existing project ends no more than two years after the call deadline (NB: This is according to the duration of the project fixed in the previous frontier research grant agreement).
These restrictions are specified in the ERC Work Programme 2019 and may be modified in future Work Programmes by the ERC Scientific Council in light of experience. As a team member, it is possible to participate in more than one ERC Grant.
Yes, a Principal Investigator (PI) whose proposal was evaluated as category B or C at Step 1 or as category A or B at Step 2 in the 2018 or 2019 Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) or Advanced Grant (AdG) calls may submit a proposal to the 2020 Synergy Grant (SyG) call.
Further details can be found in the ERC Work Programme 2020, section "Restrictions on submission of proposals".
A Principal Investigator (PI) whose proposal was evaluated as category C at Step 1 in the 2018 Synergy Grant (SyG) call or B and C at Step 1 in the 2019 Synergy Grant (SyG) call may not submit a proposal to the 2020 SyG call.
A Principal Investigator (PI) whose proposal was evaluated as category B at Step 1 or 2 in the 2018 Synergy Grant (SyG) call or B at Step 2 in the 2019 Synergy Grant (SyG) call may submit a proposal to the 2020 SyG call.
Further details can be found in the ERC Work Programme 2020, section "Restrictions on submission of proposals".
Please consult the section "Restrictions on submission of proposals" of the ERC Work Programme 2020. Please note that the restrictions apply to each of the Principal Investigators (PIs) and not only the corresponding Principal Investigator (cPI).
The eligibility criteria, including the restrictions for submission, need to be fulfilled by all Principal investigators (PIs) submitting a Synergy (SyG) proposal of the ERC Work Programme 2020. Please also note that any PI may participate as PI - in only one ERC frontier research project at any one time.
Yes. In case of a Synergy Grant (SyG) one of the Principal Investigators (PIs), with the exception of the corresponding PI, can apply with a Host Institution outside of the EU Member States or Associated Countries. Note that, except for a PI applying with a third country host institution, each PI has to spend at least 50% of their working time in an EU Member State or Associated Country. All PIs have to devote at least 30% of their working time to the ERC-funded project.
For more information, please see the ERC Work Programme 2020.
Similarly to other ERC frontier calls, a Principal Investigator (PI) may submit proposals to different ERC frontier research calls published under the same Work Programme, but only the first eligible proposal will be evaluated. Ineligible or withdrawn proposals do not count against this limit (ERC Work Programme 2020). Thus if a PI applies to the ERC-2020-SyG call and the proposal is eligible and evaluated, their other application to a StG, CoG or AdG call under the ERC Work Programme 2020 will not be evaluated.
It is important to note that the year of an ERC call refers to the ERC Work Programme under which the call was made and can be established by its call identifier. A 2020 ERC call is therefore one that was published under the ERC Work Programme 2020 and will have 2020 in the call identifier (for example ERC-2020-SyG).Example: A proposal submitted to ERC-2020-AdG call will not be evaluated if the PI had already applied to the ERC-2020-SyG call and the SyG proposal was considered eligible, even if the call deadlines are in two different calendar years (in 2019 for the SyG 2020 call and in 2020 for the AdG 2020 call). Note that it is possible to apply both to the ERC-2019-AdG call and to the ERC-2020-SyG call. In case the PI is selected for funding in the AdG 2019 call and the Grant Agreement is signed, the PI becomes ineligible in the 2020 SyG call, because a PI can hold only one ERC frontier grant at any one time.
Yes, for Synergy Grants (SyG), all Principal Investigators (PIs) whose proposal has been retained after Step 2 will be invited to an interview in Brussels (in the third evaluation step). It is highly recommended that all PIs are present at the interview to facilitate the assessment of the Synergy group. In very exceptional cases when a Principal Investigator is unable to attend the interview (e.g. pregnancy, immobility due to illness, expedition), the ERC offers video or phone conference alternatives for a remote interview.
The exact interview details will be communicated to the successful Step 2 applicants shortly after the end of the 2020 Synergy Grant (SyG) Step 2 panel meetings and at the latest in the second half of August 2020. The interview details will depend on the decision of the panels: interviews could last around 50 minutes in total. The panel may ask the applicants to give a 10-15 minutes presentation on the proposed research project. The remaining time could be devoted to questions and answers on the scientific content and implementation of the project, modalities of collaboration among the principal investigators and the project's budget and resources, and so on. All Principal Investigators are required to be present at the interview. The presentation is an opportunity to elaborate on the synergies that the project aims to create.
Principal Investigators (PIs) can work at the same Host Institution (HI), or at different HIs within one country, or at HIs based in different countries. HIs must be established in an EU Member State or an Associated Country. In the 2020 Synergy Grant (SyG) call, similarly to the 2019 SyG call, with the exception of the corresponding Host Institution, it is possible to have one PI applying with a Host Institution outside of the EU or Associated Countries. More information about the ERC-2020-SyG call is available in the ERC Work Programme 2020.
