Webinar on the new ERC Plus Grants

All information on this webpage and in the webinar is without prejudice to the European Commission’s decision on the amendment of the ERC Work Programme 2026.

The ERC Plus Grants are a new funding scheme to support outstanding principal investigators with bold ideas and a vision for transformative research that goes beyond the scope of existing ERC programmes.

In this webinar on the new ERC Plus Grants, ERC President Maria Leptin and Philippe Cupers, Head of the Scientific Management Department, outlined the scope, objectives, eligibility and evaluation process of this new funding initiative.

They also explained how ERC Plus Grants sit within the wider ERC funding landscape and what applicants should bear in mind when preparing a proposal. Participants were able to ask questions and engage directly with the speakers.

The session was moderated by Martin Penny, Head of Communication at the ERC.

Watch the webinar
 

Webinar ERC Plus Grants - Clustered answers

Find here the responses to questions raised during the webinar, grouped by topic.

Background 

The ERC Plus call targets projects that go beyond regular ERC grants, for example, with a vision to transform a field or to open new avenues in research. Applications can be of both theoretical and/or applied nature. 

The call is open to researchers of any nationality, residing anywhere in the world, provided the project is carried out at an eligible host institution (public or private research organisations) in the EU or an associated country. ERC Plus is open to any field of science with no predetermined priorities. The scheme does not target any specific nationality group. 

Grants are awarded for a minimum of four years and a maximum of seven years. The ERC Plus Grants will be subject to the same rules for amendments for extension, which means that a grant may be extended beyond seven years if duly justified. 

This call will be financed from additional funding that the European Commission has generously provided specifically for this purpose.  

It is expected that this will be a highly competitive call, with only ~30 grants to be awarded. This compares to around 1 000 ERC grants awarded per year in total in the Starting, Consolidator and Advanced Grant calls. 

Eligibility  

ERC Plus Grants are designed for researchers at any career stage, with no age limits and applicants can reside anywhere globally at the time of application. There is no specific requirement to have held a previous ERC grant or other grants. Applicants with a running ERC grant concluding before the end of August 2028 are eligible. If you have submitted an application for another ERC grant, such as the Synergy, Starting, or Consolidator calls in 2026, this should be formally withdrawn before you can apply to ERC Plus. 

Applicants must demonstrate outstanding scientific achievement and creativity, and intellectual leadership. All of these will be evaluated according to their career stage.  

The Principal Investigator must dedicate at least 30% of their working time to the project and spend at least 50% of their working time within an EU Member State or country associated to Horizon Europe. Host institutions can be public or private research organisations; collaboration with additional beneficiaries, including industry partners and media institutions, may be considered if justified by the proposed project activities. 

The call deadline for ERC Plus Grants is expected in early September 2026. Specific resubmission restrictions for applicants who have applied for an ERC grant in previous years is detailed in the amended Work Programme for 2026. 

Further restrictions may be specified for the 2027 Work Programme, as the ERC Scientific Council continues its consideration. 

Should you have any further questions regarding the eligibility or application process, please consult the ERC Work Programme for more detailed guidance. 

Application 

ERC Plus Grants will have a duration of four to seven years. The proposal must include a well-defined budget for the implementation of the proposed work, which is a critical component of the overall assessment.  

A host institution letter is mandatory as part of the full proposal, affirming the institution’s support and commitment.  

The application follows the standard structure of ERC single-PI calls, with an added requirement for a vision statement in Part 1. The 5-page limit for Part 1 excludes the vision statement, which can span an additional 0.5 to 2 pages, enabling applicants to articulate the transformative impact they anticipate their research could have. 

There are no prescribed requirements or limits regarding team size for ERC Plus Grants. Applicants should describe their team composition and personnel resource needs in Part A of the application, ensuring each member's role aligns with the project's objectives. 

Evaluation  

 

The evaluation will be in two steps. Step 1 will be conducted by Advanced Grant panels, who will assess the groundbreaking idea of the project, the vision statement and the past achievements and intellectual leadership of the PI. Step 1 of the evaluation is therefore alongside applicants in the same field. As is the case with the other ERC calls, the Step 1 panels will be able to ask for reviews from experts in other panels should additional expertise be needed to evaluate the proposal. The Advanced Grant panel members will choose the best ERC Plus applications to go to the next step, without any quota or upper limit for a given field. They will be asked to pass on only those proposals that are similar in quality to the best proposals in the regular evaluation.   

There is no assessment of the host institution in the ERC Plus evaluation or in any other ERC evaluation. 

Step 2 will be performed by distinct, interdisciplinary ERC Plus panels, with the support of external ‘remote’ reviewers, selected for their expert knowledge and of the Advanced Grant panel members who will also provide written reviews. In Step 2, the reviewers will assess all aspects considered in Step 1, and the Step 2 panels will also interview the applicants. The specific evaluation questions for each Step are set out in the amended ERC Work Programme 2026. In Step 2, the fundable proposals with an A-score will be ranked and the available budget will be used to fund the top-ranked proposals. Applicants may receive a B-score in Step 2 if not all elements of the excellence criterion are met.  

Positively evaluated projects should go beyond what could be achieved within a regular ERC project. This could be a vision to transform a field or open new avenues in research, but it could also take the form of developing a new tool or a new methodology, maybe with a view to transforming a field.  

Applicants should, therefore, write Part 1 for experts who act as generalists in their panel and Part 2 for experts who are specialists in the field. The ERC will provide more guidance on this question in the Information for Applicants for the ERC Plus call. 

Applicants must show an outstanding record of scientific achievement and creativity, which will be assessed relative to their career stage. The panels will be asked to consider any career breaks or unusual career paths when assessing the excellence of the PI. In the CV template there is a dedicated section where applicants can provide further info on career breaks or other circumstances that could help assess track records. 

The ERC Scientific Council will soon start nominating the ERC Plus panel members. The ERC Plus Step 2 panels will be composed of approximately 60 panel members, distributed over three to four panels. The ERC has strict rules on confidentiality that must be observed by all experts. These same rules will apply to ERC Plus grants. 

The call is expected to close in early September 2026, with Step 1 panel meetings taking place in November 2026 and Step 1 results communicated in mid-February 2027. The Step 2 panel meetings will take place in early April 2027, and the Step 2 results are expected to be communicated in mid-June 2027. 

Finance

 

Budgets should include eligible direct project costs, including any required equipment, plus a flat rate of 25% of the direct costs to cover overheads for the host institution. The maximum funding available for an ERC Plus Grant is 7 million euro. There is no minimum budget threshold, allowing for realistic reflection of the proposed work's costs. A specific budget table will be available in Part A together with a section to explain and justify your resources request. 

The depreciation rules of your host institution will apply also to ERC Plus grants. The information of the depreciation of any equipment purchased for the ERC Plus Grant should be explained in an equipment table, which will be part of each application as it is currently for the Advanced Grant lump sum pilot. 

There will be the same level of flexibility in the project implementation as for any other ERC grant. Payment will be made for the work performed - and not based on whether a project was successful or failed to produce the expected outcome. 

Communication  

 

For more information, see the dedicated webpage for ERC Plus Grants. In addition, a short video featuring ERC President Maria Leptin discussing key aspects of the grants is available on the ERC YouTube channel. 

The call for ERC Plus Grants is set for publication no later than June 2026, with a submission deadline set for early September 2026. All documents and information for the call will be available on the Funding and Tenders portal once the call is published. 

ERC Plus grantees will be eligible to apply for ERC Proof of Concept Grants.