The call for ERC Advanced Grants 2021 closed for applications on 31 August 2021.These are the preliminary data on the submitted proposals:

• The ERC received 1,735 proposals, a decrease of 35% compared to the 2020 call, when an exceptionally high number of applications were submitted (2,678).
• Physical Sciences and Engineering attracted the highest number of applications (764), followed by Life Sciences (499), and Social Science and Humanities (472).
• Women submitted 20.8% proposals, which is 1.5% less than in the previous call (22.3%).

The ERC Work Programme earmarked €626 million for an estimated 250 Advanced Grants in 2021.

The ERC is now starting evaluation of the proposals. The selected projects will be announced in May 2022.

ERC Advanced Grants are designed to support excellent scientists and scholars at the career stage when they are already established research leaders with a recognized track record of research achievements. The researchers must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their scientific proposal.