Frequently asked questions

To be eligible for calls with deadlines in 2022, legal entities from an EU Member State (MS) or Associated Country (AC) must have a gender equality plan (GEP) or an equivalent strategic document in place. This information will not be provided to the evaluators and it will not be evaluated.

In the Part A online submission form, there is a ‘yes/no’ tick box question that the Host Institution (HI) contact person must fill in. Only public bodies, higher education institutions (including private research organisations and private higher education institutions) must answer this question. This answer will not affect the evaluation of the project. In case the proposal is selected for funding, the HI must have a GEP or an equivalent strategic document in place for the duration of the project. The GEP or equivalent must fulfil the mandatory requirements listed in Annex 5 of the ERC Work Programme 2022 and will be necessary before the signature of the grant agreement.

According to the conditions applied to the ERC frontier research Grants 2022, there are four main restrictions to be considered for Principal Investigators in this regard:

• A researcher may participate as Principal Investigator [Including all Principal Investigators supported under the Synergy Grant] in only one main frontier research grant at a time. A new main frontier research grant project can only start after the duration of the project fixed in a previous grant agreement for one of the main frontier research grant has ended.
• A researcher participating as Principal Investigator in one of the main frontier research grant may not submit another proposal for a main ERC grant, unless the existing project ends no more than two years after the call deadline. [NB According to the duration of the project fixed in a previous grant agreement of the main frontier research grant]
• A PI who is a serving Panel Member for a 2022 ERC call or who served as a Panel Member for a 2020 ERC call may not apply to a 2022 ERC call for the same type of grant. [NB: As an exception to this rule, Principal Investigators who are not serving as Synergy Grant 2022 panel members can apply to the 2022 Synergy Grant call even if they served as Panel Members for the 2019 or 2020 Synergy Grant calls. The members of the ERC panels alternate to allow panel members to apply to the ERC calls in alternate years]
• A Principal Investigator may submit proposals to different main frontier research grant calls published under the same Work Programme, but only the first eligible proposal will be evaluated.

These restrictions are specified in the ERC Work Programme 2022. The Scientific Council may decide in the light of experience that different or comparable restrictions will apply in subsequent years.

As indicated in the ERC Work Programme 2022, the eligibility periods can be extended in case of specific and properly documented circumstances. In case of maternity, the Principal Investigators (PIs) may request 18 months extension for each child born before or after the PhD award. If the applicant can document a longer maternity leave, the eligibility period will be extended by the documented amount of actual leave taken until the call deadline.

The ERCEA is trying to follow the national rules in order to accommodate different couple/family scenarios. Hence, for the partner who was entitled to ‘maternity leave’ according to the national rules we would apply the same, provided that it is properly documented.

If, in light of the above, the male applicant considers that he should be entitled to the extension based on maternity leave, he should make the case and together with his application submit all relevant supporting documentation, including also documents from the national Social Security scheme (see more details on the supporting documents in the Information for Applicants to the Starting and Consolidator Grant Calls 2022).

The budget table and description of resources are part of the online submission form Part A (Section 3 - Budget). The description and justification of the resources should be provided in the text box (Section C. Resources) under the budget table.

The budget section contains the proposal budget including the ‘total eligible project costs’ and the ‘Requested EU contribution’ for the project. The budget is subdivided in personnel costs, travel and subsistence, equipment, consumables, publications (including any costs related to Open Access), other additional direct costs, internally invoiced goods and services, and any envisaged subcontracting costs. The budget table will provide automatically one budget line per beneficiary. Applicants should indicate the costs for each cost category as accurately as possible using only Euro integers.

In case the ‘total eligible costs’ differ from the ‘requested EU contribution’, specify in the Resources section what exactly is funded from other sources.

Applicants should carefully check all the values of the budget table. The ‘Total eligible costs’ of the project will be automatically calculated based on the figures inserted in the individual columns. The ‘Requested EU contribution’ has to be filled in manually. Please make sure to update the ‘Requested EU contribution’ if updates are made in any of the cost categories.

In the Section C. Resources, the applicant should state and fully justify the amount of funding considered necessary to fulfil the objectives for the duration of the project. The project cost estimation should be as accurate as possible. The evaluation panels assess the estimated costs carefully; unjustified budgets will be consequently reduced.

Applicants should:

• Take into account the dedicated working time to run the project when estimating personnel costs. They should describe the size and nature of the team, indicating, where appropriate, the key team members and their roles. The participation of team members engaged by other host institutions should be justified and in relation to the additional financial cost this may impose.
• Include a short technical description of any requested equipment, why they need it and how much they plan to use it for the project.
• Include a realistic estimation of the costs for Open Access to project outputs. Costs for providing immediate Open Access to publications (article processing charges/book processing charges) are eligible if they are incurred during the lifetime of the project.
• Specify the cost items covered by 'Other personnel costs' category as well as ‘Other additional direct costs' category if applicable.
• As regards ‘Internally invoiced goods and services’, costs for host institution invoices and invoices for other entities should be included under this heading e.g. access to large facilities, access to other services that are charged as unit costs.
• Specify the requested amount for additional funding, if applicable (all items MUST be included in the overall budget table under the relevant individual columns) and they should justify the request.
• Specify if they will use third parties providing in-kind contributions to the action (if applicable).

More explanations can be found in the document Information for Applicants to the Starting and Consolidator Grant Calls 2022.

The budget table and description of resources (as well as time commitment of the PI to the project) will be extracted from the online submission form Part A (Section 3 – Budget; section 5 - Other questions) and made available to the experts evaluating the proposal. Please see Annex 4.6 of the document Information for Applicants to the Starting and Consolidator Grant Calls 2022 for an example of the Proposal Budget Report. It shows how experts will see the information entered in relevant sections of Part A.

The budget table and the justification of the resources will not count towards the page limit of Part B2 anymore. Since the 2021 calls, they form part of the section 'Resources and Time Commitment' with a page limit of 2 pages.

The budget table and description of resources are part of the online submission form Part A (Section 3 – Budget). The section 'C. resources' has a maximum length of 8000 characters (including spaces) which corresponds approximately to 2 pages. Please refer to section 2.3 of the Information for Applicants to the Starting and Consolidator Grant Calls 2022 document for further instruction on how to draw up the budget.

The budget table and description of resources are part of the online submission form Part A (Section 3 - Budget). The description and justification of the resources should be provided in the text box (Section C. Resources) under the budget table.

The applicant should NOT include any description of resources or budget table in Part B2.

According to the conditions of the ERC Starting Grant 2022 call, only the eligible career breaks set in the ERC Work Programme 2022 can be considered for the extension of the eligibility window: maternity or paternity leave (before or after PhD award), long-term illness (over ninety days for the Principal Investigator or a close family member) (after PhD award), clinical training (after award of first eligible degree and by up to 4 years max.), national service (after PhD award). All these circumstances need to be properly documented. Information on the circumstances mentioned above and the supporting documents that need to be submitted together with the proposal can be found in the Information for applicants 2022 document.

For clinical training, an extension can be granted corresponding to the documented amount of clinical training received by the Principal Investigator (PI) after the award of the first eligible degree up to a maximum of 4 years (counting up until the call deadline). For applicants whose first eligible degree is a degree in medicine, clinical training can be accepted from the date of the completion of their medical degree. No extension will be accepted for serving as a house doctor or hospital doctor unless it is part of a clinical training programme. In case of part-time clinical training, the exact total training time will be accepted on a pro-rata basis to extend the eligibility window of the applicant.

Supporting documents: an official document signed by the employer (usually a hospital) certifying start and end date(s) of the individual training period(s). Any document should mention the type of training. If the training was conducted part-time, this should be stated. It is acceptable if the training happened over several periods and for different clinical specialties.

According to the ERC Work Programme 2022, the date of the first PhD considered for the calculation of the eligibility period shall be the date of the actual award according to the national rules in the country where the degree was awarded. This rule is explained further in the document Information for Applicants to the Starting and Consolidator Grant Calls 2022 (section 1.2 Admissibility and eligibility/Principal Investigator):

"The reference date towards the calculation of the eligibility period should be the date of the actual award according to the national rules in the country where the degree was awarded (generally, the date of successful defence/viva). The issue date of the PhD certificate is not to be confused with the award date of the PhD."

In case of applicants having been awarded several PhDs, the reference date is the award date of the first PhD. In case of degrees in medicine considered equivalent to a PhD, the certified date of the medical degree completion plus two years is the time reference for calculation of the eligibility time-window. For more information, see section 'Admissibility and eligibility criteria' of the ERC Work Programme 2022 and its Annex 2.

Please check our ERC website if you are Prospective applicants to the 2023 Starting and Consolidator Grant Calls.

The Principal Investigator (PI) should be engaged by the Host Institution of the ERC PoC Grant during its entire duration. There is no minimum commitment percentage of the working time required from the PI applying for the ERC-2022-PoC calls. However, in the grant agreement, PIs must enter a minimum of their working time, as they are responsible for managing the ERC PoC project. It is essential that the cumulative percentage commitment that the PI spends on the ERC PoC action and on the main ERC StG/CoG/AdG/SyG Grant (if still ongoing) does not exceed 100%. For more information please refer to the ERC 2022 Work Programme.

Under the ERC 2022 Proof of Concept (ERC-2022-PoC1 and ERC-2022-PoC2) calls, a maximum of three Proof of Concept Grants may be awarded per main grant project, except for Synergy Grant, in which case a maximum of six Proof of Concept Grants may be awarded per ERC funded project. PoC projects can run in parallel.

More information on the submission and evaluation procedures can be found in the ERC 2022 Work Programme, in the section relevant to the call, as well as in the guide Information for Applicants to the Proof of Concept Grant 2022 Calls.

According to the ERC 2022 Work programme, funding for the Proof of Concept (PoC) Grant will be awarded through two calls for proposals, ERC-2022-PoC1 and ERC-2022-PoC2.

Applications can be submitted at any time from the opening date of the chosen call until its final deadline. Under call ERC-2022-PoC1, applications will be evaluated and selected in a single round (single deadline / cut-off date). Under call ERC-2022-PoC2, applications will be evaluated and selected in three rounds, based on three specific cut-off dates. A Principal Investigator may submit only one eligible application per call (i.e. one proposal to the first call: ERC-2022-PoC1 call, and/or one proposal to the second call: ERC-2022-PoC2 call). If further submissions are made at different cut-off dates of the second call: ERC-2022-PoC2, only the first admissible and eligible proposal will be considered (inadmissible, ineligible or withdrawn applications do not count against this limit).Therefore, exceptionally under the ERC 2022 Work programme, an applicant may submit up to two proposals (one to ERC-2022-PoC1 call and one to ERC-2022-PoC2 call).

There are no shares or quotas by domain or discipline for the ERC Proof of Concept (ERC-2022-PoC1 and ERC-2022-PoC2) 2022 calls. No domain or field is excluded and the possibility for innovation arising from the social sciences and humanities to apply for a PoC funding is fully recognised.

As stated in the ERC 2022 Work Programme: “Research proposals within the scope of Annex I to the Euratom Treaty, namely those directed towards nuclear energy applications, shall be submitted to relevant calls under the Euratom Framework Programme.”

No, time sheets are not needed for the contractual obligations of an ERC 2022 Proof of Concept (ERC-2022-PoC1 and ERC-2022-PoC2) project. For more information, please refer to the Multi & Mono Model Grant Agreement for Lump Sum Grants.

For ERC Proof of Concept (ERC-2022-PoC1 and ERC-2022-PoC2) Lump Sum actions, beneficiaries do not need to keep records on their actual costs for the purpose of triggering the payment of the lump-sum. They only need to keep appropriate and sufficient evidence (documentation, records) that the action tasks (as described in Annex 1) were properly carried out. For more information, please refer to the Multi & Mono Model Grant Agreement for Lump Sum Grants.

Yes, under ERC 2022 Proof of Concept (ERC-2022-PoC1 and ERC-2022-PoC2) calls, Synergy Grant Principal Investigators (PI) from an ERC Synergy (SyG) funded project are eligible to apply to an ERC PoC proposal as Principal Investigator (PI), but only with the written consent of all Principal Investigators in the same Synergy Grant project.

More information on the submission and evaluation procedures can be found in the ERC 2022 Work Programme, in the section relevant to the call, as well as in the Information for Applicants to the Proof of Concept Grant 2022 Calls.

The Proof of Concept grant is evaluated based on the sole criterion of excellence, which comprises three evaluation elements. Reviewers will evaluate independently each eligible proposal submitted under the ERC PoC 2022 Proof of Concept (ERC-2022-PoC1 and ERC-2022-PoC2) calls, and mark it as "very good", "good" or "fail" for each of the three evaluation elements. The applicants are provided with feedback on the outcome of the evaluation through an information letter and an evaluation report. The evaluation report indicates whether the proposal is retained for funding or not, and provides the “very good, “good” or “fail” status for each of the three evaluation elements, the ranking range and the assessment of the evaluation elements by each external independent expert.

More information on the evaluation procedure can be found in the ERC 2022 Work Programme, in the section relevant to the calls.

For the ERC Proof of Concept (ERC-2022-PoC1 and ERC-2022-PoC2) calls, although it is not mandatory to provide the names of individual team members or their CVs, the PoC plan needs to include justification that the persons working on the tasks are well qualified for the purpose.

The description of the team needs to be filled in the Part B form – section 1b.iii. Plan of the proof of concept – Description of the Action – Description of the team. More information on the submission and evaluation procedures can be found in the ERC 2022 Work Programme, in the section relevant to the call, as well as in the Information for Applicants to the Proof of Concept Grant 2022 Calls.

For the ERC Proof of Concept (ERC-2022-PoC1 and ERC-2022-PoC2) 2022 calls, applicants submit the whole proposal that is evaluated in a single step by the independent external experts. The experts will review the Part B proposal and annexes with letters of support or intent. For more information on the evaluation process, please refer to ERC 2022 Work Programme.

Yes, under ERC 2022 Proof of Concept (ERC-2022-PoC1 and ERC-2022-PoC2) calls, submitting an application with a spin-off company as Host Institution (HI) is feasible, as long as it complies with the eligibility criteria for an eligible HI defined in the ERC 2022 Work Programme. The HI of the ERC Proof of Concept (PoC) proposal does not have to be the same as the HI of the main frontier research Grant.

Yes. Under the ERC 2022 Work Programme the financial contribution will be awarded as a lump sum of EUR 150 000 for a period of 18 months. The ERC expects that normally ERC-2022-PoC1 and ERC-2022-PoC2 projects should be completed within 12 months. However, to allow for those projects that require more preparation time, grant agreements will be signed for 18 months. Given this initial flexibility, extensions of the duration of proof of concept projects may be granted only exceptionally. More information can be found in the Multi & Mono Model Grant Agreement for Lump Sum Grants.

Principal Investigators (PIs) with different profiles can apply to the ERC-2022-PoC calls at any career stage. For ERC Proof of Concept grants, excellence is the sole criterion of evaluation. It will be applied in conjunction to the evaluation of both: the breakthrough innovation potential, approach and methodology of the project; and the capacity and commitment of the Principal Investigator. PIs must demonstrate in their PoC Part B proposal, their ability to conduct the management of the project, the consolidation of information and data needed to take strategic decisions and implement the proposed plan. The PIs should describe their role in the PoC project, including how they will take the strategic lead of it. They should explain any experience or achievements in leading similar innovative projects (if applicable) and how this enables them to lead their PoC project to completion. If the PIs do not have any experience with similar projects, they should explain how they are fit to lead their proof of concept project (e.g. evidence of creativity, independent thinking, and taking strategic decisions).

More information on the submission and evaluation procedures can be found in the ERC 2022 Work Programme, in the section relevant to the call, as well as in the Information for Applicants to the Proof of Concept Grant 2022 Calls, and Part B of the proposal template.

No, when submitting a proposal to the ERC 2022 Proof of Concept grant calls (ERC-2022-PoC1; ERC-2022-PoC2), the field “Career stage” under section 2 – Participants of Part A - Administrative form, is not a mandatory field.

This new field has been introduced for the new ERC-2022-PoC calls under Horizon Europe. When validating the form, the validation check may show a warning, but this will not prevent you from submitting your application, and will not affect the evaluation of your proposal.

More information on the submission and evaluation procedures can be found in the ERC 2022 Work Programme, in the section relevant to the call, as well as in the guide Information for Applicants to the Proof of Concept Grant 2022 Calls, and Part B of the proposal template.

Yes, the ERC adheres to the DORA principles. When evaluating the track record of the Principal Investigators submitting proposals to the ERC-2022-SYG call, peer reviewers are asked to concentrate on the scientific content of the publications in the evaluation process, not on the identity of the journal, even if the ERC encourages applicants to submit their publications in major international peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journals, or in the leading international peer-reviewed journals of their respective field. As defined in the ERC Work Programme 2022 and in line with the DORA principles, applicants are requested not to include the Journal Impact Factor when listing their achievements. The Principal Investigators may include a short narrative description of the scientific importance of their research outputs describing the role that the Principal Investigator played in their production.

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 2020 or 2021 Starting Grant (StG), Consolidator Grant (CoG) or Advanced Grant (AdG) calls may submit a proposal to the ERC 2022 Synergy Grant (SyG) call. In other words, regardless of the score received in an individual main frontier research call prior to the ERC 2022 Synergy Grant call, you are eligible to apply.

Further details in the ERC Work Programme 2022, section "Restrictions on submission of proposals".

According to the conditions applied to the ERC frontier research grants 2022, there are three main restrictions to be considered for Principal Investigators (PI) in this regard:

1. A researcher may participate as PI [Including all PIs supported under the Synergy Grant] in only one main frontier research grant 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.] In other words, at any one time, a PI can have only one ongoing ERC grant.
2. A researcher participating as PI in one of the main frontier research grants may not submit another proposal for a main ERC grant, unless the existing project ends no more than two years after the call deadline. Therefore, an ongoing ERC main frontier research grant must end before 10 November 2023 for a PI to be eligible to apply to the 2022 Synergy grants.
3. A PI may submit proposals to different main frontier research grant calls published under the same Work Programme, but only the first eligible proposal will be evaluated. As an example, if you apply as a Principal Investigator to the 2022 Synergy Grant call (ERC-2022-SYG), and this proposal is eligible, you will not be eligible to apply to the 2022 Starting, Consolidator or Advanced grants calls.

These restrictions are specified in the ERC Work Programme 2022 and may be modified in future work programmes by the ERC Scientific Council in light of experience. Please note however that it is possible to participate in more than one ERC grant as a team member.

A Principal Investigator (PI) whose proposal was evaluated as category C at Step 1 in the 2020 Synergy Grant (SyG) call may not submit a proposal to the 2022 SyG call.

A Principal Investigator (PI) whose proposal was evaluated as category B at Step 1 or Step 2 in the 2020 Synergy Grant (SyG) call may submit a proposal to the 2022 SyG call.

See the ERC Work Programme 2022, section Restrictions on submission of proposals.

Please consult the section "Restrictions on submission of proposals" of the ERC Work Programme 2022. Please note that the restrictions concern an applicant PI, not the proposal. 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 under the ERC Work Programme 2022. Please also note that any PI may participate as a 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 the PI applying with an outside 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, regardless of the country they work in. See also the ERC Work Programme 2022.

Similarly to other ERC frontier calls, if a Principal Investigator (PI) submits proposals to different ERC frontier research calls published under the same Work Programme, only the first eligible proposal will be evaluated. Ineligible or withdrawn proposals do not count against this limit (ERC Work Programme 2022). If a PI thus applies to the ERC 2022 SyG call and the proposal is eligible and evaluated, their other application to a StG, CoG or AdG call under the ERC Work Programme 2022 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, and it does not refer to a calendar year. A 2022 ERC call is therefore one that was published under the ERC Work Programme 2022 and will have 2022 in the call identifier (for example ERC-2022-SyG). Example: A proposal submitted to the ERC-2022-AdG call will not be evaluated if the PI had already applied to the ERC-2022-SyG call and the SyG proposal was considered eligible, even if the call deadlines are in two different calendar years (in 2021 for the SyG 2022 call and in 2022 for the AdG 2022 call). Note that it is possible to apply both to the ERC-2021-AdG call and to the ERC-2022-SyG call, even though the deadlines are in the same calendar year. In case the PI is selected for funding in the 2021 AdG call and the Grant Agreement is signed, the PI becomes ineligible in the 2022 SyG call, because a PI can hold only one ERC frontier grant at any one time. For further questions please contact the ERC SyG mailbox (ERC-SyG-APPLICANTS@ec.europa.eu).

According to the ERC Work Programme 2022, in order to be eligible to apply to the ERC Starting Grant 2022 Call, a Principal Investigator must have been awarded a PhD or equivalent doctoral degree. It is recognised that there are some other doctoral titles that enjoy the same status and represent variants of the PhD in certain fields. All of them have similar content requirements. First professional degrees will not be considered in themselves as PhD-equivalent, even if recipients carry the title "Doctor". For more information, please consult Annex 2 ‘ERC policy on PhD and equivalent doctoral degrees’ in the ERC Work Programme 2022 - and section 4.3 of the Information for Applicants document to the Starting and Consolidator Grant Calls 2022.

According to the ERC Work Programme 2022, for applicants holding a degree in medicine, a first degree in medicine will not be accepted by itself as equivalent to a PhD award. To be considered an eligible Principal Investigator, applicants holding a degree in medicine need to provide the certificates of both the medical degree and a PhD or proof of an appointment that requires doctoral equivalency (e.g. post-doctoral fellowship, professorship appointment). Additionally, applicants must also provide information on their research experience (including peer-reviewed publications) in order to further substantiate the equivalence of their overall training to a PhD. In these cases, the certified date of the medical degree completion plus two years is the reference date of the actual award used for the calculation of the eligibility time period established for Starting Grant in the section "Eligible Principal Investigator". For more information, see sections 'Admissibility and eligibility criteria' and Annex 2 'ERC policy on PhD and equivalent doctoral degrees' of the ERC Work Programme 2022 and section 4.3 of the document Information for Applicants to the Starting and Consolidator Grant Calls 2022.

According to the conditions of the ERC Starting Grant 2022 call, for applicants holding a degree in medicine who have been awarded both a degree in medicine and a PhD, the date used for the calculation of the eligibility period (i.e. medical degree plus two years or PhD award date) is the date of the earliest degree that makes the applicant eligible. For more information please consult the ERC policy on PhD and equivalent doctoral degrees in the ERC Work Programme 2022 – Annex 2 and section 4.3 of the document Information for Applicants to the Starting and Consolidator Grant Calls 2022.

No, according to the conditions of the ERC Starting Grant 2022 call, the Principal Investigator must have been awarded a PhD or equivalent doctoral degree to be eligible. First-professional degrees will not be considered in themselves as PhD-equivalent, even if recipients carry the title "Doctor". For more information please consult the ERC policy on PhD and equivalent doctoral degrees in the ERC Work Programme 2022, Annex 2 and section 4.3 of the document Information for Applicants to the Starting and Consolidator Grant Calls 2022.

According to the conditions of the ERC Starting Grant 2022 call, it is the applicant’s responsibility to choose and indicate the most relevant ERC Panel (‘primary evaluation panel’) for the evaluation of the proposed research and to indicate one or more ERC key words representing the research fields involved. The Principal Investigator (PI) may indicate a second relevant panel. The initial allocation of the proposal to a panel will be based on the preference expressed by the applicant. However, when necessary due to the expertise required for the evaluation, a proposal may be reallocated to a different panel with the agreement of both panel chairs concerned. The composition of the ERC evaluation panels are by nature multi-disciplinary. The primary allocated panel will determine if additional reviews by appropriate members of other panel(s) or additional remote experts are needed. The applicant should indicate when they believe that their proposal is of a cross-panel or cross-domain nature. Further explanations can be found in the Information for Applicants to the Starting and Consolidator Grant Calls 2022.

For the ERC Starting Grant 2022, Step 1 of the peer review evaluation process is based only on Part B1 (the extended synopsis, the Principal Investigator's CV and the track record) and peer reviewers do not have access to the full research proposal. At Step 2, the peer reviewers base their assessment on the complete versions of the retained proposals – Part B1, Part B2 and section 3 – Budget and time commitment from section 5 – Other questions (included in the online submission form). Please note that experts do not have access to any supporting documentation during the evaluation. For more information on the evaluation process, please refer to the ERC Work Programme 2022 (section 'Evaluation procedure and criteria').

For the ERC Starting Grant 2022, the applicant must choose and indicate the most relevant ERC Panel (‘primary evaluation panel’) for the evaluation of the proposed research and indicate one or more ERC key words representing the research fields involved. Applicants may also indicate a second relevant panel. They should indicate when they believe that their proposal is of a cross-panel or cross-domain nature. Further explanations can be found in the Information for Applicants to the Starting and Consolidator Grant Calls 2022. The primary panel structure is also indicated in Annex 1 to the ERC Work Programme 2022.

The CVs of individual team members should not be included. Although it is not mandatory to provide the names of individual team members, the proposal should describe the composition and nature of the team that will carry out the proposed activities. In case the PI decides to put any names in the proposal, they should be aware of the obligation to obtain a written consent of all participants on their participation and the content of the proposal, as well as of any researcher mentioned in the proposal as participating in the project, should the proposal be funded.

Further explanations can be found in the documents Information for Applicants to the Starting and Consolidator Grant Calls 2022 and ERC Rules of submission and evaluation under Horizon Europe.

During each step of the ERC Starting Grant 2022 evaluation, the two main elements of the proposal (Principal Investigator and research project) will be evaluated and rated. At the end of each evaluation step, the proposals will be ranked by the panels on the basis of the panels' overall appreciation of their strengths and weaknesses.

At the end of Step 1 of the evaluation, on the basis of the assessment of Part B 1, the proposal will receive one of the following scores:

• A, is of sufficient quality to pass to Step 2 of the evaluation;
• B, is of high quality but not sufficient to pass to Step 2 of the evaluation;
• or C, is not of sufficient quality to pass to Step 2 of the evaluation.

At the end of Step 2 of the evaluation, on the basis of the assessment of the full research proposal, applicants will be informed of one of the following scores for their proposal either:

• A, fully meets the ERC's excellence criterion and is recommended for funding if sufficient funds are available;
• or B, meets some but not all elements of the ERC's excellence criterion and will not be funded.

Once the evaluation of their proposal has been completed, applicants to all grants will receive an evaluation report which will include the final panel score and ranking range, the panel comment and the assessment of the evaluation elements by each individual independent external expert.

More information on the results of the peer review evaluation can be found in the ERC Rules of submission and evaluation under Horizon Europe (section 3.8 'Feedback to applicants').

According to the conditions of the ERC Starting Grant 2022 call, as long as no PhD document or equivalent is uploaded in the submission tool of the Funding & Tenders Portal, it will not be possible to validate/submit the proposal. A warning message will inform the applicant of the missing document. If another document is uploaded instead of the PhD certificate, the ERCEA may contact the PI and ask for a clarification and the missing PhD document.

For more information on admissibility and eligibility criteria, see the related section in the ERC Work Programme 2022.

Yes. Unlike the main Frontier Research (StG, CoG, AdG, SyG) grant calls, there are no eligibility conditions to apply for a PoC linked to the results of proposals submitted to previous PoC calls. Therefore, the PI who applied to the call ERC-2022-PoC1 and whose proposal was not selected for funding may apply to ERC-2022-PoC2, provided they fulfill eligibility conditions as stipulated in the ERC 2022 Work Programme.

Yes, for the ERC Synergy Grant (ERC-2022-SyG) call, all Principal Investigators (PIs) whose proposal has been retained for Step 3 will be invited to an interview. It is highly recommended that all PIs are present at the interview to facilitate the assessment of the Synergy group. In very exceptional cases, in case a PI is unable to attend the interview (e.g. pregnancy, immobility due to illness, expedition), the ERC offers alternative solutions in case of on-site meetings (e.g. video or phone conference alternatives for a remote participation in the interview).More information about the ERC-2022-SyG call is available in the ERC Work Programme 2022.

The exact interview details will be communicated to the successful Step 2 applicants shortly after the end of the 2022 Synergy Grant (SyG) Step 2 panel meetings in July – August 2022 before the start of the interviews on 5 September 2022. Depending on the pandemic situation and the decision of the ERC, the interviews will be planned either online or will take place in person in Brussels. Regardless of the place of the interview, all PIs of a SyG group will be requested to participate at the interview. The length and interview format depend on the decision of the panels: interviews could last around 45-50 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. The presentation is an opportunity to elaborate on the synergies that the project aims to create.More information about the ERC-2022-SyG call is available in the ERC Work Programme 2022.

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 Associated Countries. In the 2022 Synergy Grant (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-2022-SyG call is available in the ERC Work Programme 2022.

No, there are no specific requirements on the type of configuration. Being located in two different countries will not affect the chance of success. The PIs have to demonstrate convincingly that there will be significant synergies and sufficient time spent together in close collaboration that enables to achieve the aims of the project. More information about the ERC-2022-SyG call is available in the ERC Work Programme 2022 and the Information for Applicants to the Synergy Grant 2022 Call.

The term 'Synergy' cannot be defined in one single way. It is not the end goal, but rather the means to achieve the aims of a Synergy project. Synergy projects should generally involve composite teams that are capable of tackling bold new research themes that require novel approaches and unique fusions of researchers. Such teams are typically characterised by exceptional combinations of knowledge and skills, in which the 2, 3 or 4 Principal Investigators hold a central role. A Synergy project could incorporate novel multi- or trans-disciplinary approaches or innovative combinations of knowledge and skills in a single discipline or research field. Each Synergy proposal must demonstrate that its objectives can only be achieved through the specific combination of knowledge and skills brought together by the participating PIs. In other words, a major scientific question of pressing significance, an integrated team and the transformative scientific potential are crucial elements in conceiving a Synergy proposal. More information about the ERC-2022-SyG call is available in the Information for Applicants to the Synergy Grant 2022 Call.

Not only. The ultimate goal of the ERC Synergy (SyG) scheme is to allow for a close and genuine collaborative interaction that will enable transformative research at the forefront of science, capable of yielding unpredictable and ground-breaking scientific results, leading to a result that is more than just the sum of Principal Investigators (PIs)' individual contributions. More information about the ERC-2022-SyG call is available in the ERC Work Programme 2022 and the Information for Applicants to the Synergy Grant 2022 Call.

Principal Investigators (PIs) with different profiles can apply to the ERC-2022-SyG call as long as they have competitive track records appropriate to their career stage. PIs must then present, as part of the proposal, either an early achievement track-record or a 10-year track-record, whichever is most appropriate for their career stage (see Starting, Consolidator, Advanced Grant profiles in the ERC Work Programme 2022).

For an ERC Synergy Grant (SyG), a minimum two and maximum four Principal Investigators (PIs) (and their teams) can apply. More information about the ERC-2022-SyG call is available in the ERC Work Programme 2022.

Yes, every Principal Investigator (PI) involved in a Synergy Grant (SyG) proposal must be engaged and hosted by a Host Institution. In general, the Host Institutions should be established in one of the EU Member States or Associated Countries for at least the full duration of the project. In the 2022 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. The Principal Investigators (PIs) must also spend 50% of their time in Europe, except the PI who will be hosted in an institution outside of the EU or Associated Countries. Other institutions outside Europe may be involved, as additional beneficiaries to the grant, and may even receive funding provided that their participation is deemed essential for carrying out the action. In addition, their presence must be well justified in the proposal. More information about the ERC-2022-SyG call is available in the ERC Work Programme 2022.

Yes, for ERC SyG, a minimum of two and a maximum of 4 PIs form a group, in which each PI can work with a team and/or collaborators who are either at the same institution or at different entities. More information about the ERC-2022-SyG call is available in the ERC Work Programme 2022 and Information for Applicants to the Synergy Grant 2022 Call.

No, the concept of 'co-investigator' actually does not exist in the context of a Synergy Grant (SyG). All Principal Investigators (PIs) have equal status, although there is a 'Corresponding Principal Investigator' (cPI) designated to be the administrative contact with the ERCEA. More information about the ERC-2022-SyG call is available in the ERC Work Programme 2022 and Information for Applicants to the Synergy Grant 2022 Call.

Applications to a Synergy Grant (SyG) call should indicate only keywords, and not panels, because there are no predefined panels in the Synergy evaluation. Please see the ERC Work Programme 2022 and Information for Applicants to the Synergy Grant 2022 Call.

Yes, at submission stage each Host Institution (not only the Corresponding Host Institution) shall provide a support letter to PI(s) hosted by them for at least the duration of the grant. The conditions offered by the Host Institutions, including the 'portability' of the grant, are the subject of a supplementary agreement between the Principal Investigator(s) and their respective Host Institution(s). More information about the ERC-2022-SyG call is available in the ERC Work Programme 2022 and Information for Applicants to the Synergy Grant 2022 Call.

There are no specific requirements in this respect. The corresponding Host Institution is the one hosting the corresponding Principal Investigator (PI). This PI is the 'primus inter pares' for the project and the main administrative contact point on behalf of the group. Principal Investigators are considered equal regardless of their Host Institution. More information about the ERC-2022-SyG call is available in the ERC Work Programme 2022 and Information for Applicants to the Synergy Grant 2022 Call.

The ERC Synergy Grant (SyG) funding scheme imposes few eligibility constraints on applicants. There are no constraints regarding academic degrees, thus a PhD degree is not formally required. However, please be aware that this is an extremely competitive call. Although the Synergy group is evaluated as a whole, each applicant Principal Investigator ideally should be competitive at a level corresponding to their career stage in an individual grant. More information about the ERC-2022-SyG call and eligibility requirements is available in the ERC Work Programme 2022 and Information for Applicants to the Synergy Grant 2022 Call.

Yes, a Principal Investigator (PI) whose proposal was evaluated as category A or category B at Step 3 in the 2020 Synergy Grant (SyG) call may submit a proposal to the ERC-2022-SyG call. The only restrictions on scores are on those applicants who received a C score at step 1 of the evaluation in the ERC-2020-SyG call. For other restrictions please consult the ERC Work Programme 2022, section Restrictions on submission of proposals.

A Principal Investigator (PI) can submit a proposal to the SyG call if their existing ERC project ends no more than two years after the SyG call deadline (see ERC Work Programme 2022, section Restrictions on submission of proposals). For the 2022 SyG call, this means that the ongoing Grant has to end before 10 November 2023. A PI may hold only one ERC grant at any time. A new frontier research project can only start after the duration of the project fixed in a previous frontier research grant agreement has ended (see ERC Work Programme 2022).