Frequently asked questions

The reporting requirements for an ERC main frontier research projects granted under Horizon Europe Programme (Starting Grant / Consolidator Grant / Advanced Grant or Synergy Grant) foresee two different reporting streams to cover the financial aspects, on the one hand, and the scientific aspects of the grant, on the other hand, as described in Article 21 of the Model Grant Agreement used for ERC actions. Scientific reports are the sole responsibility of the Principal Investigator and are submitted via the Host Institution usually twice during the lifetime of a project (at mid-term and at the end). The financial reports are prepared by the Host Institution in consultation with the Principal Investigator and must usually be submitted 60 days after end of period (page 14 of the Model Grant Agreement used for ERC actions); this report must include information on the use of resources and the general implementation of the project (see Article 21 of Model Grant Agreement used for ERC actions). At the end of a project, the Host Institution will also have to submit a Certificate on Financial Statements for each beneficiary (and linked third party) depending on the amount of the costs claimed (if the entity requests a total contribution of EUR 430 000 or more). Both types of reports (Scientific and Financial) are prepared and submitted online via the Funding & Tenders Portal (F&T Portal).

In the case of the Synergy Grants the corresponding Principal Investigator assumes the primary responsibility for the scientific reporting and contribution to the financial reporting, while the other Principal Investigators must contribute to both the scientific and financial reporting (page 120 of Model Grant Agreement used for ERC actions).

To be eligible for ERC calls, Host Institutions (HIs) – which can be public bodies, research organisations or higher education institutions (including private research organisations and private higher education institutions establishments) from an EU Member State or Associated Country – must have a gender equality plan (GEP) or an equivalent strategic document in place for the duration of the project.

Please be aware that it is not necessary for the Host Institution to have already the gender equality plan or equivalent strategic document in place at the time of the submission and the absence of a GEP will not affect the evaluation of the project. However, if the project is successful, it will be necessary before the signature of the grant agreement.

For ERC calls under Horizon Europe, the information requested in Part A on the career stage of the PI will not be provided to the reviewers of your proposal and will not be part of the evaluation. This data is gathered for statistical purposes and used to evaluate the Horizon Europe Programme as a whole.

According to the conditions applied to the ERC frontier research Grants 2020, there are three main    restrictions to be considered for Principal Investigators in this regard:

1. A researcher may participate as    Principal Investigator [Including all Principal Investigators supported  under  the Synergy Grant]  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.]
2. A researcher participating as Principal Investigator 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.
3.  A Principal Investigator may submit proposals to different ERC  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 2020 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.