Frequently asked questions

According to the conditions of the ERC Starting Grant 2023 (ERC-2023-STG) call, only the eligible career breaks set in the ERC Work Programme 2023 can be considered for the extension of the eligibility window, provided they started before the call deadline:

• maternity (before or after the PhD successful defence date);
• paternity leave (before or after the PhD successful defence date and the leave taken before the call deadline);
• long-term illness (over 90 days for the PI or a close family member) (after the PhD successful defence date and the leave taken before the call deadline);
• national service (after the PhD successful defence date and before the call deadline);
• clinical training received (after the reference date of the first eligible degree and before the call deadline, up to a maximum of 4 years);
• Natural Disaster: extension by the documented time of a PI's inability to work before the call deadline due to a natural disaster, which occurred after the date of the successful defence of their PhD degree;
• Seeking Asylum: extension by the documented time of the PI's inability to work before the call deadline due to seeking asylum, which occurred after the date of the successful defence of their PhD degree.

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 to the Starting and Consolidator Grant calls 2023” document.

According to the ERC Work Programme 2023, for applicants holding a degree in medicine, a first degree in medicine will not be accepted by itself as equivalent to a PhD degree. To be considered an eligible PI to the ERC-2023-STG call, applicants holding a degree in medicine need to provide the certificates of both the medical degree and a PhD, or the proof of an appointment that requires doctoral equivalency (e.g. post-doctoral fellowship, professorship appointment). Additionally, candidates must provide information on their research experience (including peer-reviewed publications) in order to further substantiate the equivalence of their overall training to a PhD. 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 2023 and section 4.3 of the document Information for Applicants to the Starting and Consolidator Grant calls 2023.

According to the conditions of the ERC-2023-STG (Starting Grant) call, the reference date should be the earliest degree (successful defence of PhD or equivalent doctoral degree) that makes the applicant eligible for the ERC Starting Grant Call. In case of degrees in medicine considered equivalent to a PhD, the certified date of the medical degree completion plus two years is the reference date to be used for the calculation of the eligibility period. For more information, please consult the ERC policy on PhD and equivalent doctoral degrees in the ERC Work Programme 2023 – Annex 2 and section 4.3 of the document Information for Applicants to the Starting and Consolidator Grant calls 2023.

According to the ERC Work Programme 2023, in order to be eligible to apply to the ERC-2023-STG (Starting Grant) call, a Principal Investigator must have successfully defended a PhD or must have been awarded an 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 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 2023 - and section 4.3 of the Information for Applicants document to the Starting and Consolidator Grant 2023.

According to the ERC Work Programme 2023, the date of the PhD considered for the calculation of the eligibility period is the date of the successful defence of the first PhD degree. This rule is explained further in the document Information for Applicants to the Starting and Consolidator Grant calls 2023 (section 1.2 Admissibility and eligibility/Principal Investigator).

In order to be eligible for the ERC-STG-2023 call, the certified date of the successful PhD defence would need to be at least 2 and up to 7 years prior to 1st January 2023 [i.e. the PhD reference window is between (inclusive) 1st January 2016 and (inclusive) 31st December 2020].

This announcement was done in advance in order for the PIs to assess their eligibility early enough so that they could consider applying for calls under the Work Programme 2022. Hence, the 'transition phase' were the 2022 calls where the 'old' rule was applicable. As from 2023, as set in the ERC Work Programme 2023 for the ERC-2023-STG and ERC-2023-COG calls (Starting and Consolidator Grants), “the date of the first PhD considered for the calculation of the eligibility period is the date of the successful defence of the PhD degree”. More information can be found in the Section Admissibility and eligibility criteria of the ERC Work Programme 2023 as well as in the applicable Information for Applicants document.

The information about the ERC-2023-SyG (Synergy Grants) call can be found in the ERC Work Programme 2023, in the Information for Applicants to the Synergy Grant 2023 Call through the Funding & Tenders Portal, in the Information Package of the submission webpage for the relevant call and on the ERC website.

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 2023, section Restrictions on submission of proposals). For the ERC-2023-SyG call, this means that the ongoing Grant has to end before 8 November 2024. A PI may hold only one ERC grant at any time. A new frontier research project can only start after the previous frontier research grant agreement has ended.

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-2023-SyG call is available in the ERC Work Programme 2023 and Information for Applicants to the Synergy Grant 2023 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-2023-SyG call is available in the ERC Work Programme 2023 and Information for Applicants to the Synergy Grant 2023 call.