European Research Council (ERC): timetable of 2026 calls and webinar (10/7/2025)

The European Research Council – ERC, has published information about the 2026 calls for proposals with deadlines in autumn 2025 and in 2026.

ERC in now implementing some significant changes to proposal structure and evaluation, see ERC: changes in the upcoming calls.

► On 10. 7. 2025, ERC holds a webinar about these calls. Webinar webpage. Link to follow live.

If you consider submitting a project proposal to the upcoming calls ERC Starting Grants 2026 or ERC Synergy Grants 2026, please contact IMMEDIATELY the Project Management Department (Ludmila Součková, ludmila.souckova@natur.cuni.cz), if you aren’t already in touch with us.

Please, keep in mind that according to Rector’s Directive n. 23/2025 (in Czech), at least 1 month before the relevant deadline, an agreement must be reached between the applicant, the relevant department and the faculty management on the conditions under which the project will be carried out if successful in the ERC competition and this agreement must be approved by the Dean Advisory Board (Kolegium děkana); and a preliminary version of the full proposal must be sent to the University’s rectorate via the project department of the faculty also 1 month before the relevant deadline.

Please, contact us also if you plan or consider applying for any ERC grant even in a longer time frame (e.g. in 1–2 years), to be able to benefit from all the support offered to ERC applicants.
About ERC on Faculty of Science website – including information about support for (potential) applicants.

• ERC Work Programme 2026– Information about calls, eligibility criteria, ERC funding principles etc. We highly recommend that potential ERC applicants (and anyone interested in ERC funding) read this document (the document is concise, well-structured and it is easy to identify the relevant parts).
• About the 2026 calls on ERC website– including summary of changes and overview of deadlines.
• Official ERC website.
• About ERC by the Czech National Contact Point– news, info events etc.
• Database of funded ERC projects– can be sorted e.g. by type of project or by evaluation panel.
• Videos “ERC Classes”– application and evaluation process in detail (video list is apparently under reconstruction).
• Brochures “How to write a good ERC proposal” by the European Centre of the Charles University rectorate: Starting, Consolidator, Advanced and Synergy (source).

ERC calls of the Work Programme 2025

• ERC Starting Grants
  • For Principal Investigators 2–7 years after PhD (reference date 1 January 2026) who are starting their own independent research team.
  • Maximal project duration 5 years.
  • Maximal grant amount EUR 1.5 million (plus up to EUR 1 million “additional funding” e.g., for purchase of major equipment or extensive fieldwork).
  • Opening: 9. 7. 2025.
    Deadline: 14. 10. 2025.
  • Faculty news about the call [link will be added soon] – including internal guidelines and earlier internal deadlines.
• ERC Synergy Grants
  • Multidisciplinary projects of 2–4 Principal Investigators. The projects must demonstrate the added value of the collaboration that could lead to breakthroughs which would be impossible by the individual PIs working alone. Each of the PIs must have a track record making them a competitive applicant for ERC Starting, Consolidator or Advanced grant depending on their career stage.
  • Maximal project duration 6 years.
  • Maximal grant amount EUR 10 million (plus up to EUR 4 million “additional funding” e.g., for purchase of major equipment or extensive fieldwork).
  • Opening: 10. 7. 2025.
    Deadline: 5. 11. 2025.
  • Faculty news about the call [link will be added soon] – including internal guidelines and earlier internal deadlines.
• ERC Consolidator Grants
  • For Principal Investigators 7–12 years after PhD (reference date 1 January 2026) who already have a “core” of their own independent research team, but still need to consolidate it.
  • Maximal project duration 5 years.
  • Maximal grant amount EUR 2 million (plus up to EUR 1 million “additional funding” e.g., for purchase of major equipment or extensive fieldwork).
  • Opening: 25. 9. 2025.
    Deadline: 13. 1. 2026.
• ERC Advanced Grants
  • For internationally recognised scientists (usually more than 12 years after PhD) who are active in research and are significantly influencing their research field.
  • Maximal project duration 5 years.
  • Maximal grant amount EUR 2.5 million (plus up to EUR 1 million “additional funding” e.g., for purchase of major equipment or extensive fieldwork).
  • Opening: 28. 5. 2026.
    Deadline: 27. 8. 2026.
• ERC Proof of Concept Grants
  • Only for successful ERC grantees to verify innovation potential of results or ideas arising from a funded ERC project.
  • Deadlines: 17. 3. 2026, 17. 9. 2026.

What is ERC?

Research funded by the ERC is expected to lead to advances at the frontiers of knowledge and to set a clear and inspirational target for frontier research across Europe. The grants support excellent Principal investigators (PIs) and their research teams. The PI must demonstrate ground-breaking nature of the proposal, it must not be a mere continuation of previous achievements. The proposal must have the potential to significantly influence the relevant research field, push its boundaries or open new research perspectives. The ERC research grants operate on a “bottom-up” basis without predetermined priorities. An ERC grant gives the PI long-term funding with high flexibility.

ERC in now implementing some significant changes to proposal structure and evaluation, see ERC: changes in the upcoming calls.

News published by Ludmila Součková on 9. 7. 2025.

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