ERC Advanced Grants 2025: open call and internal guidelines

The European Research Council (ERC) has opened the call for proposals of ERC Advanced Grants (ERC AdG). These grants support internationally recognised scientists (usually more than 12 years after PhD) who are active researchers and have significantly influenced their research field. Deadline is 28. 8. 2025.

ATTENTION: The proposal structure has slightly changed in last years – see also summary of recent changes – please, use the current templates and follow

If you plan to apply in this call, please, contact AS SOON AS POSSIBLE the Project Management Department (Ludmila Součková, ludmila.souckova@natur.cuni.cz) and follow the internal guidelines:
Internal guidelines for ERC Advanced Grants 2025

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 AdG 2025 call on Funding & Tenders Portal – key information, links to relevant documents, link for proposal submission.
• ERC Work Programme 2025 – binding information about ERC calls in 2025 including ERC AdG – applicants, as well as those interested in ERC, are strongly advised to read this document (it is concise, well-structured and it is easy to identify the parts relevant for you).
• Information for Applicants to the Advanced Grant Call – detailed instructions for proposal writing and submission.
• European Research Council – official website.
• About ERC by the Czech National Contact Point – news, events etc.
• Recording of webinar ERC Advanced Grants – Lump sums (7. 6. 2024) – relevant for budget preparation.

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 AdG support internationally recognised PIs (usually more than 12 years after PhD) who are significantly influencing their research field. A competitive ERC AdG applicant should be an already established research leader in their field with a recognised track record of significant research achievements. In the evaluation, emphasis is put on recent achievements.

The grants may be awarded up to a maximum of EUR 2.5 million for a period of 5 years. Additional contribution up to EUR 1 million can be requested as “additional funding” (e.g., for purchase of major equipment or extensive fieldwork). If the PI is re-locating to the EU or an Horizon Europe associated country from elsewhere to take up their ERC grant, the “additional funding” can be up to EUR 2 million.

The ERC grants are one of the most prestigious grants in Europe. The success rate in the ERC AdG call 2023 was 13.9 % (source).

Restriction of resubmissions
PI whose proposal is evaluated as category C at Step 1 of the evaluation may not apply for an ERC grant in the 2 following years. PI whose proposal is evaluated as category B at Step 1 of the evaluation may not apply for an ERC grant in the 1 following year.

If you have any questions regarding ERC, please, don’t hesitate to contact the Project Management Department (Ludmila Součková, ludmila.souckova@natur.cuni.cz).

News published by Ludmila Součková on 22. 5. 2025.

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