Internal guidelines for ERC Starting Grants 2026

These are internal guidelines for submission of ERC Starting Grants (ERC StG) project proposals for the 2026 call with deadline 14 October 2025 – for proposals of projects that would be carried out at the Faculty of Science, Charles University, if selected for funding. See also:
Faculty information about the ERC StG call 2026 including key information and links
Faculty information about the ERC StG call 2026 including key information and links – in Czech

According to Rector’s Directive n. 23/2025 (in Czech), at least 1 month before the relevant deadline, i.e., by 14 September 2025:

• An agreement must be reached between the applicant (Principal Investigator, PI), the relevant department and the faculty management on the conditions under which the project will be carried out if successful in the ERC competition. This agreement must be approved by the Dean Advisory Board (Kolegium děkana).
• A preliminary version of the full proposal must be sent to the University’s rectorate via the project department of the faculty. It is expected that it will be a draft version and that the PI will further improve the proposal during the last month before the deadline – however, it must be obvious even from the draft that the proposal will be of high quality.

Without fulfilling these conditions, the rectorate will not issue the “Commitment of the Host Institution” which is a mandatory attachment of the application.

Therefore, PIs who plan to submit a project proposal to the current call are kindly asked to:

• If you did NOT participate in the workshop for ERC applicants organised by the Czech National Contact Points, by 10 August 2025, send (at ludmila.souckova@natur.cuni.cz) a draft of Part B1 of your proposal.
• If you did participate in the workshop for ERC applicants, send a draft of Part B1 of your proposal (at ludmila.souckova@natur.cuni.cz) by 3 September 2025.
• By 3 September 2025, send (at ludmila.souckova@natur.cuni.cz) the written agreement on the conditions of project implementation between the PI, the head of the department, and the vice-dean of the section, where the project will be carried out if successful.
  The Project Management Department will provide a template for the agreement and suggestions on what to include. The vice-dean for project activities will moderate discussions on this agreement when necessary.
• Based on the above-mentioned agreement and the draft of Part B1, the Dean Advisory Board (Kolegium děkana) will decide on their support for the submission of the proposal.
• By 11 September 2025 send (at ludmila.souckova@natur.cuni.cz) the preliminary version of the full proposal, i.e., Part B1 and Part B2, to be sent to the rectorate.
• By 22 September 2025 send (at ludmila.souckova@natur.cuni.cz) the budget and its justification to be checked.
  The Project Management Department will provide an auxiliary excel table and recommendations for budget preparation.
• In the administrative part (Part A) of the proposal on the Funding & Tenders Port, fill in:
  • Your organisation: UNIVERZITA KARLOVA
  • Short name: CU
  • PIC: 999923434
  • Main Host Institution Contact: Tomáš Palatý, tomas.palaty@natur.cuni.cz
    Title: Mr
    Gender: Male
    Position in org.: Horizon Europe officer
    Department: Project Management Department, Faculty of Science
    Street: Albertov 6
    Town: Prague 2
    Postcode: 128 00
    Country: Czechia
    Website: https://natur.cuni.cz/en
    Phone: +420 221951119
  • Contact Persons: 
    Ludmila Součková, ludmila.souckova@natur.cuni.cz
    Martina Holíková, martina.holikova@natur.cuni.cz
    Adéla Jiroudková, adela.jiroudkova@ruk.cuni.cz
    Veronika Syrovátková, veronika.syrovatkova@ruk.cuni.cz
  • Does the organization have a Gender Equality Plan (GEP)?: Yes

The final proposals are to be submitted electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal by the PIs themselves.

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

Information published by Ludmila Součková on 10. 7. 2025.

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