ERC announces important changes to the 2027 Work Programme

1. New eligibility windows:

The eligibility windows for applicants for ERC Starting (0-10 years since Ph.D.) and Consolidator (5-15 years since Ph.D.) grants will change.

2. Additional application restrictions:

-An applicant can only have one proposal under evaluation at any given time (except for Proof of Concept calls).

-Only one project proposal can be submitted under the ERC 2027 work programme. Another proposal can only be submitted if the first one has been formally rejected as ineligible.

-An applicant cannot receive more than one ERC Starting or Consolidator grant in their career. Anyone who has previously received one of these grants will therefore not be able to apply again to the same scheme.

-Applicants who have submitted eligible proposals to the Advanced Grant or ERC Plus Grant 2026 call will not be eligible to apply for the ERC Synergy Grant 2027.

3. Stricter rules for re-application:

-ERC SyG: If one of the Principal Investigators (PIs) within an ERC Synergy proposal is found ineligible, the entire proposal will be considered ineligible.

-ERC SyG: Applicants who have obtained a C grade in the 1st round of the ERC SyG 2024/2025/2026 evaluation or a B grade in the SyG 2025/2026 calls will not be able to apply for the ERC SyG 2027 call.

-Applicants who do not advance to the 2nd round of the ERC Plus 2026 call will not be able to apply for a grant in the ERC Plus 2027 call.

-Applicants who have obtained a C grade in the 1st round of the ERC StG, CoG or AdG 2024/2025/2026 evaluation or a B grade in the 1st round of the StG, CoG or AdG 2025/2026 calls will not be able to apply for any of these calls in 2027 incl. ERC SyG and ERC Pus 2027 calls.

-Applicants for ERC Advanced 2026 will not be able to apply for a grant in the ERC Synergy 2027 call, regardless of the evaluation result.