Overview

ERC Plus Grants (topic ERC-2026-PLUS) fund single Principal Investigator frontier research projects with transformative ambition, offering up to €7,000,000 as a lump-sum for durations of 48 to 84 months. Applications open 2 June 2026 with a submission deadline of 2 September 2026; approximately 30 grants are expected to be awarded in 2026. Eligible applicants are researchers of any nationality applying via a Host Institution established in an EU Member State or Associated Country, and funded PIs must commit at least 30% of their working time to the project and spend a minimum of 50% of their working time in the EU or an Associated Country. Evaluation is excellence-only in a two-step process (shortlisting based on Part I, CV and Statement of Vision, followed by full proposal assessment and interview) and applicants must include a Host Institution Support Letter at submission.

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Highlights

What it funds

Scope and funding model

Support for single Principal Investigator-led frontier research projects that address major scientific challenges and could not be carried out with a regular ERC grant; open to any research field and interdisciplinary work. Grants are awarded as a single lump-sum contribution covering the full project cost estimate.

Grant size and duration:Up to €7,000,000 for a minimum of 48 months and up to 84 months. The maximum is not reduced pro rata temporis for shorter durations 1.

Who can apply

Researchers of any nationality and age residing anywhere may apply, provided they will carry out the research in an EU Member State or Associated Country host institution. Any type of legal entity (university, research organisation, private or public body) established in an EU Member State or Associated Country can act as host institution.

Principal Investigator commitments:PIs must spend at least 50% of their working time in an EU Member State or Associated Country and commit a minimum of 30% of their working time to the ERC Plus project.

Competitive context and evaluation

The scheme is highly selective:only around 30 ERC Plus Grants are expected to be awarded annually across all fields and career stages. Excellence is the sole evaluation criterion; assessment is a two-step peer review with interviews at Step 2. Applicants must explain why their project goes beyond what a regular ERC grant would support and demonstrate exceptional vision and leadership.

  1. 1Call deadline: 2 September 2026 (single-stage submission) — apply via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal
  2. 2Expected number of grants: about 30; indicative call budget: €210 million (2026)
  3. 3Funding model: lump sum covering direct costs plus a 25% flat rate for indirect costs where applicable
FeatureKey point
Maximum EU contribution€7 000 000 (lump sum)
Duration48 to 84 months
PI minimum time on project30% of working time
PI minimum time in EU/AC50% of working time
Expected awards per yearApprox. 30

How to apply / practical

Proposals are submitted by the Principal Investigator on behalf of the host institution via the Funding & Tenders Portal. Applications must include Part A (administrative and budget/time commitment sections), Part B1 (Part I of the Scientific Proposal, Statement of Vision, CV and Track Record) and Part B2 (Part II of the Scientific Proposal). A Host Institution Support Letter is mandatory at submission.

Key preparation notes:Part I (max 5 pages), Statement of Vision (0.5–2 pages) and CV/track record (max 4 pages) are assessed at Step 1; retained applicants submit/details are assessed at Step 2, including interviews. Expect strong competition and ensure the Statement of Vision explains why the work requires ERC Plus scale and duration 1.

Footnotes

  1. 1See ERC Work Programme 2026 and call page on the Funding & Tenders Portal for full rules, templates and guidance ERC Work Programme 2026.

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Breakdown

Opportunity summary

The ERC Plus Grant is a new ERC single-Principal Investigator funding scheme introduced in the ERC Work Programme 2026 to support outstanding researchers addressing major scientific challenges that could not be carried out with a regular ERC grant. The call identifier is ERC-2026-PLUS. The call opened on 2 June 2026 and the submission deadline is 2 September 2026. Typical outcomes sought are high-risk, high-gain frontier research projects designed to transform a field or open new fields of research.

Call status and openings:Opening date: 2026-06-02. Deadline date: 2026-09-02. Submission model: single-stage for this call, evaluation in two steps with interviews at Step 2. Submission is through the EU Funding & Tenders Portal Electronic Submission Service.

What the grant funds and size

ERC Plus Grants are lump-sum grants awarded to fully cover the work described in the proposal and based on a realistic estimate of the actual project cost. Maximum EU contribution: €7,000,000. Duration: minimum 48 months (4 years) up to maximum 84 months (7 years). The €7,000,000 maximum is not reduced pro rata temporis for shorter durations. No additional funding mechanism is provided for ERC Plus Grants. The lump sum covers direct costs and a flat rate for indirect costs consistent with Horizon Europe rules; proposals should prepare budgets using eligible direct cost categories plus a 25% flat rate for indirect costs as a proxy for the lump sum estimate.

Number of grants and budget:Indicative number of ERC Plus Grants to be awarded in 2026: approximately 30 across all fields. The 2026 indicative budget allocated to the ERC Plus topic is €210,000,000.

Expected outcomes and profile of Principal Investigator

ERC Plus Grants support individual Principal Investigators who propose projects that go beyond what a regular ERC grant could support: examples include exceptionally ambitious programmes requiring deeper or broader work for a breakthrough, multi-stage research agendas that open new fields, or activities requiring investments or personnel that regular ERC grants cannot sustain. Applicants may be at any career stage but must have an outstanding record of scientific achievement and be evaluated relative to peers at their career stage. It is expected that a researcher may be Principal Investigator of only one ERC Plus Grant in their lifetime. Competition is extremely high; applicants should consider the low number of awards when deciding to apply.

Eligibility and host institution

Principal Investigators of any nationality and age residing anywhere in the world at the time of application may apply, provided they will carry out the research in a Host Institution established in an EU Member State or an Associated Country. Principal Investigators funded through an ERC Plus Grant must spend a minimum of 50% of working time in an EU Member State or Associated Country and a minimum of 30% of working time on the ERC project. The Host Institution can be any legal entity (public or private) established in an EU Member State or Associated Country, an international European research organisation, or an entity created under EU law. The Host Institution must sign a Host Institution Support Letter and undertake to engage and host the Principal Investigator for at least the duration of the project.

Associated countries and geography:The call follows Horizon Europe participation rules: Host Institutions must be established in an EU Member State or an Associated Country (see ERC Work Programme Annex 3 for Associated Country list and special conditions). Principal Investigators may reside in any country at application time but must fulfil the time-in-Europe and project-time commitments if funded. The call is open across all scientific fields and interdisciplinary research.

Application and submission

Submission is electronic only via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal (F&T Portal). Applicants must register an EU Login account and the Host Institution must be registered with a validated PIC. To prepare a draft you should register early and create your submission well before the deadline. The submission process collects an Administrative Form (Part A) and Parts B1 and B2 (Word templates to be completed, converted to PDF and uploaded). Part B1 (Part I of the Scientific Proposal, Statement of Vision, CV & Track Record) and Part B2 (Part II of the Scientific Proposal) templates are provided in the submission system.

  1. 1Proposal submission channel: EU Funding & Tenders Portal Electronic Submission Service (single-stage submission to enter evaluation process).
  2. 2Required documents: Part A online form (incl. Budget & Resources and Depreciation costs), Part B1 PDF, Part B2 PDF, Host Institution Support Letter PDF, Ethics Issues Table and supporting documents if applicable, Security Issues Table if applicable.
  3. 3Page limits: Part I of the Scientific Proposal (Part B1) up to 5 pages; Part II up to 7 pages; CV and Track Record up to 4 pages; Statement of Vision up to 2 pages; Resources and Time Commitment up to 2 pages. Only material within page limits will be evaluated.

Evaluation: process, criteria and timeline

Evaluation is in two steps with interviews at Step 2. Step 1 is carried out by ERC panels (28 panels across domains) and assesses Part I of the Scientific Proposal, the CV and Track Record, and the Statement of Vision. Panels mark proposals as retained (pass to Step 2) or not retained. Step 2 is conducted by 3–4 interdisciplinary panels representing all scientific domains; they assess complete proposals and conduct interviews. The panels use remote external experts as needed. Only proposals retained at Step 1 are assessed at Step 2. Final scores at Step 2 are A (meets excellence and recommended for funding subject to budget) or B (meets some but not all elements and will not be funded). The evaluation is excellence-only: research project excellence (ground-breaking nature and ambition) and Principal Investigator excellence (intellectual capacity, leadership and track record).

Key evaluation elements:Research Project: importance of the scientific question, ground-breaking nature, ambition, advancement of the frontier of knowledge, methodology and feasibility, appropriateness of timescales and resources. ERC Plus-specific: to what extent does the project address aims that could not be achieved with a regular ERC grant? Principal Investigator: ability to conduct ground-breaking research, creativity, intellectual leadership and capacity to execute the project. For ERC Plus more weight is given to past achievements and leadership relative to peers at the same career stage.

Indicative evaluation timeline:Step 1 panel meetings after submission deadline; results communicated (date per WP Table 1); Step 2 panel meetings and interviews held subsequently; final notification and grant preparation for proposals recommended for funding. Panels may ask for clarifications on admissibility, eligibility, ethics or security issues during the process.

Interviews:Applicants retained for Step 2 will be invited to an interview with the Step 2 panel. The panel chairs set the interview format, time for presentation and Q&A. Interviews are typically remote for the applicant. Logistics (e.g., mobile phone contact) should be kept up-to-date in the submission form.

Admissibility, eligibility and submission rules

Proposals must be complete, readable and accessible and must include a Host Institution Support Letter at submission. Proposals will be checked for admissibility and eligibility per the ERC Work Programme and ERC Rules of Submission and Evaluation. If doubts exist the proposal may be evaluated pending a final decision of the Responsible Authorising Officer after advice from the admissibility and eligibility review committee. Proposals considered not to relate to the objectives of the grant/call will be declared ineligible. Applicants must declare they obtained written consent from all participating researchers named in the proposal; ERCEA may request these written consents during evaluation.

  1. 1Language: proposals may be in any official EU language but the evaluation working language is English; machine translation into English may be used when proposals are in another EU language; include an English translation of the abstract.
  2. 2Host Institution Support Letter: mandatory; template provided in the submission system; must be on official letterhead and signed; failure to include it may render a proposal inadmissible.
  3. 3Page and formatting constraints must be respected; excess pages may be ignored by reviewers.

Ethics, security and open science

All proposals must comply with ethical principles and applicable national and EU legislation. Applicants must complete the Ethics Issues Table in the Administrative Form and supply an ethics self-assessment and supporting documents if ethics issues arise. Proposals are subject to an ethics screening and, if needed, an ethics assessment. Projects must focus on civil applications. Security issues must be declared in the Security Issues Table; DG HOME conducts security scrutiny for projects raising security issues. Open access and research data management (FAIR principles, data management plan within six months) are mandatory as set out in the ERC model grant agreement, including immediate open access to peer-reviewed publications and appropriate management of research data.

Financial and legal checks

ERC Plus Grants are lump-sum contributions. During grant preparation the ERCEA will perform administrative, legal and, where applicable, financial capacity checks of the Host Institution. The Host Institution and applicants must not be subject to exclusion grounds under the EU Financial Regulation. Requests for full capitalised costs (exceptional treatment of equipment) must be clearly justified in the proposal and will be reviewed in the grant preparation phase.

Restrictions, resubmission rules and conflicts

Restrictions include 1) a researcher may be Principal Investigator of only one ERC main frontier grant at a time; 2) applicants who are panel members for specific calls may be ineligible to apply to particular 2026 calls; 3) resubmission restrictions apply based on previous evaluation outcomes as detailed in the ERC Work Programme. Applicants must avoid conflicts of interest and must not contact peer reviewers to influence the evaluation; such contact is treated as research integrity breach and can lead to rejection and exclusion.

How applicants will be informed and means of redress

All applicants receive Evaluation Reports and an information letter with the outcome. Applicants not retained at Step 1 will receive the evaluation report and individual reviews; applicants retained for Step 2 receive an invitation and, after Step 2, a full Evaluation Report including panel score, ranking range and individual assessments. Means of redress (admissibility, eligibility or evaluation review) are available and must be filed within the deadline indicated in the information letter (typically 30 calendar days). The ERC redress procedure examines procedural irregularities and will not re-evaluate scientific judgement of qualified panels except in cases of clear procedural shortcomings.

Templates and application structure

Templates available in the Submission System:Part B1 template (Part I of the Scientific Proposal, Statement of Vision, Curriculum Vitae and Track Record), Part B2 template (Part II of the Scientific Proposal), Host Institution Support Letter template, Administrative Form (Part A) online with Budget and Resources section and Depreciation costs table. Use the provided templates. Part B1 and Part B2 must be converted to PDF and uploaded. Supporting ethics/security documents (if available at submission) should be uploaded as separate PDFs. Do not send additional unsolicited annexes or hyperlinks; reviewers will not access external links.

  1. 1Part A Administrative Form (online): includes Budget & Resources section (personnel, subcontracting, purchase costs, internally invoiced goods and services, indirect costs), Depreciation costs table, Ethics Issues Table, Security Issues Table; time commitment entries are in the Other Questions section.
  2. 2Part B1 (PDF): Part I of the Scientific Proposal (max 5 pages), Statement of Vision (max 2 pages), CV and Track Record (max 4 pages). Part B1 is evaluated at Step 1 and Step 2.
  3. 3Part B2 (PDF): Part II of the Scientific Proposal (max 7 pages) with implementation, methodology, work plan, risk assessment and further details. Part B2 is evaluated at Step 2 only.
  4. 4Host Institution Support Letter (PDF) on official letterhead with legally binding signature.

Templates and page limits

Page limits apply strictly. Part I (5 pages), Part II (7 pages), CV & Track Record (4 pages), Statement of Vision (0.5–2 pages), Resources and Time Commitment (up to 2 pages). References and the Funding ID annex do not count towards page limits. Follow font, margin and spacing rules: Times New Roman or Arial (or similar), minimum 11 pt, single line spacing, margins 2 cm sides and 1.5 cm top/bottom.

Support and contact points

Call-specific support:ERC Plus Grants Applicants' Mailbox (ERC-PLUS-APPLICANTS@ec.europa.eu). General support: Funding & Tenders Portal IT Helpdesk for submission technical issues. National Contact Points (ERC NCPs) in EU Member States and many third countries provide personalised guidance and proposal-writing assistance in applicants’ native languages. The ERC website provides call documents, guidance, Information for Applicants document and the ERC Work Programme 2026.

Where to apply and key documents:Submit electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal submission entry for topic ERC-2026-PLUS. Key documents: ERC Work Programme 2026; Information for Applicants to the ERC Plus Grants 2026 call; ERC Rules of Submission and Evaluation under Horizon Europe; Model Grant Agreement for lump sum grants (HE-AG-LS) and associated legal instruments ERC 2026 Topic Details ERC Work Programme 2026 Submission entry F&T Portal Online Manual ERC Guide for Applicants and peer reviewers

Evaluation and funding mechanics — practical notes

ERC Plus Grants are awarded as lump sums under the HORIZON Lump Sum Grant model (HORIZON-AG-LS). The lump sum will be paid based on the work carried out and reported, irrespective of the actual costs incurred. During evaluation panels will assess the requested lump sum against the scientific case and the realistic estimate of the project costs provided in the Budget and Resources section. Grants awarded are portable under specified conditions in the Model Grant Agreement. Award decisions are based on ranked lists and available budget; not all projects scoring A will necessarily be funded.

Operational and contractual highlights:Host Institutions must provide a Supplementary Agreement with the PI before grant signature and must respect the ERC principles (research integrity, independence and suitable working conditions). Beneficiaries must comply with open access, data management, gender equality and relevant security measures. The ERCEA conducts legal and operational checks prior to grant signature; selection for funding is subject to successful completion of those checks.

Frequently requested administrative details

  1. 1Submission language: any official EU language accepted; English recommended; abstract must include an English translation.
  2. 2Submission format: Administrative Form online; Parts B1 and B2 in provided Word templates converted to PDF and uploaded; Host Institution Support Letter PDF.
  3. 3Supporting documents: ethics approvals, security documentation if applicable can be uploaded at submission or provided later during ethics/security review.

Success rates and competitiveness

ERC Plus Grants are highly competitive:only about 30 grants are expected to be awarded in 2026 across all scientific fields and career stages. Applicants should consider the high competitiveness when deciding whether to apply. The typical success rate will therefore be low compared to the larger Starting, Consolidator and Advanced Grant competitions (together ~1000 grants/year).

Key application preparation tips

  1. 1Make the case early in Part I and the Statement of Vision why the research cannot be carried out under a normal ERC grant and why an ERC Plus scale and scope are essential.
  2. 2Demonstrate intellectual leadership and exceptional past achievements relative to peers at your career stage, using the CV & Track Record section and up to ten outputs to demonstrate impact.
  3. 3Provide a clear, realistic budget narrative in the online Budget and Resources boxes; ensure consistency between the budget calculation sheets and the narrative justification.
  4. 4Address ethics and security issues fully in the respective online tables and upload supporting documents when available.
  5. 5Prepare for a rigorous selection process involving a two-step evaluation with interviews; keep contact details current and ensure availability for interview dates indicated in the Work Programme timetable.

Templates and further reading

All templates and guidance are available on the Funding & Tenders Portal and the ERC website, including the Information for Applicants to the ERC Plus Grants 2026 call, the ERC Work Programme 2026, the ERC Rules of Submission and Evaluation under Horizon Europe and the Model Grant Agreement for lump sum grants. Practical documents such as the Host Institution Support Letter template and Part B templates are provided within the submission system.

Primary reference and call page:Official topic page and call details: ERC-2026-PLUS Topic Details. The ERC Work Programme 2026 contains full rules, annexes and all relevant policies including ethics, security, gender equality plan requirements, restrictions and evaluation details ERC Work Programme 2026.

Categorisation answers (structured extraction)

The following fields provide a structured and detailed extraction of key administrative and eligibility information for the ERC Plus Grants call.

  1. 1Eligible Applicant Types: Principal Investigator (individual researcher) applying on behalf of a Host Institution. Host Institutions include universities, research organisations, public bodies, private for-profit research centres, undertakings, international European research organisations or any legal entity created under EU law. Additional team members may be hosted by other legal entities. Nationalities: researchers of any nationality may apply.
  2. 2Funding Type: Grant (lump sum funding model for the ERC Plus Grant).
  3. 3Consortium Requirement: Single Principal Investigator-led project hosted by a single Host Institution (mono-beneficiary action normally). The Action funds a PI and team; multi-beneficiary arrangements are exceptional and for ERC Plus the grant is awarded to the Host Institution; Synergy Grants are the ERC multi-PI scheme but are not part of ERC Plus.
  4. 4Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): Host Institution must be established in an EU Member State or an Associated Country. Principal Investigators may reside anywhere at time of application but must spend minimum 50% working time in EU Member State or Associated Country if funded.
  5. 5Target Sector: All scientific fields (bottom-up frontier research). Interdisciplinary proposals welcome. No thematic restriction; examples include fundamental sciences, engineering, life sciences, social sciences and humanities. The ERC declares that any field is eligible including interdisciplinary combinations.
  6. 6Mentioned Countries: EU Member States and Associated Countries (see ERC Work Programme Annex 3 for the list of Associated Countries). Specific associated-country and third-country participation rules apply per Annex 3. No specific non-EU country list is required for eligibility, but Host Institution must be in an EU or Associated Country. For reference see ERC Work Programme Annex 3 for Associated Country list and participation conditions.
  7. 7Project Stage: Expected maturity ranges from idea/vision through research, development and demonstration as fits frontier research; projects should aim for transformative outcomes. ERC Plus targets high-ambition, potentially long-term programmes needing 4–7 years.
  8. 8Funding Amount: Up to €7,000,000 per project. Indicative call budget: €210,000,000 (2026).
  9. 9Application Type: Open call (single-stage submission via F&T Portal) with two-step evaluation (Step 1 shortlist, Step 2 complete proposals and interviews).
  10. 10Nature of Support: Monetary (grant in the form of a lump sum payment covering project activities).
  11. 11Application Stages: Two-stage evaluation process (Step 1 and Step 2), although submission is single-stage. Interviews occur at Step 2. The peer review evaluation therefore has two steps.
  12. 12Success Rates: Very low probability of success given about 30 grants will be awarded across fields and career stages; overall success rates will be small — applicants should expect high competition compared to other ERC schemes which fund ~1000 grants annually. Exact success rate will depend on number of eligible applications received.
  13. 13Co-funding Requirement: No mandatory co-funding is required. The lump sum must realistically estimate actual project costs; applicants can indicate other funding sources in the Budget and Resources section but co-funding is not a mandatory requirement.
  14. 14Templates: Application templates are provided in the Submission System: Part B1 template (Part I - Scientific Proposal up to 5 pages; Statement of Vision up to 2 pages; CV & Track Record up to 4 pages); Part B2 template (Part II - Scientific Proposal up to 7 pages). Host Institution Support Letter template is provided and must be uploaded as PDF. Budget calculation sheets and Depreciation Table are part of the online Part A administrative form. Applicants must use the official templates and adhere to layout and page limits.

Application form structure and tips

The application is built from Part A (online) and two templates (Part B1 and Part B2) plus the Host Institution Support Letter and any ethics/security annexes. Part A includes the Administrative Form, Budget & Resources and Depreciation costs and the Ethics and Security issues tables. Part B1 contains Part I of the Scientific Proposal, Statement of Vision, Curriculum Vitae and Track Record. Part B2 contains Part II of the Scientific Proposal. The Budget justification must be concise and in the Budget and Resources fields in Part A; Part B must not replace the online Budget fields. Ensure consistency between budget numbers entered and written justification. Use the Funding ID annex to list all current grants and pending grant applications and explain overlaps. Provide clear, concise risk analysis and milestones in Part II. The Statement of Vision must explicitly explain why the project requires ERC Plus scale and cannot be funded under a regular ERC grant.

Evaluation, ethics and research integrity

Evaluation is based solely on excellence. Ethics, security and research integrity are cross-cutting requirements: ethics and security reviews take place in parallel to the scientific evaluation and may block funding if requirements are not met. Plagiarism detection and checks for research integrity are performed. Any attempts to contact or influence reviewers are forbidden and will be treated as breaches of research integrity, potentially leading to rejection and exclusion.

For implementation and contractual questions consult the ERC Work Programme 2026 and the Guidance documents provided on the call page. For submission technical issues use the F&T Portal IT Helpdesk. For call and policy queries use the call mailbox ERC-PLUS-APPLICANTS@ec.europa.eu.

This summary is based on the official ERC call topic page and the ERC Work Programme 2026 and its Information for Applicants documents. Applicants must consult the official documents for definitive legal and procedural rules and the exact call text before preparing and submitting proposals ERC Work Programme 2026. ERC Topic page Submission entry Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual ERC Rules of Submission and Evaluation 1

Footnotes

  1. 1Official call text, templates, Information for Applicants and the ERC Work Programme 2026 are the legally binding sources of the call. Applicants must consult and follow these documents when preparing proposals. Links above point to the EU Funding & Tenders Portal and the ERC Work Programme 2026 available on the Commission website.

Short Summary

Impact

Enable transformative, high-risk/high-gain research projects that can open new fields or fundamentally transform existing scientific domains.

Applicant

An outstanding Principal Investigator with a demonstrated record of scientific excellence and intellectual leadership relative to peers at their career stage, able to commit required time and manage a major multi-year research programme.

Developments

Long-term frontier research across any discipline that requires 4–7 years and resources beyond regular grants to achieve breakthrough discoveries or create new research areas.

Applicant Type

Researchers (individual Principal Investigators) applying on behalf of a Host Institution.

Consortium

Designed for single-PI projects hosted by one Host Institution (mono-beneficiary action), not consortium-based funding.

Funding Amount

Up to €7,000,000 per project as a single lump-sum contribution for a duration of 48 to 84 months.

Countries

Host Institutions must be established in EU Member States or Associated Countries, and funded PIs must spend at least 50% of their working time in an EU Member State or Associated Country.

Industry

Industry agnostic (frontier/basic research under the Excellent Science pillar of Horizon Europe).

Additional Web Data

Key Facts and Funding Details

Eligibility and Who Should Apply

The ERC Plus Grant is a groundbreaking new funding scheme introduced in the 2026 ERC Work Programme under the 'Choose Europe' initiative to support outstanding Principal Investigators (PIs) addressing major scientific challenges that cannot be addressed by regular ERC grants 1. Scholars at all career stages can apply if they possess an outstanding record of scientific achievement at the forefront of their field, with intellectual leadership evaluated against peers at the same career stage 2. A researcher may hold only one ERC Plus Grant in their lifetime, and the call is highly selective, awarding only approximately 30 grants annually compared to roughly 1,000 standard Starting, Consolidator, and Advanced Grants 3.

Funding Amount:Grants are awarded up to a maximum of €7,000,000 as a single lump sum contribution, with no possibility to request additional funding 4.

Duration:Projects run for a minimum of four years (48 months) and up to seven years (84 months), with no pro-rata reduction for shorter durations 5.

Deadline:The application deadline is 2 September 2026, with the call opening on 2 June 2026 6.

  1. 1Researchers of any nationality and age, residing anywhere in the world at the time of application
  2. 2Must be based in an EU Member State or Associated Country Host Institution, or plan to move there for the project
  3. 3Must demonstrate an outstanding track record of scientific achievement and leadership in their field
  4. 4Current ERC grantees can apply only after completing their existing grant (project must end within two years of the call deadline)
  5. 5Only one active ERC application allowed at any given time
FeatureERC Plus Grant Requirement
Time on ProjectMinimum 30% of working time
Time in EU/Associated CountryMinimum 50% of working time
Funding ModelLump Sum (100% direct costs + 25% indirect flat rate)
Additional FundingNone available
Career StageOpen to all (Starting, Consolidator, Advanced, or new)

Application Requirements and Evaluation

Applications must be submitted by a single Principal Investigator on behalf of their Host Institution, which must provide a binding Host Institution Support Letter 7. The proposal structure includes Part I of the Scientific Proposal (up to 5 pages), Part II (up to 7 pages), Curriculum Vitae and Track Record (up to 4 pages), and a mandatory Statement of Vision (up to 2 pages) explaining how the project exceeds the scope of a regular ERC grant 8. The evaluation is conducted in two steps: Step 1 assesses Part I, CV, and Statement of Vision, while Step 2 involves a full proposal assessment and an interview with the PI 9. Excellence is the sole evaluation criterion, with a stronger emphasis on the PI's past achievements and leadership compared to regular grants 10.

Footnotes

  1. 1ERC Plus Grant - European Research Council (ERC), erc.europa.eu
  2. 2EU Call for Proposals: ERC PLUS Grant ERC-2026-PLUS - MESA, mesamalaria.org
  3. 3For Universities: ERC PLUS GRANTS up to $€226.8M | Granted AI, grantedai.com
  4. 4ERC Plus Grants - UKRO, ukro.ac.uk
  5. 5ERC Plus Grants - BMFTR EU-Buero, eubuero.de
  6. 6ERC Funding Opportunities::Research Support, Innovation ... - BOKU, boku.ac.at
  7. 7ERC Work Programme 2026, European Commission, ec.europa.eu
  8. 8ERC Plus Grants - Euresearch, euresearch.ch
  9. 9Second webinar on the new ERC Plus Grants, European Research Council, youtube.com
  10. 10ERC Plus Grants 2026, grantsby.eu, grantsby.eu

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Non-thematic research actions by SMEs and research organisations

Call for ProposalOpen

This European Defence Fund call (EDF-2026-LS-DIS-RA-SMERO-NT) funds non-thematic disruptive research actions led by SMEs and non-profit research organisations to develop defence-relevant technologies reaching at least TRL 4. Proposals mu...

September 29th, 2026

RIA Global call according to SRIA 2026

Call for ProposalOpen

The HORIZON-JU-CHIPS-2026-1-RIA grant opportunity is part of Horizon Europe's initiative aimed at strengthening Europe's semiconductor industry through research and innovation actions. This call is specifically focused on fostering colla...

September 17th, 2026