Open calls · Research grant
ERC Consolidator Grant
European Research Council · Horizon Europe · ERC · ERC-2027-COG
Deadlines
- 12 Jan 2027 Deadline in 62 days
Time of day: 17:00 Brussels time.
Who can apply
- Countries
- Applicants from any country can take part. Funding is usually limited to the EU, associated countries and listed low- and middle-income countries; sanctions apply to some.
- Where the work is done
- an EU member state or associated country
- Who applies
- An individual researcher
- Career stage
- Mid-career researchers
Money
- Total budget
- €618.5M
- Expected awards
- 296
About the call
Scope:
Objectives
The Consolidator Grant supports excellent Principal Investigators who are consolidating their own independent research team or programme. A Consolidator Grant Principal Investigator should have already shown evidence of research independence.
Size of ERC Consolidator Grants
Consolidator Grants may be awarded up to a maximum of EUR 2 000 000 for a period of 60 months . The maximum amount of the grants is reduced pro rata temporis for proposals of shorter duration.
Additional funding up to EUR 1 000 000 *1 can be requested to cover further eligible costs for any cost category when these are necessary to carry out the proposed work. The request for additional funding must be duly justified in the proposal.
The maximum amount of the grant is reduced pro rata temporis for proposals of shorter duration. Additional funding is not subject to pro rata temporis reduction for projects of shorter duration.
Both the grant amount and any additional funding requested are assessed during evaluation.
*1 Except for Principal Investigators in Starting, Consolidator, or Advanced Grant re-locating to the EU or an Associated Country from elsewhere to take up their ERC grant. In this case, the maximum additional funding shall be EUR 2 000 000. Applicants requesting more than EUR 1 000 000 as additional funding must be based outside the EU or an Associated Country at the time of the call deadline for the increased maximum additional funding to apply.
Profile of the ERC Consolidator Grant Principal Investigator
The Principal Investigators will be eligible for a Consolidator Grant if they have defended their PhD in the five to fifteen-year period preceding the 1st of January 2027. Cut-off dates: Successful defence of PhD between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2021 (inclusive) * 2 . Principal Investigators who have already held a Starting or a Consolidator Grant in the past will not be able to apply for the same type of grant. Other eligibility or resubmission criteria might also apply.
The eligibility period may be extended beyond 15 years in some well-documented circumstances or events. See section 1.4 Admissibility, Eligibility, Resubmission Restrictions of the ERC Work Programme 2027 .
*2 A Principal Investigator applying for an ERC Starting or Consolidator Grant must hold a PhD or an equivalent doctoral degree at the time of the call deadline.
Text from the funder (European Commission, CC BY 4.0).
Conditions in full
"> General conditions
1. Admissibility conditions
The conditions specific to ERC grants are described in the ERC Work Programme 2027 under the heading 1.4 'Admissibility, Eligibility, Resubmission Restrictions' and in the ERC Rules of Submission . An overview is provided below:
Admissibility: A proposal must be complete (including all sections under 1.5 'Proposal Submission and Description' section), readable and, accessible. It must be submitted electronically by a Principal Investigator fulfilling the eligibility criteria ( section 1.4.2.2 'Eligible Principal Investigator(s)' ) before the respective call deadline. The proposal must also satisfy the requirements set out in the documents referenced in the call for proposals.
The Host Institution must confirm its association with, and its support to, the project and the Principal Investigator through a binding statement of support ( i.e . the Host Institution Support Letter [ 1 ] ). This statement must be provided at the time of application.
[1] A template of the letter is annexed to the Information for Applicants document for the respective call: Information for Applicants to the Starting and Consolidator Grant Calls , Information for Applicants to the Advanced Grant Call , Information for Applicants to the ERC Plus Call , Information for Applicants to the Synergy Grant Call .
2. Eligibility
The content of the proposal must relate to the objectives and to the grant type set out in the call, as defined in the ERC Work Programme 2027 (section 1.1 ‘Objectives of ERC Grant Schemes’ ). If a proposal is considered not to relate to the objectives of the grant or call for proposals, it will be declared ineligible.
Eligible Principal Investigators: The ERC grant schemes are open to researchers of any age and nationality, residing anywhere in the world at the time of application (except those subject to restrictions outlined in Annex 3 of the ERC Work Programme 2027 ), and wishing to carry out their research in one of the EU or Associated Country-based Host Institutions.
Principal Investigators applying to the SConsolidator Grant must meet specific eligibility criteria based on the time elapsed between the date of the successful defence of their first PhD degree or an equivalent doctoral degree and the cut-off date specified in the ERC Work Programme 2027 . A Principal Investigator applying for an ERC Consolidtaor Grant must hold a PhD or an equivalent doctoral degree (for more information, including specific provisions for holders of medical degrees, see Annex 2 ).
The Principal Investigators will be eligible for a Consolidator Grant if they have defended their PhD in the 5 to 15-year period preceding the 1st of January 2027. Cut-off dates: Successful defence of PhD between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2021 (inclusive).
All Principal Investigators funded through an ERC Consolidator Grant must spend a minimum of 50% of their working time in an EU Member State or Associated Country and a minimum of 40% of their working time on the ERC project.
Eligible Host Institution: Any type of legal entity, public or private, including a university, a research organisation or an undertaking can host a Principal Investigator and their team. To participate in ERC frontier research actions the Host Institution must be established either in an EU Member State or an Associated Country (see Annex 3 of the ERC Work Programme 2027 ) as a legal entity created under national law, or it may be an international European research organisation (such as CERN, EMBL, etc.), or any other entity created under EU law. International organisations with headquarters in an EU Member State or an Associated Country shall be deemed to be established in that Member State or Associated Country.
Eligible countries:
The conditions specific to the ERC are described in the ERC Work Programme 2027 under the heading 1 .4 ‘Admissibility, Eligibility, Resubmission Restrictions' and in Annex 3 . An overview is provided below:
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