ERC Call 2025/2026

You are an ambitious researcher of any career stage, eager to get financial support and scientific recognition … then welcome: the ERC is for you!

 

We held a seminar ERC Grants: all what you need to know,  on the 24/02/2025 together with FFG. 

If you are interested, → Here is the link for the slides.

We will hold it again next year on the 23/02/2026. More info and registration here → ERC Grants: all you need to know

 

• What is ERC?

The European Research Council (ERC) is the most important European funding organization for excellent frontier research.

It enables researchers from any nationality and from any field of science to get funding for their creative, original and ground-breaking research projects.

As part of the new Horizon Europe program, the overall ERC budget covering the period 2021-2027 reaches € 16 billion.

• Novelty for Work Programmes 2026 & 2027

Already for this year 2025 (Work Programm 2026). Changes in structure of B1 & B2! An interesting document has been published in September 2025: ERC recent changes regarding the evaluation procedure and proposal´s organisation!

In brief, for the Part 1 (5 Pages)

The main question to be answered is: Is this a great idea that would be worth pursuing?

This part should contain key elements such as “Background, current state of the field, current knowledge; research question, scientific challenges, problems, rationale, aim, research objectives and how these relate to the current research frontier, novelty, originality, ground-breaking nature of the project, potential scientific impact, importance, relevance, significance to the research field; and overall methodological approach”

For Part 2 (7 Pages)

The main question to be answered is: Can that idea be pursued realistically, and if so, in the manner and with the approach that the applicant proposes?

Part II should describe the implementation, with details of the research methodology, work plan, a discussion of potential hurdles and risks, and suggestions for contingency plans. It does not need to repeat the background or the overall justification for the project, but it should justify the approaches and methods and give background on those where necessary.

 

New Eligibility periods:

For next year (Work Programm 2027), Researchers will be eligible to apply for a Starting Grant immediately after defending their PhD, and at any time within the following ten-year period. 

Consolidator Grant applicants will be eligible to apply between five and fifteen years after defending their PhD.

 

ERC-Current Templates & Manuals - Find them here.

 

Summary of the changes of the actual WP.

We are developing at the FoS a mentoring scheme for all applicants who desire to apply for one the listed ERC Programs.

Please, get in contact with us and we will be happy to support you in presenting a successful ERC grant, from drafting your proposal up to preparing the hearing phase.

email: projektsupport@boku.ac.at

ERC Mentoring Program @ BOKU (visible after login for internal BOKU staff)

• Next events not to miss?

ERC publishes an interesting magazine, looking at the other side of the ERC Machinery: The reviewing! 

Another activity not to be neglected by researchers: Becoming an ERC panelist, or even ERC Panel Chair. More details here.

“The work we do can have a real impact on the lives of some very talented younger and mid-career scholars”, Prof. Hunt (Uppsala University, Sweden)

 

FFG-Academie supports ERC-Candidates and proposes the following seminars:

• Which cost does it cover?

An ERC grant can cover 100% of the project cost, which includes all direct costs such as personal cost, consumables, travels, publications, equipment, plus a 25% of indirect costs.

• Which scheme is for me?

For the youngsters: ERC Starting is targeting the young postdoc fellows, from 2 up to 7 years post-PhD. With up to € 1.5 M, it will make your dream reality: building your team around your own ideas. Such grants are also a fantastic opportunity to establish yourself as independent PI and gives a unprecedent kick in getting a secured academic position at the BOKU. You are intrigued, then follow this link (ERC-Stg).

For the solidifiers: You are just above 7 years post-PhD, and passed the ERC-Starting eligibility... Do not give up, try the ERC Consolidators. The call targets researchers from 7 up to 12 years after their PhD. With up to € 2.0 M, this funding can significantly strengthen your group and enlarge your scientific reputation. You need more info before you draft your proposal, check it here (ERC-CoG).

For the established wisers: If you are an experienced researcher with a significant track-record, then the ERC Advanced is for you. With a lump sum of up to € 2.5 M, this grant will sustain your scientific leadership. You are ready for the big change, then find what you need here (ERC-AdG).

You are not sure in which group you are or if you might be able to prolong it, then check your eligibility with the calculator here.

• Do not forget:

  1. Too young to be too old: You´ve just passed the eligibility period. Do not worry, this might be prolonged under certain circumstances (check this here).
  2. You are greedy: This funding is not enough for your research. No worry, an additional € 1.0 M might be added in top of the mentioned funding (check the criteria below*).

* Additional funding up to € 1.0 M can be requested to cover “start-up” costs for PI moving to EU, purchase major equipment, access to large facilities and any other major experimental & field work costs.

• Some stats to get motivated.

Around € 700 M has been dedicated this year to each of the described ERC scheme, with between 275 up to 480 grantees per scheme.

With a success rate far to be lower than other national funding schemes (close to 15%), 535 grantees from various Austrian´s Universities were able to successfully get their applications accepted since 2007, and 21 ERC-StG were selected only the last this year (2024).

ERC 2023-2024: Fresh Facts and Figures

ERC-2024-Starting Grants​​​​​​: Results are finally online!

  • ​​​​Almost 3500 applications
  • Allocated budget of €780 million for ± 500 projects (success rate of 14.2%)
  • Domain Distribution: 42% in Physical Sciences and Engineering / 30% Social Science and 28% Life Science
  • 24 candidates were selected to conduct their research in Austrian´s Universities (more info here).

ERC-2024-Consolidator Grants: First Results Published

  • 2287 submitted Applications for 328 funded proposals
  • Total budget of €678 million
  • 11 Projects from Top researchers Austria are selected  (find list here).

ERC-2023-Advanced Grants:

  • 1829 submitted applications for 255 accepted grants
  • Total budget of €652 million
  • 12 projects were funded from excellent researchers in Austria, with one from BOKU (find the complete list here). Congrats to Prof. Wei Wu from the Institute of Geotechnical Engineering wo will start his new project called MOTRAN for Modelling transient granular flow! This is the 14th ERCs for BOKU since it´s inception. We wish him & his team a great success!

 

• Stop procrastinating. Now it´s your turn!

Important deadlines for the calls 2025-2026.

ERC Advanced 2025 → Opens on 22nd May 2025 and closes on the 28th of August 2025

ERC Starting 2026 → Deadline will be on 14th October 2025. Templates for the ERC-StG-2026 are here.

ERC Consolidators 2026 → Deadline will be on 13rd January 2026. Templates for the ERC-CoG-2026 will come soon.

ERC Advanced 2026 → Deadline will be on 27th August 2026.

The full working program WP2026 can be seen here.

ERC Classes

Can´t wait: for the impatient ones, there is a list of already available videos on youtube, click here!

ERC Success stories from BOKU: Congratulation to the researchers from the BOKU who have been able to get 14 ERC Grants.

Together with a consortium of 4 international researchers and leaded by Dr. Monika Korte (GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences), Prof. Harald Rieder, from the Institute of Meteorology and Climatology, received an ERC Synergy in 2024, called GERACLE for Geomagnetic Excursions and Reversals: Establishing their Atmospheric and Climatic Effects.

Prof. Wu Wei, from the Institute of Geotechnical Engineering, received an ERC Advanced in 2024, called MOTRAN for Modelling transient granular flow.

Panel: Physical sciences & Engineering PE8 - Products and Processes Engineering

Prof. Fabian Pfrengle, from the Institute of Organic Chemistry, received an ERC Consolidator in 2022, called ASAP for Automated Synthesis of Algal Polysaccharides.

Panel: Physical sciences & Engineering PE5 - Synthetic Chemistry & Materials

Assoc. Prof. Notburga Gierlinger, from the Institute of Biophysics, received an ERC Consolidator (2015), called SCATAPNUT (Scattering and tapping on soft-hard-open nuts) followed by an ERC-Proof of Concept in 2022 called PUZZLE MATERIALS (Puzzle cell nutshell waste for sustainable material solutions).

Panel: Physical sciences & engineering PE4 – Physical & Analytical Chemical Sciences

Dr. Eva Oburger received an ERC Starting grant (2018) for her project intitled PHYTOTRACE,(Micronutrients Wanted: Phytosiderophore-mediated acquisition strategies in grass crops).

Panel: Life Sciences LS9 - Biotechnology & Biosystems Engineering

Prof. Johannes Schmidt from the Institute of Sustainable Economic Development, was awarded in 2017 an ERC Starting, reFUEL: Going global? Renewable fuel trade and social land-use restrictions in a low-carbon energy system.

Panel: Social Sciences & humanities SH2 – Institutions, Governance & Legal Systems

Assoc. Prof. Gingrich Simone from the Institute of Social Ecology, received in 2017 an ERC Starting grant for her project HEFT: Hidden Emissions of Forest Transitions: GHG effects of socio-metabolic processes reducing pressures on forests.

Panel: Social sciences and humanities SH2:  Institutions, Governance & Legal Systems

Prof. Helmut Haberl from the Institute of Social Ecology, was awarded an ERC Advanced in 2016 for his project MAT_STOCKS: Understanding the Role of Material Stock Patterns for the Transformation to a Sustainable Society.

Panel: Social Sciences & humanities SH2 – Institutions, Governance & Legal Systems

Prof. Erik Reimhult from the Institute of Biologically Inspired Materials received in 2012 his ERC Starting InterAct-MemNP: Interaction and actuation of lipid membranes with magnetic nanoparticles, followed by an ERC POC in 2016 NanoComSol: Nanocomposite Solutions.

Panel: Life Sciences LS9: Biotechnology & Biosystems Engineering

Prof. Roland Ludwig from the Institute of Food Technology was awarded an ERC Consolidator in 2016, OXIDISE: Interaction and Kinetics of Oxidative Biomass Degrading Enzymes Resolved by High-Resolution Techniques.

Panel: Life Sciences LS9 – Biotechnology & Biosystems Engineering

Assoc. Prof. Jürgen Kleine-Vehn from the Institute of Molecular Plant Biology, received in 2014 an ERC Starting grant for his project AuxinER: Mechanisms of Auxin-dependent Signaling in the Endoplasmic Reticulum.

Panel: Life Sciences LS3 - Cellular, Developmental & Regenerative Biology

Prof. Bernard Christiaan Oostenbrink from the Institute of Molecular Modeling and Simulation, received in 2010 an ERC Starting grant for the project EASTFE3, Efficient and accurate simulation techniques for free energies, enthalpies and entropies.

Panel: Life Sciences LS2 Integrative Biology: From Genes & Genomes to Systems