Skip to main content
Research and innovation

European Research Council

Frontier research funding, policy, strategy, how to apply and work programmes.

Policy and strategy

The European Research Council, set up by the EU in 2007, is the premiere European funding organisation for excellent frontier research. 

It provides attractive and flexible funding to enable talented and creative individual researchers, with an emphasis on early stage researchers, and their teams to pursue the most promising avenues at the frontier of science, on the basis of EU-wide competition based solely on the criterion of excellence.

ERC grantees have already made advances  in new and emerging technological fields, including clean and digital technologies, as well as in many other areas targeted by the key strategic orientations of the Horizon Europe strategic plan.

Area of intervention

  • frontier science

Policy information

European Research Council website

Apply for funding

All funding information and details on how to apply are on the Funding and Tenders portal.

Apply now

Work programme

ERC funding opportunities are set out in an annual work programme, established by the ERC Scientific Council and subsequently adopted by the European Commission. The rules applying to the submission and peer review evaluation of proposals, and to the award of grants to successful legal entities are set out in a separate document.

ERC work programme 2021

Documents

  • 16 JUNE 2021
Pillar I: Excellent science

Latest