ERC PLUS GRANTS

Yes, as from 2025, Switzerland is an Associated Country to Horizon Europe and Swiss entities may participate as beneficiaries and coordinators in Horizon Europe, including in the ERC Plus grants (ERC-2026-PLUS call).

Yes, this is possible as long as the Principal Investigator (PI), at the time of submission, is supported by one organisation acting as host institution (applicant legal entity) based in an EU Member State or an Associated Country. It commits itself, through the host institution support letter, to host and engage the PI for the whole duration of the action, as well as to ensure that the project will be performed under the guidance of the PI. For an ERC Plus grant (ERC-2026-PLUS), the PI is expected to devote 30% of their working time to the ERC funded project. Specific circumstances, where the minimum time requirement of the call (30%) results from the sum of more than one employment contract of the PI with different organisations, based in an EU Member State or Associated Country, maybe accommodated in case the proposal is selected for funding. Other organisation(s) hosting team members should be referred to as (an) additional partner(s) in the proposal and their details should be given in the administrative proposal submission form in the Funding & Tenders Portal.

No, according to the conditions applied to the ERC frontier research Grants 2026, researchers serving as Panel Chairs or Panel Members for the ERC-2026-PLUS or for the ERC-2026-AdG call cannot apply to the ERC-2026-PLUS call (see the ERC Work Programme 2026).

Applicants to the ERC-2026-PLUS should always include in the Part A budget table the costs for all resources they expect to incur during project implementation. If some resources will not be funded by the lump sum contribution but are covered directly by the beneficiaries or other sources of funding, the corresponding amounts should be deducted from the Requested EU contribution. The applicants should also explain the resources that are covered by other funding sources in the last text box ‘Funding from other sources’ of the Part A – Budget section C. Resources.

Yes, a Principal Investigator (PI) engaged in the US or in any third country can apply for an ERC Plus Grant 2026 (ERC-2026-PLUS) call, as long as they will be engaged and hosted by a host institution based in an EU Member State or an Associated Country for the whole duration of the grant (see the ERC Work Programme 2026 for the eligibility conditions). Principal Investigators funded through the ERC Plus Grants call have to spend a minimum of 50% of their total working time in an EU Member State or Associated Country and a minimum of 30% of their total working time on the ERC project (see the ERC Work Programme 2026 for the ERC Plus Grant Profile).

Yes, under the ERC-2026-PLUS call, an SME (as defined by Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC) can be a host institution (HI) for an ERC grant as long as it meets the conditions of eligibility of the HI laid down in the ERC Work Programme 2026.

A researcher participating as a Principal Investigator (PI) in one of the ERC main frontier research grants may not submit another proposal for an ERC main frontier research grant, unless the existing project ends in less than two years after the call deadline. The ERC-2026-PLUS call has a call deadline in early September 2026. Thus, applicants with a running ERC grant that finishes before the 2 September 2028 are eligible to apply to the call. ​ The funding for the ERC Plus grant can start only once the previous ERC grant is concluded.

Applicants of all career stages may apply to the ERC-2026-PLUS call provided they meet the general eligibility conditions. There are no restrictions related to holding other non-ERC European grants. ​ Holding a non-ERC European grant does not affect eligibility for an ERC-2026-PLUS Grant. As long as applicants meet the general eligibility criteria for the ERC-2026-PLUS Grant, they may apply regardless of other non-ERC funding, provided there is no double funding.

A PhD is not formally required to apply to the ERC-2026-PLUS call. Applicants at all career stages are encouraged to apply, provided they demonstrate outstanding scientific achievement and creativity, which will be assessed relative to their career stage. Consequently, there is no limit on the number of years of experience since PhD.

As specified in the ERC Work Programme 2026, excellence is the sole criterion for the evaluation of proposals. A competitive Principal Investigator (PI) is therefore expected to demonstrate outstanding research results.

For more information, please refer to the ERC Work Programme 2026PDF, or the Information for Applicants relevant for the call.

For the ERC-2026-PLUS grant, the maximum grant is EUR 7 million with no possibility of requesting additional funding. The budget must cover all eligible direct costs for the project, including any required equipment, and a flat rate for associated indirect costs of 25%.

Yes, a Principal Investigator (PI) serving as a panel member for the ERC-2026-PLUS call (in step 2 of the ERC Plus evaluation) is eligible to apply to the ERC-2026-Advanced Grant (ERC-2026-AdG) call.

Under the ERC-2026-Plus call, Host institutions must be public or private research organisations in an EU Member State or associated country. Team members of any nationality can be included as additional beneficiaries, including industry partners or collaborators, where justified by the nature of the activities proposed.

In line with a decision of the ERC Scientific Council, ERC Plus 2026 (ERC-2026-PLUS) projects will comprise one single formal work package covering the entire project. This means that the project as a whole will be assessed for implementation and final payment, an aspect that was deemed important to maintain the flexibility necessary for frontier research projects. The principle of a single lump sum work package does not restrict the applicant’s freedom to plan and structure their research proposal in any form they see fit (e.g. research lines, objectives, different sub-projects, etc.).

Under the ERC-2026-PLUS call, the budget table and description of resources are part of the administrative form (Part A, Section –Budget and Resources). All the resources have to be described and justified in the text box under the budget table. The applicant should NOT include any description of resources or budget details in Part 2 of the scientific proposal.

Under call ERC-2026-PLUS, once the grant agreement is signed, only the overall lump sum amount is relevant. The detailed budget breakdown in different cost categories is no longer available and is not annexed to the grant agreement. As long as the project is implemented in line with the objectives of the proposal as evaluated and described in the signed grant agreement, there is flexibility for applicants to use the available funds as they see fit and they do not need to worry about budget categories. Deviations from the original work plan are permitted as long as they are justified or acceptable, serve the agreed scientific goals of the project, and do not call into question the original award decision.

In lump sum grants selected under the call ERC-2026-PLUS, costs incurred will not be reported. Therefore, certificates on financial statements will not be required. Their related costs are not eligible and cannot be included as part of the requested lump sum contribution.

No, applicants cannot choose between the actual cost model and the lump sum funding model. Projects selected for funding under the ERC Plus grant 2026 (ERC-2026-PLUS) call for proposals will follow the lump sum funding model.

Under call ERC-2026-PLUS, the applicant must include all equipment items expected to be purchased for the project and enter this information in the Depreciation costs section of form A. Purchases of equipment, infrastructure or other assets used for the project must be budgeted as depreciation costs, calculated on the basis of the estimated costs which will be written off in accordance with international accounting standards and the beneficiary’s usual accounting practices. Please note that only the portion of the costs that corresponds to the rate of expected use during the grant duration can be budgeted. Items can be grouped in one entry provided that they have the same depreciation time, expected percentage of usage for the grant and expected use time during the grant - the quantity and type of the grouped items should be provided in the "Comments" box. The sum of all items should match the total amount indicated under heading C.2 Equipment in the part A budget calculation sheets.

The lump sum will be paid in line with the degree of completion of the proposed work declared by PI/HI and accepted by ERCEA. The lump sum will be fully paid when all the work has been carried out as described in the description of action (DoA) of the project, if all essential tasks have been completed, and/or equivalent tasks have been carried out, and/or deviations have been duly justified.This is irrespective of whether the expected results were obtained, or the project objectives were achieved. Ex-post technical reviews may be carried out only on proper project implementation and compliance with non-financial obligations (e.g. ethics, PI time commitments).

One person-month is the amount of time over a month equivalent to one person working full-time according to the rules of the beneficiary. To calculate the person-months of the PI or other staff members, applicants to the call ERC-2026-PLUS should multiply the percentage of time commitment by the number of months the person will be working on the project.

• For personnel working throughout the full project duration:

Multiply the percentage of time commitment by the total number of months of the project.

Example: If the PI is committed at 50% for a project with a duration of 60 months, the number of person-months should be 0.5 × 60 = 30.

• For personnel working for only part of the project duration:

Multiply the percentage of time commitment by the number of months the person is actually employed on the project.

Example: If a staff member works 50% for 24 months, the person-months should be 0.5 × 24 = 12.

Personnel costs are not limited to net salaries. They also include social security contributions, taxes and other statutory costs. ERC-2026-PLUS applicants should include the total costs of these expenses that their institution expects to incur for the project for each staff category based on their usual accounting practices and the number of person months needed over the full duration of the project.

Under call ERC-2026-PLUS, the budget table prepared at the time of proposal submission will not be transferred to the grant agreement. Instead, Annex 2 of the grant agreement will provide a breakdown of lump sum shares by beneficiary. It is possible to change the lump sum share of a beneficiary through an amendment. However, the transfer of budget must be justified by the technical implementation of the action, for example, changes in the work plan, addition or termination of beneficiaries’ participation. Deviations from the original work plan are permitted as long as they are justified, acceptable, serve the agreed scientific goals of the project, and do not call into question the original award decision.

Yes, under the lump sum model under the ERC-2026-PLUS call, amendments to an ERC project will be possible. ERC grantees conduct frontier research and deviations from the original proposal can be expected. Principal investigators can explain such changes in the mid-term scientific report or report those changes at any time during the implementation of the project. If needed, the grant agreement can be amended if the changes do not call into question the original award decision, in the same way as for actual cost grants. The rules concerning the changes requiring an amendment and the changes which can simply be indicated in the periodic report (simplified approval procedure) are the same as for standard grants. However, to change the breakdown of lump sum shares, an amendment is always required.

To help the panel assess the budget and to ensure sound financial management of EU funds, the budget breakdown provided by applicants will have to be sufficiently explained for the panel to assess whether the requested grant is in line with the work proposed, reasonable and non-excessive. At the same time, it is understood that given the nature of seven year-frontier research projects, the budget breakdown can only be planned to a certain level of detail. For a better overview of budget estimates and to facilitate the budget assessment by the panel, changes in the submission form have been put in place for the ERC lump sum model:

• Introduction of the planned person-months per staff category,
• The section ‘Resources’ in the Budget and Resources section of Part A is structured in five boxes corresponding to the four formal cost categories and a separate justification to explain any funding from other sources, and
• A separate Depreciation cost section in form A where any equipment and its related depreciation and use must be listed. In addition, applicants (understood as both the Principal Investigator and the host institution) need to declare at submission stage that cost estimates are based upon the organisation’s usual cost accounting practices, and in compliance with the basic eligibility conditions for EU actual costs grants.

No. For the 2026 ERC Plus Grants (ERC-2026-PLUS), the size of the lump sum is defined by the proposed activities and the resources needed and will therefore vary between proposals. The maximum grant amount for ERC-2026-PLUS is €7 million. ERC Proof of Concept (POC) grants are implemented under a fixed lump sum model where every funded project has the same budget, currently €150,000.

Under call ERC-2026-PLUS, the right to portability, i.e. the possibility for the Principal Investigators to move with their grant to a different host institution, as defined in the ERC Work Programme 2026 is an important aspect of ERC grant, which is maintained under the ERC lump sum model (ERC-2026-PLUS call). The transfer conditions (including transfer of team members, intellectual property rights and equipment) should be negotiated between the initial and the new host institution, taking into account the views of the Principal Investigator (Annotated Grant AgreementPDF, p. 414).

Under call ERC-2026-PLUS, the host institution in ERC lump sum grants has the contractual obligation to guarantee the Principal Investigator scientific independence, in particular for the use of the budget to achieve the scientific objectives as described in the signed grant agreement. Consequently, the HI should not claim overheads beyond the 25% of the EU contribution set out in Article 35 of the Regulation establishing the HE programme.

For the ERC-2026-PLUS grant, a maximum grant size of EUR 7 million is specified, but there is no minimum budget threshold. The budget should realistically reflect the costs of the proposed work.

Under call ERC-2026-PLUS, by accepting the lump sum declaration, applicants (the Principal Investigator and the host institution/applicant legal entity) confirm the accuracy of the costs that they budget for their project and request from the ERC under the lump sum model. This declaration is part of the administrative form of the electronic submission system (section on Declarations, last point). The declaration is made electronically by the applicant or by the main contact person having the necessary access rights to the online proposal.

Yes, Principal Investigators submitting a proposal to any ERC call (e.g. for ERC-2026-STG; ERC-2026-COG; ERC-2026-ADG; ERC-2026-SYG; ERC-2026-POC; ERC-2026-PLUS) must have, at the time of submission, the written consent of all participants on their involvement and on the content of the proposal, as well as of any researcher mentioned in the proposal as participating in the project (either as team member, collaborator, other PI or member of the advisory board), should the proposal be funded. The ERC Executive Agency may request PIs to provide proof of the written consent (email, letter) at any time. See also the ERC Rules of submission and evaluation under Horizon EuropePDF.

An ERC Plus project (e.g. for the ERC-2026-PLUS call), should go beyond what can be achieved with a regular ERC Starting, Consolidator or Advanced Grant, for example, with a vision to transform a field or to open new avenues in research. How it will go beyond, should be described in the section of Part 1 dedicated to the vision statement in Part B1 (which is evaluated at both evaluation steps). The ERC Plus evaluation places greater emphasis on the past achievements and intellectual leadership of the PI, and the composition of the step 2 panels is different from the step 1 panels.

ERC-2026-PLUS grants are awarded for a minimum of four years and a maximum of seven years. They are subject to the same rules for amendments for extension, which means that a grant may be extended beyond seven years if duly justified. ​​No additional funding can be provided for the extension.

Yes, under call ERC-2026-PLUS, team members can be hosted by other research organisation(s). The research organisation(s) should be referred to as additional legal entities in the research proposal, and their details should be given in the administrative proposal submission form (Part A) that is accessible through the Funding & Tenders Portal.

Under the lump sum funding model for the call ERC-2026-PLUS ,the requirements regarding the Principal Investigator time commitments are identical to actual costs grants. ERC Plus grantees must devote at least 30% of their total working time to the project and spend at least 50% of their total working time in a Member State or Associated Country. These obligations are to be met over the overall duration of the project. Principal investigators will be requested to report their commitment in a simple declaration to be co-signed byt heir host institution and to be submitted at the time of the submission of their scientific reports. No time sheets are needed to support these declarations.

Under the ERC-2026-Plus call,, the ERC Plus grants are open to researchers of any nationality, residing anywhere in the world, provided the project is carried out at an eligible host institution in the EU or an associated country. The scheme does not target any specific nationality group.

The lump sum budget of an ERC-2026-PLUS grant must cover all eligible direct costs for the project plus 25% indirect costs. The PI is free to propose the requested budget in accordance with the needs of the project, including research infrastructure.

In the ERC-2026-PLUS grant call, proposals have the same overall structure as other ERC 2026 single-PI calls, with an additional Vision Statement in Part 1 with a length of 0.5-2 pages. Applicants should use the templates provided and available to download from the call publication page on the Funding and Tenders Portal.

Under the ERC-2026-PLUS call, one of the main simplifications brought about by the lump sum funding model is that the actual costs incurred during the project implementation, including personnel costs, are no longer relevant and therefore do not need to be declared or documented. Payment at the end of the project is based solely on the degree of completion of planned activities and fulfilment of non-financial obligations arising from the grant.

The compliance with the Principal Investigator's time commitment obligations can be verified during a technical review. If, while carrying out the review of the work done on the project, significant doubts arise regarding the Principal Investigator’s time commitment (e.g. doubts about the proper implementation of the project, or interviews of team members disclosing that the PI is not supervising the work or the team or is not working on the project), a more in-depth assessment will be carried out. The Agency may request any documentation that might be useful to support the declared time commitment of the Principal Investigator. However, this assessment will not be based on other self-declarations like timesheets, but on scientific or administrative documents related to the project such as laboratory notebooks and logbooks, agendas, minutes of meetings, attendance lists, working papers, documents related to presentations, memos, scientific publications, or any other evidence confirming the Principal Investigator's involvement in the ERC project and their presence in Europe.

For ERC 2026 calls under Horizon Europe (e.g. for ERC-2026-STG; ERC-2026-COG; ERC-2026-ADG; ERC-2026-SYG; ERC-2026-POC; ERC-2026-PLUS), the information requested in Part A on the career stage of the Principal Investigator (PI) will not be provided to the reviewersl and will not be part of the evaluation. This data is gathered for statistical purposes and used to evaluate the Horizon Europe Programme as a whole. See also the ERC Work Programme 2026PDF.

No, under call ERC-2026-PLUS, a Principal Investigator (PI) whose proposal was evaluated as category B in the step 1 of Starting (StG), Consolidator (CoG), or Advanced (AdG) Grant calls for proposals under ERC Work Programme 2025, may not submit a proposal to the ERC Plus call under Work Programme 2026. For more information, please refer to the restrictions on submission of proposals in the ERC Work Programme 2026.

Under the ERC-2026-PLUS call, only the Budget and Resources section of the administrative form (Part A) containing the budget table and description of resources, the time commitment (extracted from the call specific questions section in Part A) and the information on depreciation of any equipment (also introduced in Part A) will be available to the experts evaluating the proposal. The evaluators will have no access to the rest of the administrative form.

Applicants to the call ERC-2026-PLUS should estimate and propose personnel costs in line with the needs of the project and with what they expect to incur based on the host institution’s usual cost accounting practice and salary grids for the staff who will be involved in the project. The historical ERC personnel cost data are available to applicants via a link on the ERC webpage: ERC personnel costs data for lump sum evaluations | ERC (europa.eu). Applicants can consult this data, so that they can identify when a justification in their proposal is useful to explain any planned personnel costs that deviate unusually from the historical data. Personnel costs can be expected to be higher than in past years due to inflation and pay rises. There could be significant variation in the personnel cost of a specific staff category between host institutions in the same country, and even within the same host institution. High personnel costs may be accepted by the panel if they are justified for the project (e.g. by the nature of the tasks, by the need for senior or highly qualified staff, or by significant increases in personnel costs).

ERC-2026-PLUS applicants are advised not to use the European Commission Horizon dashboard for lump sum evaluations, as ERC data are not included in this dashboard.

Under call ERC-2026-PLUS, scientific excellence remains the sole evaluation criterion. The focus of the evaluation remains on the scientific merits of the proposal, and the decision to retain a proposal for funding is independent from the budget assessment for a project. Similarly to the actual cost model, the panel will check the budget estimates for the project and assess whether the resources proposed are in line with the activities planned, and whether they are reasonable and non-excessive. For resources that are considered unnecessary and cost items that are considered unreasonable or excessive, and where no convincing justification was provided, the panel may recommend a cut of the respective costs.

Yes, as specified in the ERC Work Programme 2026, a PI whose proposal was evaluated as category A or category B at step 2 in an ERC 2025 Starting (StG), Consolidator (CoG) or Advanced (AdG) call, can submit a proposal to the ERC Plus Grant 2026 (ERC-2026-PLUS) call.

Yes, for ERC-2026-PLUS grants, the host institution must be in an EU Member State or a country associated with Horizon Europe. Additionally, the PI must spend at least 50% of their working time in the EU Member States or countries associated to Horizon Europe.

You can only submit one ERC application under the 2026 Work Programme. If you have already submitted an application for the Synergy, Starting, Consolidator or Advanced Grant 2026 calls, you cannot apply to ERC-2026-PLUS call unless you decide to withdraw your first application.

The ERC-2026-PLUS evaluation follows two steps. Step 1 is conducted by members of the ERC-2026-AdG panels, who assess the groundbreaking idea of the project, the Vision Statement and the past achievements and intellectual leadership of the PI. ​The ERC-2026-AdG panel members will choose the best ERC PLUS applications to go to the next step, without any quota or upper limit for a given field. Step 2 will be performed by interdisciplinary ERC PLUS panels composed of new panel members, with the support of step 1 panel members and external ‘remote’ reviewers (with specific expertise in the field of the proposal) who will provide written reviews (but they will not attend the step 2 panel meeting nor the interviews). In step 2 the reviewers will assess all aspects considered in step 1, and additionally the methodology and resources. The interdisciplinary step 2 ERC PLUS panels will also interview the applicants. The specific evaluation questions for each step are listed in the ERC Work Programme 2026PDF.

Under call ERC-2026-PLUS, there will be no financial audits of invoices, personnel costs, time sheets, and no request for a certificate of financial statements. However, technical reviews may still be conducted, as in the past, for instance in cases where issues with the implementation of the project arise, relating to compliance with ethics, procurement procedures, or time commitment of the Principal Investigator. The scientific and technical documentation required for lump sum grants is the same as for the non-financial technical reviews that can currently be performed under actual costs grants and for PoC grants (e.g. technical documents, publications, prototypes, documentation required by good research practice such as lab books etc.). Applicant legal entities will remain accountable for the information (including financial) provided with their application.

Under call ERC-2026-PLUS, at the start of the project, the ERC grant beneficiaries will receive 80% of the total grant as pre-financing to ensure the cash flow for the project, and the rest will be paid upon completion of the project. The lump sum will be fully paid when all the work has been carried out as described in the Description of Action, or if: i) all essential tasks have been completed, and/or ii) equivalent tasks have been carried out, and/or iii) deviations have been duly justified.If these conditions are met, irrespective of the results obtained or the objectives achieved,100% completion can be declared and accepted (resulting in 100% payment of the lump sum).

Under the lump sum funding model for the call ERC-2026-PLUS, there will be:

• a) a scientific mid-term report at month 30,
• b) a second scientific report at month 60, and
• c) a final scientific report at the end of the project, to which the final payment is linked.

For projects with a duration shorter than 7 years, the first scientific report will also be at month 30, and the remaining progress report(s) will be decided on a case-by-case basis.