GSS EU Science Funding Gateway

Horizon Europe is the European Union (EU) funding programme for the period 2021 – 2027, which targets the sectors of research and innovation. The programme’s budget is around € 95.5 billion, of which € 5.4 billion is from NextGenerationEU to stimulate recovery and strengthen the EU’s resilience in the future, and € 4.5 billion is additional aid.

The financial contribution will be awarded as a lump sum of €150.000.

Please pay attention to the new feature: As of 2024, applications to the Proof of Concept Grant will be evaluated and selected in TWO instead of three rounds, based on two specific cut-off dates:

• The content of the proposal must relate to the objectives and to the grant type set out in the call, as defined in this Work Programme. If a proposal is considered not to relate to the objectives of the grant and/or call for proposals, it will be declared ineligible. Where there is a doubt on the admissibility or eligibility of a proposal, the evaluation may proceed pending a decision of the Responsible Authorising Officer following the opinion of the admissibility and eligibility review committee. If it becomes clear before, during, or after the evaluation phase, that one or more of the admissibility or eligibility criteria have not been met, the proposal will be declared inadmissible or ineligible and it will be rejected.
• A maximum of three Proof of Concept Grants may be awarded per main grant project, except for Synergy Grant, in which case a maximum of six Proof of Concept Grants may be awarded per ERC funded project. Proof of Concept Grants may run in parallel provided they comply with the eligibility conditions set out in the Work Programme under which they have been awarded.

Eligible Principal Investigator: All Principal Investigators in one of the main grants are eligible to participate and apply for an ERC Proof of Concept Grant. Principal Investigators in an ongoing main grant, or Principal Investigators in a main grant that has ended after 1 January 2023, are eligible to apply.

Principal Investigators may submit only one proposal under the Work Programme 2024.

A Principal Investigator whose proposal was rejected on the grounds of a breach of research integrity in the calls for proposals may not submit a proposal to the ERC-2024-PoC call.

Synergy Grant Principal Investigators are eligible to apply to the ERC-2024-PoC call only with the written consent of all Principal Investigators in the same Synergy Grant project.

Eligible Host Institution: The host institution (Applicant Legal Entity) must engage the Principal Investigator for at least the duration of the Proof of Concept project, as defined in the grant agreement, and must be established in a Member State or an Associated Country as a legal entity created under applicable national law. Further details in the ERC Work Programme 2024.

To be eligible: Legal entities from a Member State or Associated Country that are public bodies, research organisations, or higher education institutions (including private research organisations and private higher education institutions). Further details in the ERC Work Programme 2024.

The Principal Investigator (PI) can submit the PoC proposal with a different Host Institution (HI) than the one where the ERC main frontier research grant is currently (or was) implemented, provided that this other HI complies with the eligibility criteria. Further details in the ERC Work Programme 2024.

Countries Associated to Horizon Europe and Restrictions Applying to Some Legal Entities. Further details in the ERC Work Programme 2024.

Eligible countries: The ERC actions are open to researchers of any nationality who intend to conduct their research activity in any Member State or Associated Country. Principal Investigators may be of any age and nationality and may reside in any country in the world at the time of the application.

A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants (see the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide).