ERC Plus Grant 2026: Up to €7 Million for Transformative Frontier Research, Deadline 2 September

ERC Plus Grant 2026: Up to €7 Million for Transformative Frontier Research, Deadline 2 September

The European Research Council has opened the first ERC Plus Grant call for principal investigators whose research ambition exceeds the scale or structure of a regular ERC grant. The 2026 call is designed for major scientific challenges, unusually broad or deep programmes, and high-risk work that could transform a field or open entirely new directions.

The grant is open across all areas of research. Applicants may be any nationality, at any career stage, and may be living anywhere in the world when they apply. The important geographic condition is on the host: the research must be carried out through a public or private legal entity in an EU Member State or a Horizon Europe Associated Country. The application is submitted by one Principal Investigator on behalf of that host institution.

The maximum grant is €7 million for a project lasting between four and seven years. The award is a single lump-sum contribution based on a realistic estimate of eligible project costs. The submission deadline is 2 September 2026 at 17:00 Brussels time. Because the ERC expects only about 30 ERC Plus Grants to be awarded across all fields and career stages, this is an opportunity for a very small group of unusually strong applicants rather than a general-purpose research grant.

Key Details at a Glance

What the ERC Plus Grant Offers

ERC Plus is meant to sit above the regular Starting, Consolidator, and Advanced Grant schemes in scale and ambition. The ERC describes it as support for outstanding researchers addressing major scientific challenges with ideas that go beyond existing ERC programmes. That distinction is central: a large budget alone does not make a proposal suitable. The applicant has to explain why a normal ERC grant would not be enough to achieve the proposed aims.

The maximum project length is seven years, but proposals may request as little as four years. The €7 million ceiling is not reduced proportionally for a project shorter than seven years. That does not mean every proposal should ask for the maximum. The budget still has to be a reliable estimate of what the project needs, and the scientific plan, staffing, equipment, fieldwork, and timing must justify the requested amount.

The award is structured as a lump sum. The applicant prepares the budget using costs that would be eligible under an actual-cost Horizon Europe grant: eligible direct costs plus a flat 25% rate for qualifying indirect costs. The lump sum can cover up to 100% of the total estimated eligible costs for the full project duration. Equipment, infrastructure, or other assets are generally budgeted through eligible depreciation connected to their use in the proposed research, not simply as an unrestricted purchase request.

The ERC Plus page says that only around 30 awards may be made each year across all fields and career stages. This makes the grant valuable not only because of its size, but because it can support a sustained research programme with enough people, time, and infrastructure to pursue a difficult question properly.

Who Can Apply

The ERC Plus call does not impose a minimum number of years since the PhD or require a particular academic title. Researchers of any age and nationality can apply, and the ERC will assess their intellectual leadership in relation to their career stage. The practical standard is demanding: applicants should have an outstanding record of scientific achievement at the forefront of their field and be able to show that they can lead the proposed programme.

The host institution must be a legal entity established in an EU Member State or Associated Country, or an eligible international European research organisation such as CERN or EMBL. Universities, research organisations, public bodies, private research organisations, higher-education institutions, and private for-profit research centres including industrial laboratories can host a Principal Investigator, subject to the Horizon Europe rules.

The PI does not necessarily have to be employed by the host when the proposal is submitted. If the proposal succeeds, however, the host must engage the PI for at least the duration of the project. A mutual agreement and institutional commitment are therefore needed before grant preparation is completed.

The PI leads an individual team rather than a consortium. Team members may be of any nationality, and one or more team members may be located outside Europe. The PI must devote at least 30% of their working time to the ERC Plus project and spend at least 50% of their working time in an EU Member State or Associated Country. Fieldwork and other research activity outside Europe are possible when they are necessary to the scientific objectives.

Some application restrictions also matter. A researcher may hold only one ERC Plus Grant in their lifetime. The 2026 applicant guide also contains restrictions related to current ERC projects, other 2026 ERC applications, recent panel service, and the outcomes of some earlier ERC proposals. A researcher who is already involved in an ERC project or another 2026 ERC call should read those restrictions carefully instead of relying on a general assumption that the schemes are interchangeable.

What Kind of Research Fits

ERC grants are bottom-up: there is no fixed list of priority topics. Any scientific field is eligible, and interdisciplinary or unconventional proposals are welcome. The test is whether the project is genuinely frontier research and whether its aims could not be reached through a regular ERC grant.

A convincing ERC Plus case might involve a research programme that needs a much longer linked sequence of experiments, a larger or more specialised team, unusual infrastructure, a wider combination of disciplines, or a level of risk and scale that a standard ERC budget cannot support. The official applicant guide gives the underlying logic: the work may need deeper or broader research for a breakthrough, may be intended to open completely new avenues, or may require investment and personnel beyond the regular scheme.

The proposal should not be a compilation exercise dressed up as novelty. Projects that mainly collect existing material into a database, edition, or collection are unlikely to meet the frontier-research standard. A good fit begins with an important question, identifies the current limit of knowledge, and states what would change if the work succeeds.

Application Materials

The application has several connected parts. The official applicant guide identifies these required components:

1. Part A administrative form. This includes general information, participants, declarations, budget and resources, depreciation costs, and the PI time commitment.
2. Part B1. This contains Part I of the scientific proposal, the Statement of Vision, and the Curriculum Vitae and Track Record.
3. Part B2. This contains Part II of the scientific proposal and the Funding ID table, which lists current grants and related applications.
4. Host institution support letter. The host must confirm its commitment to the PI and team.
5. Additional ethics or security documents, if applicable. These may include an ethics self-assessment and supporting documentation.

The page limits are strict. Part I of the scientific proposal is limited to five pages. It should explain the state of knowledge, scientific question, objectives, overall approach, and expected contribution. The Statement of Vision is half a page to a maximum of two pages and must explain how the proposal achieves more than a regular ERC grant could. The PI’s CV and Track Record use one template of up to four pages and can include up to ten research outputs, selected peer recognition, and concise context about career breaks or unconventional career paths. Part II is limited to seven pages and covers implementation, methodology, work plan, risks, mitigation, and the justification for resources.

The administrative form also has an abstract of no more than 2,000 characters. If the application is written in an official EU language other than English, the abstract must also be supplied in English; the evaluation panels work in English. Part B1, Part B2, and supporting documentation must be uploaded as PDFs, with a 10 MB limit for each uploaded document.

How to Apply Through the EU Portal

Applications must be submitted electronically through the Funding & Tenders Portal. First create or use an EU Login account, select the topic ERC-2026-PLUS, and create a draft proposal. The host institution needs a Participant Identification Code, or PIC; an organisation without one must register before the proposal can be completed.

The portal then guides the applicant through participant details, contact permissions, the administrative form, document uploads, and final submission. Adding files is not the same as submitting. The final Submit action must be completed, and the system will display errors that block submission. Warnings may still be accepted, but they should be investigated rather than ignored.

The PI can revise and resubmit the proposal before the deadline. Only the last version submitted before closure is evaluated, and earlier versions cannot be recovered. The ERC strongly advises submitting a first version at least 48 hours before the deadline. After submission, download the consolidated proposal and check the e-receipt and uploaded files while the portal still allows changes.

How Reviewers Evaluate Proposals

Scientific excellence is the sole evaluation criterion, applied to both the research project and the PI. Reviewers primarily examine the ground-breaking nature and ambition of the research. They also assess the PI’s intellectual capacity, creativity, expertise, and ability to execute the work. For ERC Plus, past achievements receive greater weight than in regular ERC grants because applicants are expected to be leaders in their fields.

The process has two steps. At Step 1, panel members see Part I, the Statement of Vision, and the CV and Track Record. The panel acts as a group of broad experts, so the first section needs to make sense to an intelligent researcher outside the narrowest specialty. Proposals are marked retained or not retained. At least three written reviews are prepared for each proposal at this stage.

At Step 2, retained proposals are read in full, including Part II, budget and resources, and time commitment. Remote referees contribute specialist reviews, and the PI presents the project in an interview. The interview format is communicated later by the panel chairs. The final assessment considers whether the project is important, ambitious, methodologically credible, adequately resourced, and truly beyond the reach of a regular ERC grant.

Timeline and Deadline

The deadline is fixed. Treat the portal’s time zone as authoritative and leave time for institutional review, PDF conversion, validation, and resubmission. A proposal that is nearly finished but missing the host support letter or a mandatory administrative field can be declared inadmissible even if the scientific idea is strong.

How to Prepare a Stronger Proposal

Start by writing the “why Plus?” case in plain language. If the project can be divided into an ordinary five-year ERC project without losing its central contribution, the ERC Plus rationale is not ready. Identify the specific scale, duration, risk, infrastructure, or linked research sequence that requires the new scheme.

Then build Part I for generalist readers. State the unresolved problem early. Explain why it matters beyond one experiment or subfield. Name the central hypothesis or conceptual move, show the decisive tests, and describe what a successful result would change. Do not make reviewers excavate the idea from a long background section.

Use the Statement of Vision as a comparison, not as a second abstract. It should show the difference between what a regular ERC grant could accomplish and what ERC Plus makes possible. The argument should be concrete: more ambitious breadth, a longer chain of interdependent work, a new field-opening platform, or a risk that only makes sense with a larger programme.

Make the track record do evidentiary work. Choose outputs that establish the PI’s ability to solve the exact kind of problem the proposal creates. Explain the PI’s contribution to joint work and the significance of awards or recognition. The guide permits concise context for career breaks and non-linear careers, so use it where it helps reviewers interpret the record rather than leaving a misleading gap.

Finally, cost the science rather than the ceiling. Tie personnel, equipment depreciation, travel, fieldwork, data, subcontracting, and open-access costs to named work packages or decisions. A large request with an unconvincing resource plan can weaken the claim that the project is executable. Ask the host research office and the relevant National Contact Point to review the draft before the final week.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Calling a regular ERC project “Plus” because it has a large budget. The proposal must show that its aims could not be reached with a regular ERC grant.

Putting the key idea in Part II. Step 1 reviewers do not see the complete proposal. Part I must contain the essential scientific case, not just a promise that the details appear later.

Ignoring page limits or file rules. Reviewers are not required to read material beyond the limits, and the portal accepts the required proposal files as PDFs.

Treating the lump sum as flexible cash. The budget is still assessed against eligible, realistic costs. Every major resource should have a scientific reason and a credible estimate.

Leaving the host relationship until grant preparation. The host support letter and the PI’s time commitment are part of the application. Confirm institutional capacity, employment arrangements, and any required gender equality plan early.

Contacting reviewers or trying to influence peer review. The ERC prohibits contact with independent experts involved in the evaluation. Use the official call coordination team or a National Contact Point for procedural questions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can researchers outside Europe apply?
Yes. Researchers of any nationality and residing anywhere in the world may apply, provided the research is hosted by an eligible entity in an EU Member State or Associated Country and the PI meets the European time-location requirement.

Is the €7 million guaranteed?
No. It is the maximum grant size. The requested amount must be supported by a realistic estimate of eligible costs, and funding is awarded through a highly competitive ranking process.

Does the project have to last seven years?
No. The duration may be four to seven years. The official guidance says the maximum is not reduced pro rata for projects shorter than seven years.

Do I need a consortium?
No. The ERC Plus Grant is led by one PI and supports an individual research team. Team members and additional beneficiaries may be involved where appropriate, but this is not a conventional multi-partner consortium call.

Can the team include researchers outside the EU?
Yes. Team members may be of any nationality, and one or more may be located in a non-European country. The PI’s own minimum time and location commitments still apply.

What if my research involves people, animals, personal data, or AI?
Declare the relevant issues in the online form and complete an ethics self-assessment with supporting documents when applicable. Funded projects undergo ethics review, and no grant agreement can be signed until that review is satisfactory.

Where can I ask questions?
For call-specific questions, contact the ERC Plus coordination team at [email protected]. Applicants can also contact their national ERC National Contact Point.

Official Links and Next Steps

Read the official ERC Plus Grant page first. It links to the open call, the 2026 Information for Applicants, the peer-review guide, and the evaluation timeframe. The call is also listed in the EU Funding & Tenders Portal under ERC-2026-PLUS.

Before submitting, confirm four things: an eligible host has agreed to sponsor the proposal; the PI satisfies the 30% project and 50% European-location commitments; the research case explains why regular ERC funding is insufficient; and Part A, Part B1, Part B2, the host support letter, and any ethics or security documents are complete and readable.

This call is worth considering only if the scientific ambition is genuinely exceptional. For the right PI, however, ERC Plus offers the rare ability to plan a long, high-risk programme around the research question rather than compressing that programme into the limits of a conventional grant. The deadline is 2 September 2026 at 17:00 Brussels time, so host and research-office conversations should begin immediately.