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Erc Synergy Grants

HORIZON ERC Synergy Grants

Basic Information

Identifier
ERC-2025-SyG
Programme
Call for proposals for ERC Synergy Grant
Programme Period
2021 - 2027
Status
Closed (31094503)
Opening Date
July 11, 2024
Deadline
November 6, 2024
Deadline Model
single-stage
Budget
€500,000,000
Min Grant Amount
–
Max Grant Amount
€14,000,000
Expected Number of Grants
48
Keywords
ERC-2025-SyGERC-2025-SyG

Description

Objective:

The aim is to provide support for a small group of two to four Principal Investigators to jointly address ambitious research problems that could not be addressed by the individual Principal Investigators and their teams working alone. Synergy projects should enable substantial advances at the frontiers of knowledge, stemming, for example, from the cross-fertilization of scientific fields, from new productive lines of enquiry, or new methods and techniques, including unconventional approaches and investigations at the interface between established disciplines. The transformative research funded by Synergy Grants should have the potential of becoming a benchmark on a global scale.

Principal Investigators must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their scientific proposal. Principal Investigators must also demonstrate that their group can successfully bring together the scientific elements necessary to address the scope and complexity of the proposed research question.

One of the Principal Investigators must be designated as the Corresponding Principal Investigator. At any one time, one Principal Investigator per Synergy Grant Group except the Corresponding one can be hosted or engaged by an institution outside of the EU or Associated Countries.

Size of ERC Synergy Grants

Synergy Grants may be awarded up to a maximum of EUR 10 000 000 for a period of 6 years. The maximum award is reduced pro rata temporis for projects of a shorter duration. This does not apply to ongoing projects.

An additional up to EUR 4 000 000 in total can be requested in the proposal to cover (a) eligible ‘start-up’ costs for Principal Investigators moving to the EU or an Associated Country from elsewhere as a consequence of receiving the ERC grant and/or (b) the purchase of major equipment and/or (c) access to large facilities and/or (d) other major experimental and field work costs, excluding personnel costs. As any additional funding is to cover major one-off costs it is not subject to pro rata temporis reduction for projects of shorter duration. All funding requested is assessed during evaluation.

Profile of the ERC Synergy Grant Principal Investigators

The 'Synergy Grant Group' applying for the ERC Synergy Grant must be made up of a minimum of two and a maximum of four Principal Investigators with competitive track records and, as necessary, their teams.

Each of the Principal Investigators must present in the proposal a Curriculum Vitae and a Track Record as appropriate to their career stage.

For further information, please see the ERC Work Programme 2025.

View on EU Portal →

Eligibility & Conditions

General conditions

1. Admissibility and Eligibility Conditions: The conditions specific to ERC grants are described in the ERC Work Programme 2025 under the heading 'Admissibility and eligibility criteria' and in the ERC Rules of Submission and evaluation under Horizon Europe -  An overview is provided below:

Admissible and eligible proposals: All proposals must be complete and submitted by eligible Principal Investigators before the relevant call deadline. A complete proposal needs to include all parts or sections (further details below under 'Proposals page limits and layout' and in the ERC Work Programme 2025 section 'Proposal submission and description'. Incomplete proposals may be declared inadmissible. The content of the proposal must relate to the objectives and to the grant type set out in the call, as defined in the ERC Work Programme 2025. If a proposal is considered not to relate to the objectives of the grant and/or call for proposals, it will be declared ineligible. 

Eligible Principal Investigators: 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 Synergy Grant Group must be composed of a minimum of two and a maximum of four innovative and active Principal Investigators and, as necessary, their teams. 

No specific eligibility criteria regarding the academic training are required for PIs applying for ERC Synergy Grants. Each PI has to present their profile, consisting of a CV and track record, using a single template available for all career stages. The PIs are requested to use the template in part B1 available for download from the submission system. 

Principal Investigators funded through an ERC Synergy grant shall spend a minimum of 30% of their working time on the ERC project and a minimum of 50% of their working time in the European Union or Associated Country, except for a Principal Investigator hosted or engaged by an Institution outside the European Union or Associated Country (see Annex 3 of the ERC Work Programme 2025).

The ERC expects the composition of a Synergy Grant Group to remain unchanged throughout the lifetime of the grant. If a Principal Investigator leaves a Synergy Grant Group, the grant may be continued only exceptionally, contingent on scientific evaluation and provided that all eligibility criteria will continue to be met.

Restrictions on submission of proposals: The restrictions on submissions are related to the outcome of the evaluation in previous calls and are designed to maintain the quality and integrity of ERC’s evaluation process. For further details please consult the section 'Restrictions on submissions of proposals' of the ERC Work Programme 2025 or the Frequently Asked Questions (ERC - FAQs).


Eligible host institution: The host institution(s) (Applicant Legal Entity/ies) - up to four host institutions - must engage and host the Principal Investigators for at least the duration of the project, as defined in the grant agreement. It must either be established in the European Union or Associated Country  (see Annex 3 of the ERC Work Programme 2025) as a legal entity created under national law, or it may be an international European research organisation (such as CERN, EMBL, etc.), or any other entity created under EU law. Any type of legal entity, public or private, including universities, research organisations and undertakings can host Principal Investigators and their teams. One of these host institutions, with the exception the corresponding host institution, at any one time, may be a legal entity established outside the European Union or Associated Countries or an international organisation.

Where they bring scientific added value to the project, additional team members may also be hosted by additional legal entities which will be eligible for funding, and which may be legal entities established anywhere, including outside the European Union or Associated Countries, or international organisations. Legal entities established outside the European Union or Associated Countries are eligible for funding when they are one of the host institutions in a Synergy Grant at any one time, or they host additional team members bringing scientific added value to the project, or their participation is deemed essential for carrying out the action, provided that they are not excluded from participation or covered by restrictive measures set out in Annex 3 to the ERC Work Programme 2025.

 

Proposal page limits and layout

For each call, an  Information for Applicants is published on the ERC website and on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal; it describes in detail how the electronic forms should be completed.

A complete proposal is composed of:

a) Administrative proposal forms (including Ethics Review Table): available on this page below and online via the submission tool - EU Funding & Tenders Portal - registration to the EU Funding & Tenders Portal is required first.

b) Research Proposal (Parts B1 and B2), available in the submission tool below, should be uploaded in the submission tool as PDF files.

Proposal Part B1

-       Extended Synopsis: max. 5 pages (references do not count towards the page limit)

-     Curriculum Vitae and Track Record: up to 4 pages for each Principal Investigator

Proposal Part B2

-       Scientific Proposal:  max. 15 pages (References and Resources and Time commitment section do not count towards the page limit).

-      The Resources and Time commitment section: it includes a separate Budget table annex listing the costs for each PI and their teams.The Budget table annex template is available in the submission system. In part B2 the required resources have to be detailed for each PI.  This section is not limited to 2 pages and will not count towards the page limit.

-       Appendix – Funding ID: no page limits

c) Host institution(s) binding statement(s) of support template is/are available in the submission tool and should be uploaded in the submission tool as PDF files.

In the case of Synergy Grants, where the different Principal Investigators may be hosted by more than one host institution, each of the host institutions shall offer their support to the Principal Investigator(s) hosted by them for the duration of the grant. The host institutions must engage the Principal Investigators for at least the duration of the grant. Each host institution letter has to be uploaded at the time of submission.

d) Ethics review self-assessment (if applicable) and supporting documentation. The Ethics Issues Table can be found in the administrative form in addition to this, where relevant, an ethics self-assessment, as a separate annex, needs to be attached to the proposal. 

Complete proposals must be submitted via the submission tool available through the EC Funding & Tenders Portal. Further detailed guidance in the 'IT HOW TO' wiki site.

2. Eligible countries: described in the ERC Work Programme 2025 under the heading 'Admissibility and eligibility criteria' and in Annex 3. An overview is provided below:

The Host Institution that engages and hosts a Principal Investigator must be established in an EU Member State or Associated Country, although the team members of any Principal Investigator, as well as one of the Principal Investigators in a Synergy Grant Group may be based outside of the EU or an Associated Country (see section 'Eligible host institution').

Principal Investigators may reside in any country in the world at the time of the application. ERC Principal Investigators do not have to be based full-time in Europe but if selected for funding, shall spend a minimum percentage of their working time in the European Union or Associated Countries, with the exception of the Principal Investigator – if the case – hosted or engaged by an institution outside the EU or Associated Countries. Further information in the ‘Admissibility and eligibility criteria’ section of the ERC Work Programme 2025. 

 

3. Financial capacity and security: 

Financial capacity: Please refer to the  ERC Rules of Submission and evaluation under Horizon Europe section 4, Award Decision and Preparation of Grant Agreements.

Security: Please refer to the ERC Work Programme 2025, Annex 4. 

5. Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement: 

 Please refer to the ERC Work Programme 2025 under the heading 'Indicative summary of calls from the 2025 budget'.

 

6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants:

 Please refer to the MGA used for ERC actions under Horizon Europe-HE General MGA

 

 7. Open Science

Open science is a core principle of the ERC. The ERC is committed to the principle of open access to the published output of research, including in particular, peer-reviewed articles and monographs. It also supports the basic principle of open access to research data and data related products. The ERC considers that providing free online access to all these materials can be the most effective way of ensuring that the results of the research it funds can be accessed, read and used as the basis for further advancement.

Under Horizon Europe, beneficiaries of ERC grants must ensure open access to all peer-reviewed scientific publications relating to their results as set out in the Model Grant Agreement used for ERC actions. Beneficiaries must ensure that they or the authors retain sufficient intellectual property rights to comply with their open access requirements.

In addition, beneficiaries of ERC grants funded under this work programme will be covered by the provisions on research data management as set out in the Model Grant Agreement used for ERC actions. For further details please refer to the ERC Work Programme 2025 under the heading ‘Open science’.

 

 

Support & Resources

ERC Synergy Grant Applicants' Mailbox - for queries related to the call.

ERC 2025 Synergy Grant Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - ERC Website.

ERC National Contat Points (NCP) - Contact your ERC NCP for further assistance in your national language(s).

Online Manual is your guide on the procedures from proposal submission to managing your grant.

Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains the detailed guidance to the structure, budget and political priorities of Horizon Europe.

Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – find the answers to most frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation and grant management.

Research Enquiry Service – ask questions about any aspect of European research in general and the EU Research Framework Programmes in particular.

National Contact Points (NCPs) – get guidance, practical information and assistance on participation in Horizon Europe. There are also NCPs in many non-EU and non-associated countries (‘third-countries’).

IT Helpdesk – contact the Funding & Tenders Portal IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc.

European IPR Helpdesk assists you on intellectual property issues.

CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk –  the European Standards Organisations advise you how to tackle standardisation in your project proposal.  

The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment – consult the general principles and requirements specifying the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers, employers and funders of researchers.

Partner Search Services help you find a partner organisation for your proposal.

Latest Updates

Last Changed: November 13, 2024

The ERC-2025-SyG was closed on 6 November 2024. A total of 712 proposals were submitted in response of the ERC 2025 Synergy Grant Call (ERC-2025-SyG).

Last Changed: July 11, 2024
The submission session is now available for: ERC-2025-SyG(HORIZON-ERC-SYG)
Erc Synergy Grants | Grantalist