ERC Advanced Grants 2026
Pays established research leaders up to EUR 2.5 million over five years to pursue ground-breaking, high-risk frontier research.
This is a single-stage Horizon Europe ERC call with an indicative 2026 budget of €746.7 million, expected to fund around 294 grants. Advanced Grants are awarded as a lump sum of up to €2.5 million over five years, with up to an extra €1 million (doubled to €2 million for a PI relocating to the EU or an Associated Country) for start-up costs, major equipment or large facilities. Proposals are evalu…
This call is for Principal Investigators who are already established research leaders with a recognised track record, in any field of science, who want to pursue an ambitious, high-risk frontier-research project. Applicants must show the ground-breaking nature and ambition of their proposed research, and the host institution can be any public or private legal entity — including universities, research organisations or companies — based in an EU Member State or Associated Country.
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Guides for this application
All guides →Horizon Europe Grants for Startups: A Founder Guide
A practical guide to Horizon Europe grants for startups, including EIC, consortia, eligibility, Funding & Tenders, TRL, budgets, and EU strategy.
Write proposalHow to Write a Grant Proposal Reviewers Can Score
Learn how to write a grant proposal around reviewer criteria, evidence, work packages, budget logic, and commercialization for deeptech and R&D funding.
DocumentsGrant Work Plan Template: Work Packages, Gantt, Milestones, and Risks
Use this grant work plan template to structure work packages, tasks, owners, deliverables, Gantt timing, dependencies, and risk registers.
DocumentsLetter of Support for Grant Applications: Template and Examples
Learn how to write and request a letter of support for a grant, with template structure, examples, reviewer logic, and common mistakes.
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