JCJC Breakthrough

JCJC Breakthrough

Funds JCJC laureates and their teams preparing strong proposals to advance high-impact scientific careers.

JCJC Breakthrough (Percée JCJC) is a targeted ANR funding instrument introduced in the 2026 Work Programme to improve France's success rate in European Research Council (ERC) calls. It is exclusively open to current or recently completed ANR JCJC (Jeunes Chercheuses et Jeunes Chercheurs) laureates who intend to submit a proposal to an upcoming ERC Starting Grant, Consolidator Grant, or Advanced Grant call. The instrument covers all three ERC research domains: Life Sciences (LS), Physical Sciences and Engineering (PE), and Social Sciences and Humanities (SH). Its purpose is to give French early-career researchers a funded preparation period to develop and strengthen their ERC application materials, thereby increasing France's international scientific attractiveness.

Funding is EUR 75,000 in direct costs for a 24-month duration. The eligibility window opens two years before the end of the applicant's JCJC project and remains open until one year after its completion, meaning the instrument tracks an extended transition period rather than a fixed annual deadline. The call opened on 17 March 2026 and closes 31 December 2026 at 23:59 CET. The submission is a structured scientific survey (sent to the administrative support of the applicant) designed to help the candidate draft the future Part B1 of their ERC application; there is no full scientific document required. Selection is based exclusively on eligibility — there is no scientific scoring of the submission package, enabling rapid decision-making and grant activation.

ANR has applied forfaitisation to JCJC Breakthrough, meaning recipients are not required to provide detailed cost-justification documents to ANR. Funding is contingent on the applicant subsequently submitting a proposal to a qualifying ERC call; failure to submit to the ERC call would breach the conditions of the ANR award. Scientific and administrative questions should be directed to percee-jcjc@agencerecherche.fr, contact person Dr Delphine Callu. This instrument is not available to researchers who do not hold an active or recently completed ANR JCJC award.