Europa Excelencia — ERC Near-Miss Support

Europa Excelencia is Spain's national supplement for ERC proposals that were scored positively but did not receive European Research Council funding because of budget limits. The route is administered by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación and is designed to improve Spain's success rate in ERC competitions, especially in the Starting Grant, Consolidator Grant, and Advanced Grant categories. It is a follow-on instrument for projects that already passed a demanding European review. The 2026 call has a total budget of EUR 2,500,000 and opens from June 4, 2026 to June 25, 2026. It is a competitive grant round with applications in Spanish. Eligibility depends on a prior ERC decision letter showing that the project was scientifically strong and eligible, but left unfunded due to budget constraints. The route is tied to research projects carried by universities or research organisations in Spain, and the award amount per project is not published in the source material. The clearest winning pattern is simple: a team with a strong ERC result already in hand and a plan to convert that result into funded research work in Spain. Applicants need to show that the ERC panel had already accepted the scientific quality of the proposal, and that the project is still ready to run if national money fills the gap. The programme is therefore less about first-round ambition than about preserving momentum after a near miss at European level.

Each grant below is a distinct funding opportunity with its own eligibility, scope, and deliverables.