Starting in 2026, the European Research Council (ERC) will implement a number of changes to its schemes.
Widening Eligibility and Career Support From 2027, the ERC will formally widen eligibility windows to accommodate diverse academic trajectories. Researchers will be eligible for Starting Grants for up to ten years after their PhD defence, while the Consolidator Grant window will expand to between five and fifteen years post-PhD. To further support researchers, new grounds for eligibility extensions have been introduced for victims of gender-based or other forms of violence. Additionally, "parental leave" has been explicitly added to the grounds for extension alongside maternity and paternity leave.
Streamlined Evaluation and Application Processes The 2026 Work Programme introduces stricter page limits for the "implementation" section (Part II) of scientific proposals. This section is now limited to seven pages for Starting, Consolidator, and Advanced Grants, and ten pages for Synergy Grants.
A major shift in evaluation strategy will see the assessment of "feasibility" moved entirely to Step 2 of the process. This allows the initial Step 1 review to focus exclusively on the groundbreaking nature and ambition of the research idea. Furthermore, researchers relocating to the EU or associated countries can now request up to €2 million in additional funding, which, as of 2026, can be used to cover personnel costs.
The New ERC Plus Grant As part of the ‘Choose Europe’ initiative, the ERC is introducing the ERC Plus Grant to support "bold ideas" and transformative research that exceeds the scope of existing programmes. This highly competitive scheme will award approximately 30 grants annually across all scientific fields.
Selected researchers will receive substantial support of up to €7 million over a period of four to seven years, provided as a single lump-sum contribution. The scheme is open to scholars at all career stages who demonstrate outstanding intellectual leadership, though an individual may only hold one ERC Plus Grant in their lifetime. Principal Investigators must commit at least 30% of their working time to the project and spend at least 50% of their time in the EU or an associated country.
The new ERC Plus Grant is expected to open in June 2026 with a deadline around September 2026.