As of 2025, researchers in CH can participate as beneficiary to the prestigious European Research Council (ERC) calls. Their proposals are evaluated by the ERC Executive Agency. In case of approval, if the EU Programmes Agreement (EUPA) is not yet in force, SERI will fund the projects.
ERC CoG supports individual researchers with and excellent track-record that are consolidating their own independent research team or programme. Applicants should have already shown evidence of research independence.
Applicants must have successfully defended their PhD thesis between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2018 included (ref. PhD defence/viva date). Both applicants with and without professorial position are eligible.
Internal candidates without a professorial position and external ones must submit their candidature to servizio.ricerca@usi.ch by 5 September:• eligibility form, • CV + publication list, • motivation letter,• letter/s of support from USI professor/s.The procedure lasts approx. 2 months.
ERC funds frontier research in any discipline. It welcomes proposals addressing new and emerging fields of research, or introducing unconventional, innovative approaches and scientific inventions. Applicants must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their proposal.
Up to € 2M for a period of 5 years (pro rata for shorter duration) with an extra €1M possible for start-up costs, major equipment or facilities (€2M for researchers moving to EU). Budget covers 100% of the project costs including 25% overheads.
Proposals are evaluated by selected international peer reviewers and by discipline-specific panels in a two-step evaluation procedure. Selected applicants are invited for an online interview in front of the panel (taking place in early autumn 2026).
Proposals are evaluated on the basis of excellence as the sole criterion that will be applied to both the evaluation of the project and the PI. Reviewers evaluate the ground-breaking nature, ambition, and feasibility of the project, as well as the intellectual capacity, creativity, and commitment.
Have a look at projects approved at the last call. The ERC database allows you to filter by discipline and grants you access to the abstracts.
