ERC Advanced Grants fund leading researchers with excellent track records. They support frontier research in any field, encouraging bold, innovative ideas, unconventional approaches, and projects exploring new or emerging areas.

Success rate: ~11% (call 2024).

• Applicants of any nationality
• Researchers with a track record of significant research achievements
• Host Institutions in EU or Associated Country (AC), CH included
• Min. 30% working time dedicated to the ERC
• Min. 50% working in EU/AC

• ERC grantees with projects ending after 2028
• Applicants with a previous eligible ERC application under the 2026 Work Programme (WP)
• Applicants who received B or C score in the previous calls
• Applicants who are Panel Member for an ERC call under the 2026 or 2024 WP

Internal candidates w/o a professorial position & external ones must submit their candidature to servizio.ricerca@usi.ch by 30 April:
• Eligibility form
• CV + publication list
• Motivation letter
• Letter/s of support from USI professor/s

The procedure lasts approx. 2 months.

• Up to € 2,5M + additional funding up to € 1M (€ 2M for extra-EU based) with no pre-defined cost categories
• Budget covers 100% of the project costs, incl. 25% OHs
• Co-funding is not required
• Funding is awarded as a lump sum contribution
• Duration: up to 5 yrs, pro rata for shorter duration

Proposals are evaluated by intl. peer reviewers:
• Step1: Part I + CV & Track Record (vision, ambition & potential impact of the project)
• Step2: full proposal + online interview (emphasizes methodology, feasibility & resources)
Panel members cannot be contacted, but you can check out who they are.

Proposals are evaluated solely on the basis of excellence, considering both:
• The project (groundbreaking nature, potential impact, scientific approach)
• The PI (intellectual capacity, creativity, commitment, personal path, including breaks or non-linear trajectories)

Check projects funded in recent calls. The ERC Dashboard lets you filter by discipline & access project abstracts, a helpful way to identify the most suitable panel for your proposal.
• Step1: Find the Dashboard
• Step2: Use filters wisely
• Step3: Validate selections
• Step4: Search & export