Building on it successful support for individual researchers, the European Research Council (ERC) has recently extended its portfolio of instruments to a new scheme supporting small research teams. The ERC “Synergy Grant” is intended to promote substantial advances on the frontier of knowledge, and to encourage new productive lines of enquiry and new methods and techniques, including unconventional approaches and investigations at the interface between established disciplines.

The first ERC Synergy call, with total funding of EUR 150 million, was launched on 25 October 2011. The new scheme provides for attractive long-term funding conditions targeted at excellent research groups of “Principal Investigators” and their teams. Depending on the specific project and field, the ERC Synergy Grants can total up to a maximum of EUR 15 million for a period of up to 6 years. For more details about the newest call for proposals, please consult the European Commission’s Research and Development Participant Portal and the ERC’s website.

ERC

ERC Synergy Grant