The European Research Council (ERC) is the official body of the European Union that funds researchers of the highest quality by academics of all ages and nationalities who intend to carry out cutting-edge research in EU member states or associated countries.

ERC’s main objective is to promote excellence, supporting the dynamic and creative aspects of European “frontier” research and provide support to innovative high-risk and high scientific impact research projects conducted by Principal Investigators (PI) with internationally recognized curricula. Proposals are welcome from any scientific and disciplinary area.

Who can participate?

The European Research Council (ERC) funds high quality research by academics of all ages and nationalities who intend to carry out cutting-edge research in EU member states or associated countries. ERC Calls are subdivided into the following funding types:

• Starting Grants (StG): reserved for researchers with 2-7 years post-doctoral (or other equivalent title) experience and with a promising scientific curriculum;
• Consolidator Grants (CoG): reserved for researchers with 7-12 years post-doctoral (or other equivalent title) experience and who have already proven their independent research potential and scientific maturity;
• Advanced Grants (AdG): reserved for researchers of all ages and nationalities, who are scientifically independent and have a research activity curriculum that identifies them as leaders in their research sectors;
• Synergy Grants (SyG): reserved for small groups of Principal Investigators (min. 2, max. 4), independently from their number of years of post-doctoral experience;
• Proof of Concept (PoC): reserved for ERC grantees, it aims to guarantee a connection between basic and market research.

In the 2007-17 period, Sapienza University has obtained a variety of grants as a host institute or co-beneficiary. The full list of grants received is available at: 

Sapienza ERC Principal Investigators

The International Office – Researcher Mobility and European Programmes Sector provides a wide range of services for academics and researchers who wish to present an ERC project proposal, including:

• Information on calls
• Pre-feasibility evaluation of project idea 
• Support and technical assistance for registration and submissions on the Participant Portal
• Proposal pre-screening
• Budget definition support

For further information: please refer to the contacts section.

Moreover, the International Office will be able to provide a grant to support the preparation of ERC Principal Investigators who have successfully passed the first step of the ERC StG or CoG selection procedures and have been summoned to Brussels for a selection interview. 

For further information: please see the note available in the download section.