ERC Consolidator, Feb 2018

ERC Consolidator Grants are designed to support excellent Principal Investigators at the career stage at which they may still be consolidating their own independent research team or programme. Applicant Principal Investigators must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their scientific proposal.

Consolidator Grants may be awarded up to a maximum of EUR 2 000 000 for a period of 5 years (The maximum award is reduced pro rata temporis for projects of a shorter duration).

However, up to an additional EUR 750 000 can be requested in the proposal to cover (a) eligible "start-up" costs for Principal Investigators moving to the EU or an Associated Country from elsewhere as a consequence of receiving the ERC grant and/or (b) the purchase of major equipment and/or (c) access to large facilities (As any additional funding is to cover major one-off costs it is not subject to pro-rata temporis reduction for projects of shorter duration. All funding requested is assessed during evaluation).

The Principal Investigator shall have been awarded their first PhD over 7 and up to 12 years prior to 1 January 2018 - there are exceptions to this count so if you're close to the cut-off or had time out of your career for any reason, look at the ERC website or speak to your finance team to see if you are still eligible.

The ERC actions are open to researchers of any nationality who intend to conduct their research activity in any EU Member State or H2020 Associated Country. Principal Investigators may be of any age and nationality and may reside in any country in the world at the time of the application. ERC Principal Investigators do not have to be based full-time in Europe.

ERC application rules are complex, so ensure you check out the full call text and rules on their website.