The 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. Principal Investigators must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their research proposal.

A competitive Consolidator Grant Principal Investigator should have already shown evidence of research independence.

Size of ERC Consolidator Grants

Consolidator Grants may be awarded up to a maximum of EUR 2 000 000 for a period of 5 years. The maximum size of the grants is reduced pro rata temporis for projects of a shorter duration. (This does not apply to ongoing projects).

Additional funding up to EUR 1 000 000 can be requested in the proposal to cover the following eligible costs when these are necessary to carry out the proposed work: (a) "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, and/or (d) other major experimental and field work costs, excluding personnel costs.

Additional funding is not subject to pro rata temporis reduction for projects of shorter duration.

All funding requested is assessed during evaluation.

Profile of the ERC Consolidator Grant Principal Investigator

The Principal Investigators shall have successfully defended their first PhD at least 7 and up to 12 years prior to 1 January 2025. Cut-off dates: Successful defence of PhD between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2017 (inclusive).

The eligibility period can be extended beyond 12 years in certain properly documented circumstances. See section Admissibility and eligibility criteria of the ERC Work Programme 2025.

Applications for an ERC grant require a single Principal Investigator (PI) to submit the application on behalf of their host institution.

The host institution must offer suitable conditions for the PI to independently lead the research and manage funding. The PI can be hosted by any legal entity in an EU Member State or associated country.

The PI does not need to be employed by the host institution at the time of proposal submission, but a mutual agreement and commitment are necessary if the proposal is successful.

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