2026 ERC Work Program published
The European Research Council (ERC) has published its 2026 Work Program, setting out the regulations and timetable for the next funding Calls for what is Europe’s main frontier research program. The Calls will open soon, with the Starting Grant typology having a submission date of October 2025 and the Synergy Grant typology in November 2025. You can read the full ERC press release here.
To present the new work program, the ERC Executive Agency (ERCEA) will hold an online information session on July 10 at 14:00 (mainland Portugal time). This session is an essential opportunity for candidates to get to know all the changes in detail and clarify any doubts. Information about the event is available here: https://erc.europa.eu/news-events/events/webinar-erc-work-programme-2026.
Among the new features announced for this work program is a structural change in the proposal: Part B2 will now have a limit of seven pages for the Starting, Consolidator and Advanced typologies. It is advisable to read all the new specifications carefully in the official Calls documents and to attend this information session.
Researchers can still access the ERC-PT Pre-Assessment program, made available by FCT. This innovative and free service makes it possible to increase the competitiveness of proposals from the national scientific community. The timetable for this service is available here and is already aligned with the official ERC timetable.
FCT will also co-organize three sessions dedicated to the ERC and frontier research at the Science 2025 Meeting, on July 11, at 11:30 a.m. (European Research Council – What are the institutional strategies for obtaining ERC projects?), 2:00 p.m. (From Research Excellence to Social Impact: Success Stories with ERC Proof of Concept Studentships ) and 3:30 p.m. (ERC Success Stories in the Portuguese Academic Panorama). You can still register for the Science 2025 Meeting and take part in Portugal’s biggest science and innovation event.
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