ERC-PT - FCT

Encouraging the conditions for a future ERC application by funding the initial development of research projects that have already been evaluated with top ratings but were not selected for ERC funding.

In addition to ERC-PT Projects, the ERC-Portugal program includes two further strands: ERC-PT and ERC PT – Careers.

Objectives and Scope

The European Research Council (ERC) launches annual funding opportunities for researchers with highly demanding and rigorous evaluation and selection processes. Many applications are considered to be of high scientific quality and are recommended for funding, but do not receive it because the budget allocated to the Call has been exhausted. This includes proposals classified as "A-Reserve List" that are not subsequently selected for funding, or "A-Beyond Budget" proposals.

This funding is intended to serve as an incentive for SNCT institutions and their researchers to strengthen applications submitted to the ERC that have obtained an 'A' rating after the last evaluation phase and have been recommended for funding but were ultimately not funded.

The program will foster the development of the innovation ecosystem, focusing on supporting fundamental research, promoting knowledge transfer, and strengthening cross-sector collaboration. The ERC-PT Program will contribute to the goal of raising and consolidating the level of excellence of research conducted in Portugal, while promoting the capacity building of innovative lines of research and their lead researchers.

The ERC-PT Program falls under the resilience dimension of the PRR, and in particular under the component “RE-C06-i06 – Science Plus Training,” contributing to modernizing and deepening the production and transfer of knowledge in all its various cycles.

Characterization of financing

ERC-PT will serve as a support instrument for researchers and their research institutions whose applications to the ERC, in the Starting, Consolidator, Advanced, or Synergy categories, obtained an 'A' rating after the final evaluation phase but were not awarded funding.

According to the types of applications submitted to the ERC, the funding to be allocated will be as follows:

Starting, Consolidator, or Advanced types: funding will correspond to an incentive of €250,000.
Typology Synergy:
1. Applications with one Principal Investigator affiliated with an SNCT institution: funding will result from applying the formula‘€150,000 + f.€100,000’, where f corresponds to the percentage to be received by the PI from the total budget submitted in the application to the ERC evaluated with an ‘A’ rating.
2. Applications with more than one Principal Investigator affiliated with an SNCT institution: the funding formula to be allocated to each PI will be‘€150,000/x + f.€100,000’, where x corresponds to the number of PIs involved in the application, with f remaining the percentage to be received by each PI of the total budget submitted in the application to the ERC evaluated with an ‘A’ rating.

Final beneficiaries

The final beneficiaries are:

R&D units with legal personality.
In the case of R&D units without legal personality, applications must be submitted by the institution with legal personality to which they belong and by the head of that institution.

Application Period

The application period for this Notice is from September 26, 2024 , until 5 p.m. Lisbon time on December 31, 2025 , or until the maximum allocation for the program is reached, whichever occurs first. Monthly checks are carried out to verify the eligibility of the applications submitted.

If the maximum allocation is reached in one of the monthly application selection periods, funding will be awarded based on the date of submission.