Pillar 1

Pillar 1 is the area of Horizon Europe where researchers have the most choice about the topics they want to research. This is because Pillar 1 contains the fellowship opportunities as well as the European Research Council (ERC) schemes.

The European Research Council (ERC)

The ERC supports frontier ‘high-risk, high-gain’ research. The ERC’s ‘bottom-up’ approach is similar to the UKRI standard grants in that researchers put forward their own research plans, focused on research excellence and growing Europe’s scientific competitiveness. ERC grants are large prestigious awards, with the potential for some follow-on funding. Calls run annually.

The ERC is organised into four main areas covering multiple career stages:

Starting grants are aimed at researchers with two to seven years of experience since completion of their PhD and a scientific track record showing great promise. Funding is up to €1.5 million over 5 years (pro rata for a shorter duration). An extra €1 million can be requested to cover “start-up” costs for researchers moving from a third country to the EU or an associated country and/or the purchase of major equipment and/or access to large facilities and/or other major experimental and field work costs.

Consolidator grants are for researchers of any nationality with seven to 12 years of experience since completion of their PhD, and a scientific track record showing great promise. Funding is up to €2 million over five years (pro rata for a shorter duration). An extra €1 million can be requested to cover “start-up” costs for researchers moving from a third country to the EU or an associated country and/or the purchase of major equipment and/or access to large facilities and/or other major experimental and field work costs.

Advanced grants are expected to be active researchers who have a track-record of significant research achievements. Applicants should be exceptional leaders in terms of originality and significance of their research contributions. There are no specific eligibility criteria with respect to the academic requirements. Funding is up to €2.5 million over five years (pro rata for a shorter duration). An extra €1 million can be requested to cover “start-up” costs for researchers moving from a third country to the EU or an associated country and/or the purchase of major equipment and/or access to large facilities and/or other major experimental and field work costs.

Synergy grants offer funding for up to four Principal Investigators based in different countries and their related teams.

Proof of Concept Grants

Proof of Concept Grants are for researchers who have already received an ERC grant for their frontier research project and now want to explore the commercial or societal potential of their work.

All Principal Investigators in one of the ERC frontier research main grants (Starting, Consolidator, Advanced or Synergy) are eligible to participate and apply for an ERC Proof of Concept Grant. The Starting, Consolidator and Advanced Grants are focused on the individual and the team they have built to support them - team members can of any nationality.

ERC awards do not require mobility across European and Associated countries.

The Principal Investigator must be able to demonstrate the relation between the idea to be taken to proof of concept and the ERC frontier research project in question.

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

With a focus on excellence, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) provide a range of fellowship, training and mobility schemes to support researchers from all over the world at all stages of their careers. MSCA funding focuses on boosting researchers’ training, skills and career development, as well as increasing their international and intersectoral exposure. They are ‘bottom up’ in terms of topics and include individual fellowships and larger network funding for doctoral training.

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships support postdoctoral researchers by diversifying their skill acquisition through advanced training, international, and/or inter-sectoral, as well as interdisciplinary mobility in all subject areas. Incentives are provided to support individual researchers to restart their careers after a break from research, to reintegrate back into Europe after spending time abroad, as well as to increase the involvement of the non-academic sector. This is an annual competition with a deadline in September.

Postdoctoral Fellowships either can take place in an EU Member State or Associated Country (including the UK) or in a Third Country not associated to Horizon Europe:

  • European Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to researchers of any nationality who wish to engage in R&I projects by either coming to Europe from any country in the world or moving within Europe. The standard fellowship duration is between 12 and 24 months.
  • Global Postdoctoral Fellowships are open to European nationals or long-term residents who wish to engage in R&I projects with organisations outside EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries. These fellowships require an outgoing phase of minimum 12 and maximum 24 months in a non-associated Third Country, and a mandatory 12-month return phase to a host organisation based in an EU Member State or a Horizon Europe Associated Country.

Both types of fellowships may also include short-term secondments anywhere in the world, and/or researchers can receive additional support to carry out a placement of up to six months in a non-academic organisation.

MSCA Staff Exchanges support research and innovation staff at all career stages to encourage knowledge sharing as well as the advancement of science and innovation. The scheme supports new and existing staff exchanges between countries, sectors and disciplines.

  • The next deadline is in February 2025.

MSCA Doctoral Network (DN) are European-level training networks essentially funding training for doctoral candidates via international networks of academic and non-academic institutions. DNs are designed to train a new generation of creative, entrepreneurial and innovative researchers. After training, researchers must be awarded a doctoral-level degree and should also have the skills needed to proactively work and communicate across different disciplines, sectors and national boundaries. DN projects provide research and transferable skills training at both individual researcher and network level.

  • The next MSCA DN call deadline is in November 2024.

COFUND provides co-financing for new or existing doctoral programmes and postdoctoral fellowship programmes at national, regional, or international level as well as at the level of individual institutions. COFUND is not consortium-based, but it is possible to include global academic and non-academic partners. COFUND is open to all areas of research and innovation, and aims to stimulate excellence in international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary researcher training, mobility and career development through the co-funding of new or existing programmes. COFUND projects should last for up to five years and should recruit at least three researchers.

  • The next deadline is in September 2024.