ERC Scientific Council readjusts rules for reapplication

On 16 April 2026, the European Research Council (ERC) had announced that is planning to launch the grant competitions under its 2027 Work Programme between July 2026 and June 2027, with the calls for proposals introducing several changes to the eligibility rules for applications. With these measures, the Scientific Council intended to respond in particular to the rapidly increasing number of applications, which is placing growing pressure on peer reviewers and the ERC Executive Agency. The new rules concerned new eligibility windows and new reapplication restrictions and raised many concerns within the scientific and research community. On 29 April 2026, the Scientific Council therefore declared that it has decided to readjust some of the announced changes. Its response to the community is set out in the letter below, signed by ERC President Maria Leptin on behalf of the Scientific Council. Details on the new rules are due to be published in a separate document "in due course". President Leptin's open letter reads as follows:

Dear applicants, dear grantees, dear panel members, 
Dear researchers and colleagues in the research community, 

The Scientific Council (ScC) of the European Research Council (ERC) would like to thank the many members of the research community who have responded to the changes in the rules for re-submission, as announced on 16 April 2026. While the main feedback was concern about the change in the rules for re-submission, these responses also express a great deal of support for the ERC as an important funder for frontier research in Europe. 

We value the useful and interesting suggestions in these responses. While many of the ideas had already been evaluated and considered by the ScC, we will carefully review the suggestions and continue to consider how we can work together to ensure a viable ERC into the future. It is vital that we address the increasing number of applications, while maintaining an assessment process of the very highest quality. This may include different measures, such as changes to the rules for re-submission. We will explain our thinking and responses to the proposals from the community in a separate document to be published on our website in due course. 

The clear request from the community has been for the ERC to reconsider how we manage the growing demand with an unchanged total budget. In the 2027 Work Programme, we have thus decided not to change the re-submission restrictions for Starting, Consolidator, Advanced and ERC Plus Grants from those employed over the past years (see footnote). However, we will use wider restrictions when it comes to applications for Synergy Grants (see footnote). 

We look forward to working with the community to ensure that the ERC continues to deliver the best support for research in Europe. 

Sincerely, 

ERC President Maria Leptin on behalf of the ERC Scientific Council

footnote:

Eligibility for the 2027 StG, CoG and AdG calls will follow the same rules as in the past: 
Applicants who received a C score at step 1 in the 2025 or 2026 StG/CoG/AdG call are not eligible.
Applicants who received a B score at step 1 in the 2026 StG/CoG/AdG call are not eligible. 

Eligibility for the 2027 ERC Plus call will be as follows: 
Applicants who received a C score at step 1 in the 2025 or 2026 StG/CoG/AdG call are not eligible. 
Applicants who received a B score at step 1 in the 2026 StG/CoG/AdG call are not eligible. 
Applicants who were not retained at step 1 in the 2026 ERC Plus call are not eligible. 

Eligibility for the 2027 SyG call will be as follows: 
Applicants who received a C score at step 1 in the 2025 or 2026 SyG/StG/CoG/AdG call are not eligible. 
Applicants who received a B score at step 1 in the 2026 SyG/StG/CoG/AdG call are not eligible. 

Note that eligibility of applicants for the 2028 calls will be determined only in the 2028 Work Programme

The original open letter can be found on the ERC website.