The European Research Council (ERC) has announced the results of the 2025 Advanced Grants competition, allocating a total of €838 million to support frontier research projects led by established scientists across Europe. Funded under the Horizon Europe programme, the grants are designed to enable ambitious, high-risk, high-gain research that could lead to major scientific breakthroughs in a wide range of disciplines.
A total of 319 projects have been selected for funding from more than 3,000 proposals submitted, corresponding to a success rate of 9.6%. Each grant will support a five-year research programme, covering fields that range from medicine and neuroscience to engineering, physical sciences, social sciences and the humanities.
International participation and new research opportunities
The successful researchers represent more than 30 nationalities, highlighting the international character of the ERC programme. Beyond supporting cutting-edge science, the funded projects are also expected to have a significant economic impact, creating more than 3,000 new jobs within the research teams that will carry out the projects over the next five years.
Among the awardees are 13 researchers currently based outside Europe, including nine from the United States, two from Australia and two from Canada. Seven of these scientists benefited from the additional relocation support available under the “Choose Europe for Science” initiative, which aims to attract leading international researchers to European research institutions.
Looking ahead to the 2026 call
While the 2025 competition has now concluded, preparations for the next funding round are already underway. The ERC Advanced Grants 2026 call has closed for applications, with the submission deadline set on 27 August 2026. Successful applicants will continue the ERC’s mission of advancing excellent, investigator-driven research capable of addressing some of the most complex scientific challenges and generating discoveries with long-term societal impact.
