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deadline: Jan 25, 2012

For 2012 the ERC has introduced the ‘Synergy Grant‘, which is intended to enable a small group of Principal Investigators and their teams to bring together complementary skills, knowledge, and resources in new ways, in order to jointly address research problems. 

ERC Synergy Grants in brief

• Research proposal: pioneering frontier research in any field of science, engineering or scholarship
• Groups applying for the ERC Synergy Grant must be made up of a minimum of two and a maximum of four Principal Investigators (PIs) and, as necessary, their teams
• One of the PIs acts as the ‘Corresponding PI’ with the ERCEA on behalf of the group
• No specific eligibility criteria are foreseen for PIs applying for the ERC Synergy Grants, but only exceptional proposals are likely to be funded in what are expected to be extremely competitive calls
• It is expected that in most cases ERC Synergy Groups will be interdisciplinary, often using multidisciplinary approaches. However this is not a requirement and colleagues from the same or similar disciplines bringing together complementary approaches, expertise and resources can apply
• Similarly Synergy Groups are not required to be co-located but the PIs in the group will have to demonstrate their commitment to the group project including willingness to spend significant ‘core time’ together at the same physical location
• The Host Institution that engages the Corresponding Principal Investigator for the duration of the grant should be a legally recognised public or private research organisation situated in one of the EU Member States or Associated Countries
• Funding: up to a maximum of €15 million for a period up to 6 years (pro rata for projects of shorter duration)
• Calls for proposals: published annually with one deadline