Pillar I: European Research Council (ERC) Synergy Grant
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While Canada has become associated to only Pillar II of Horizon Europe, Canadian researchers can also receive funding through the ERC’s Synergy Grant (SyG) program. Pillar I supports “Excellent Science” through grants to individual researchers (and their teams) who have innovative ideas. One of the researchers in this group can be working at any eligible institution in the world, even if the host country is not associated with Horizon europe.
Key Aspects
This very prestigious grant is very competitive with a success rate of less than 10%. A group of two to maximum four Principal Investigators (PIs) working together and bringing different skills and resources to tackle ambitious research problems. Proposals are evaluated on the sole criterion of scientific excellence which takes on the additional meaning of outstanding intrinsic synergistic effect.
Value
Up to €10M + up to €4M to cover cost of lab relocation to the EU or an Associated Country
Funding Duration
Up to 6 years
Contact
If you are talking with colleagues about being one of the investigators.
Grant Kemp
Research Partner, VPRI Research Partners Network
grant.kemp@ualberta.ca
Deadlines
- November 2025
- RAS Internal Review Deadline
- Early November, 2025 (Submit application to RAS via the Researcher Home Page)
ERC Synergy Grant Website
For more information on the ERC Synergy Grant program, please visit the ERC Synergy Grant website or contact Grant Kemp.