he European Research Council has presented the preliminary data on submitted proposals to its ERC Advanced Grants 2025 call which closed for applications on 28 August 2025. ERC Advanced Grants are designed to support excellent researchers at the career stage when they are already established leaders with a recognised track record of research achievements. The principal investigators must demonstrate the ground‐breaking nature, ambition, and feasibility of their research proposal. The figures show a sharp increase in the number of proposals received compared to previous years:
- For the Advanced Grants 2025 Call, the ERC received 3,329 proposals — 31% more than last year and 82% more than the year before that.
- The highest number of applications was submitted in Physical Sciences and Engineering (1,341), followed by Social Science and Humanities (1,013), and Life Sciences (975).
- Women submitted 840 proposals (25.2%), which is also a higher share than in the past two years.
In its Work Programme 2025, the ERC earmarked €683 million for an estimated 276 Advanced Grants. The ERC is now starting the evaluation of the proposals. The selected projects will likely be announced in the spring of 2026.
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