What is Horizon 2020 ?
Horizon 2020 is the eighth phase of the Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development, funding programmes created by the European Union in order to support and encourage research in the European Research Area (ERA). It implements Europe 2020 and Innovation Union strategies. The programme runs from 2014–2020 and provides an estimated €80 billion of funding.
For more general information, please refer to the EU projects office at CERN.
Please have a look at our latest news regarding Horizon 2020 financial rules.
ERC (European Research Council)
- General Overview
- Advanced Grant
- Consolidator Grant
- Starting Grant
- Certificate on Financial Statement
- Overheads
General Overview
The fundamental activity of the ERC is to provide attractive, long-term funding to support excellent investigators and their research teams to pursue ground-breaking, high-gain/ high-risk research.
Advanced Grant
- May be awarded up to a maximum of 2.5 million euro for a period of 5 years*
- up to an additional 1'000'000 EUR** can be requested in the proposal to cover:
- eligible "start-up" costs for Principal Investigators moving to the EU or an Associated Country from elsewhere as a consequence of receiving the ERC grant
- the purchase of major equipment
- access to large facilities
- The Principal investigator funded through the ERC Consolidator Grant shall spend a minimum of 30% of his/her total working time on the ERC project
*the maximum award is reduced pro-rata temporis for projects of a shorter duration
**additional funding is not subject to pro-rata temporis
Consolidator Grant
- May be awarded up to a maximum of 2 million euro for a period of 5 years*
- up to an additional 750'000 EUR** can be requested in the proposal to cover:
- eligible "start-up" costs for Principal Investigators moving to the EU or an Associated Country from elsewhere as a consequence of receiving the ERC grant
- the purchase of major equipment
- access to large facilities
- The Principal investigator funded through the ERC Consolidator Grant shall spend a minimum of 50% of his/her total working time on the ERC project
*the maximum award is reduced pro-rata temporis for projects of a shorter duration
**additional funding is not subject to pro-rata temporis
Starting Grant
- May be awarded up to a maximum of 1.5 million euro for a period of 5 years*
- up to an additional 500'000 EUR** can be requested in the proposal to cover:
- eligible "start-up" costs for Principal Investigators moving to the EU or an Associated Country from elsewhere as a consequence of receiving the ERC grant
- the purchase of major equipment
- access to large facilities
- The Principal investigator funded through the ERC Consolidator Grant shall spend a minimum of 50% of his/her total working time on the ERC project
*the maximum award is reduced pro-rata temporis for projects of a shorter duration
**additional funding is not subject to pro-rata temporis
Certificate on Financial Statement
A CFS (audit certificate) is required only once, at the end of the project, when the EC contribution exceeds 325,000€. The cost of the CFS shall be foreseen in the budget of projects where CERN’s contribution exceeds the threshold. The typical cost of a CFS is 5000€. Contradictory to FP7, costs for obtaining the CFS should be declared as “other direct costs” (and not subcontracting).
Overheads
The overhead rate for ERC's projects is 25%.
The procedure regarding the internal distribution of overheads is available below.