Complementary schemes

ERC National Support Instruments

The European Research Council ERC aims to support scientific excellence in the European Union and its associated member states, as well as to attract top scientists from all over the world. ERC in principle publishes five calls each year. The first one is the call for Starting Grant and is intended for researchers who obtained their PhD two to seven years ago. The second one is the call for Consolidator Grant and is intended for those researchers who are still consolidating their independent research career and who obtained their PhD seven to twelve years ago. The third call is intended to support excellent, already established researchers with recognizable scientific achievements in the last ten years, Advanced Grant. The fourth call for applications for ERC Grant is Synergy Grantwhich is intended for projects in which several principal investigators (from two to four) participate in a coordinated manner, addressing very multidisciplinary challenges. In addition to these main categories, the ERC also provides financial support for the assessment of innovative potential, Proof of Concept for those ERC Grants who wish to further develop their research results. The ERC follows only the criteria of scientific excellence when selecting projects.

 

 

To help researchers applying with a Slovenian research organisation as host institution to be successful in the ERC calls, the Agency offers applicants four supporting instruments: ERC Focus, ERC Perspective, ERC Potential and ERC New Horizons.

 

 

ERC Focus

In the ERC Focus call, the Agency (co)finances visits by former and current ERC principal investigators outside the Republic of Slovenia, who have already carried out or are currently carrying out ERC Grant (Starting Grant, Consolidator Grant, Advanced Grant) in any scientific discipline. Guest visits for researchers are fixed-term (indivisible) visits lasting from one to six months.

The aim of the call is to work with a former or current ERC principal investigator, thereby developing the skills to prepare your own project and increasing the chances of a Slovenian researcher becoming an ERC Grantee. After the end of the hosting period, it is compulsory to apply for an ERC Grant, namely within the period of the first two ERC calls of the same type after the end of the hosting period. The deadline for applying for an ERC call is the second possible date of application for the same type of ERC call, for which the visiting researcher meets the conditions at the time of application. In the event that the visiting researcher, in relation to the year of the defense of the first doctorate, fulfils the eligibility conditions for the higher career level of the ERC calls between the first and the second possible date of application for the same ERC call and did not apply for the ERC call on the first possible date, the second possible date of application for the ERC call at a higher level is taken into account as the deadline for submitting the application to the ERC call, which is also determined according to the end of the hosting period.

ERC Perspective

The application for the ERC Perspective research project can be submitted by applicants for researchers who has submitted application for an ERC call (Starting Grant, Consolidator Grant or Advanced Grant) in the role of host research organization in Slovenia and have reached the threshold in the review process set out in the applicable ERC call, but have not been selected for ERC funding. The ERC Perspective research project must enable the realization of research that will lead to the main objectives of the research project with which the applicant applied for the ERC call.

The purpose of the call is to provide applicants conditions to improve their own scientific excellence and the original idea of the research project, with the aim that the ERC Perspective research project's principal investigator will resubmit the application to the ERC call with a greater chance of becoming an ERC Grantee.

The ERC Perspective research project's principal investigator must be the same as the principal investigator of the ERC Grant that was the subject of the ERC evaluation process. At the same time, the ERC Perspective research project's principal investigator must not be the holder of an ongoing ERC Perspective research project on the last day of the deadline for the submission of applications for calls for ERC Perspective research projects. The applicant may submit two applications for (co)financing of an ERC Perspective research project for an individual ERC Perspective research project's principal investigator, until they have been awarded an ERC Grant under the same ERC call (Starting Grant, Consolidator Grant and Advanced Grant), whereby the second application of the ERC Perspective research project must demonstrate that the ERC Perspective research project's principal investigator's performance in the ERC call (the threshold for possible co-funding) has been at least a B grade at the second level. The applicant can re-submit an application for (co)financing of an ERC Perspective research project twice for an individual ERC Perspective research project's principal investigator, until the ERC Grant has been awarded again under the same ERC call (Starting Grant, Consolidator Grant in Advanced Grant), whereby the second application of the ERC Perspective research project must demonstrate that the ERC Perspective research project's principal investigator's performance in the ERC call (the threshold for possible co-funding) has been at least a B grade at the second level.

ERC Potential

The application for the ERC Potential research project can be submitted by applicants for researchers who has applied for the ERC call (Starting Grant, Consolidator Grant, Advanced Grant and Synergy Grant) in the role of host research organization in Slovenia and were awarded with ERC Grant.

The purpose of the call for (co)financing of ERC Potential research projects is to provide initial support for preparation on the implementation of the awarded ERC Grant, in the interim period between the ERC's announcement of the (co)financing and the actual start of the ERC Grant’s.

An ERC Potential research project may last for a maximum up to six months before the start of the ERC Grant. The ERC Grant must be implemented at the host research organization in Slovenia.

ERC New Horizons

The application for the ERC New Horizons research project can be submitted by applicants, the research organizations for researchers holding an ERC Starting Grant, Consolidator Grant, Advanced Grant or Synergy Grant. The applicant must have been in the role of host RO in Slovenia in the mentioned ongoing or completed ERC Grants.

The purpose of the call for ERC New Horizons research projects is to ensure the retention of the core of an already established research group for the implementation of the ERC Grant. At the same time the purpose is also preparation for the resubmission of the application for the ERC call or for the submission of the application for the calls of the framework program of the European Union for Research and Innovation as coordinator, and at the same time to encourage cooperation and transfer of knowledge between research organizations in Slovenia.

The applicant can apply for (co)financing of the ERC New Horizons research project for a single ERC principal investigator for the same ERC Grant only once, namely within a period of one year before the end of the ERC Grant, or no later than one year after the end of the ERC Grant. The specified limitation applies to each ERC principal investigator, regardless of the applicant with whom he/she submits the application.

After the completion of the ERC New Horizons research project, it is mandatory to apply for the ERC call, or to apply as coordinator to other calls of the framework program of the European Union for Research and Innovation. The application must be submitted within the period of the first two ERC calls of the same type after the completion of the research project, the deadline for submitting the application to the ERC call being the second possible date of application to the same type of ERC call, for which the principal investigator meets the conditions at the time of application. If the principal investigator of the ERC New Horizons research project fulfils the conditions for a higher career level of the ERC calls between the first and the second possible date of application for an ERC call of the same type, based on the year of defence of the first doctoral thesis, and has not applied for an ERC call at the first possible date, the second possible date of application for an ERC call at the higher career level, which is also determined according to the date of completion of the research project, is taken into account as the deadline for submitting an application for an ERC call. In the case of an application as a coordinator of the framework program of the European Union for Research and Innovation, the application must be submitted within two years of the completion of the research project. Otherwise, in accordance with the contract, the Agency will demand reimbursement of one third of the funds paid.

In addition to the host research organization, the ERC New Horizons research project must include at least one other participating research organization, which must be entered in the Register of Research Organizations and must participate in the research project in a proportion of at least 10% and no more than 50% of the approved FTE.


Facts & Figures: ERC Grantees

Facts & Figures 1: Approved ERC Perspective research projects (startign year of (co)financing)
 

Year Number of approvedERC Perspective research projects
2024 9
2023 16
2022 17
2021 20
2020 13
2019 16
2018 3
2017 2
2016 3
2015 5
2014 3
2013 3
2012 2
2011 7


Facts & Figures 2: ERC Grantees fromSlovenia: Starting Grant, Consolidator Grant, Advanced Grant
 

  Starting year ERC Grant PI -ERC Grant Research organization Project ERC CORDIS
25. 2024 izr. prof. dr. Lev Vidmar Institut »Jožef Stefan« CoG  
24. 2024 dr. Lea Rems Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za elektrotehniko StG REINCARNATION – Reversible and irreversible cardiac electroporation: Establishing the fundamentals to advance cardiac treatments
23. 2023 dr. Tomaž Prosen* Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za matematiko in fiziko AdG QUEST - Quantum Ergodicity: Stability and Transitions
22. 2023 dr. Saša Čaval* Znanstvenoraziskovalni center Slovenske akademije znanosti in umetnosti (ZRC SAZU) CoG STONE – Unde venis? Unraveling the enigma of stećci tombstones
21. 2023 dr. Mirjam Mencej Univerza v Ljubljani, Filozofska fakulteta AdG The roles of the agency of the dead in the lives of individuals in contemporary society
20. 2023 dr. Zala Lenarčič Institut »Jožef Stefan« StG DrumS – Weakly driven quantum Symmetries
19. 2023 dr. Maruša Bradač* Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za matematiko in fiziko AdG FIRSTLIGHT - Exploring Cosmic Dawn with James Webb Space Telescope
18. 2023 dr. Franc Forstnerič* Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za matematiko in fiziko AdG HPDR - Holomorphic Partial Differential Relations
17. 2023 dr. Borut Klabjan Znanstvenoraziskovalno središče Koper AdG OPEN BORDERS - Cold War Europe Beyond Borders. A Transnational History of Cross-Border Practices in the Alps-Adriatic area from World War II to the present
16. 2022 dr. Anna Sandak InnoRenew CoE Center odličnosti za raziskave in inovacije na področju obnovljivih materialov in zdravega bivanjskega okolja CoG ARCHI-SKIN
15. 2022 dr. Anna Dragoš* Univerza v Ljubljani, Biotehniška fakulteta StG PHAGECONTROL - The evolution of host manipulation by bacteriophage
14. 2021 dr. Matic Lozinšek Institut »Jožef Stefan« StG HiPeR-F - Challenging the Oxidation-State Limitations of the Periodic Table via High-Pressure Fluorine Chemistry
13. 2021 prof. dr. Matej Praprotnik Kemijski inštitut AdG MULTraSonicA - Multiscale modeling and simulation approaches for biomedical ultrasonic applications
12. 2021 prof. dr. Igor Muševič Institut »Jožef Stefan« AdG LOGOS - Light-operated logic circuits from photonic soft-matter
11. 2020 prof. dr. Peter Križan   Institut »Jožef Stefan« AdG FAIME - Flavour Anomalies with advanced particle Identification MEthods
10. 2020 prof. dr. Jernej Ule Kemijski inštitut AdG RNPdynamics - Multivalent interactions driving RNP dynamics in development and disease
9. 2020 dr. Nejc Hodnik* Kemijski inštitut StG 123STABLE – Razvoj zelo stabilnih nanostrukturiranih elektrokatalizatorjev
8. 2020 dr. Matjaž Humar* Institut »Jožef Stefan« StG Celični laserji: Povezovanje optičnih resonanc z biološkimi procesi
7. 2019 doc. dr. Jaka Tušek Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za strojništvo StG SUPERCOOL - Superelastične porozne strukture za učinkovito elastokalorično hlajenje
6. 2018 prof. dr. Roman Jerala* Kemijski inštitut AdG MaCChines - Molekulski stroji na osnovi proteinskega origamija iz obvitih vijačnic
5. 2018 prof. dr. Matevž Dular Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za strojništvo CoG CABUM - Kavitacija - od preprečevanja njenega nastanka do njene uporabe
4. 2017 prof. dr. Marta Verginella* Univerza v Ljubljani, Filozofska fakulteta AdG EIRENE - Povojne tranzicije v perspektivi spola
3. 2016 prof. dr. Tomaž Prosen* Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za matematiko in fiziko AdG OMNES - Odprti mnogodelčni neravnovesni sistemi
2. 2013 prof. dr. Dragan Mihailović* Institut »Jožef Stefan« AdG TRAJECTORY - Koherentni trajektoriji skozi fazne prehode z zlomom simetrije
1. 2011 prof. dr. Nedjeljka Žagar Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za matematiko in fiziko StG MODES - Analiza atmosferskega ravnovesja, napovedljivosti in klime s pomočjo normalnih načinov

 

Facts & Figures 3: ERC Grantees from Slovenia - Synergy grant
 

  Starting year ERC Grant PI ERC Grant Research organization Project ERC
 
CORDIS
 1. 2023 Prof. dr. Bojan Mohar* Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za matematiko in fiziko SyG KARST – »Predicting flow and transport in complex Karst systems«

 

Facts & Figures 4: ERC Grantees from Slovenia-Proof of Concept Grant
 

  Starting year ERC Grant
 
PI – ERC Grant Research organization ProjectERC CORDIS
5. 2023 dr. Peter Križan Institut »Jožef Stefan« PoC CherPET – Cherenkov light for total-body Positron Emission Tomography
4. 2022 dr. Matevž  Dular
 
Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za strojništvo PoC CAVIPHY - Exploitation of extreme cavitation conditions for wastewater treatment
3. 2020 dr. Nejc Hodnik* Kemijski inštitut PoC StableCat - Assessing the Technical and Business Feasibility of Highly-active and Stable Intermetallic Pt-alloy Catalysts for Application in PEMFC
2. 2019 dr. Roman Jerala* Kemijski inštitut PoC CCedit – Coiled-coil mediated exonuclease tethering technology for the enhancement of CRISPR gene edition
1. 2017 dr. Dragan Mihailović* Institut »Jožef Stefan« PoC Umem4QC - Ultrafast charge density wave memory for quantum computing

 

Facts & Figures 5: ERC Focus – approved
 

Leto Approved for co-financing on the basis of Visiting Fellowship Programme Success rate on ERC Calls
2017 7 2
2018 4  
2019 2  
2020 2  
2023 2