Overview

The SFI ERC Support Programme is run as a rolling call. Applications are invited from senior representatives of the Host Institutions of recruited awardees that have been funded through the ERC Starting Grant, Consolidator Grant, Advanced Grant or Synergy Grant schemes. The ERC awardee associated with the application must have succeeded in obtaining their award from a Host Institution outside of Ireland. The proximity of an application to this programme to the official starting date of the associated ERC award may affect the level of funding available. The aims of the SFI ERC Support Programme are:

  • To allow Irish institutions to recruit ERC-funded researchers from outside of Ireland 
  • To help recruited ERC awardees by providing excellent facilities and infrastructure 
  • To enhance the benefits of applying to ERC schemes for institutions and applicants  
  • To increase, in the long term, the participation of Ireland-based researchers in all ERC schemes 
  • To increase, in the long term, Ireland’s success rate across all ERC schemes 

The Applicant

  • The applicant must be an appointed senior representative (e.g., Vice President for Research, Dean of Research, Head of Research, etc.) of the Research Office of an SFI Eligible Research Body hosting the research programme of an ERC awardee who can demonstrate that they have officially transferred, or will officially transfer, their ERC award to their institution from an institution based outside of Ireland.  
  • The recruited awardee must have been successful in any of the following ERC schemes: the ERC Starting Grant, ERC Consolidator Grant, ERC Advanced Grant and ERC Synergy Grant.
  • The recruited awardee may have submitted their proposal to any panel within the three ERC domains. However, applications associated with ERC awardees whose funded research cannot clearly be shown to align with SFI’s legal remit will not be accepted.

Funding

This call to the SFI ERC Support Programme offers a maximum award of €300,000, which is provided as an overhead to the Host Institution of a recruited ERC awardee. Regardless of which ERC scheme the awardee applied to, the maximum award is the same. The funding may be requested for two principal purposes: 

  • To help provide an optimal environment to allow the recruited awardee to succeed with their ERC-funded research programme 
  • To assist the Host Institution to be successful in winning ERC awards through future funding calls 

No more than 25% of the total funding requested (i.e., a maximum of €75,000) may be used for the latter purpose. 

Researchers recruited to Ireland before being notified of the outcome of an ERC application may not be associated with an application to this call. Only researchers holding either an active or approved (but not started) ERC grant can be the subject of an application to this call

Deadlines

This programme will run as a rolling call for applications. Applications may be submitted after relocation of an ERC awardee to Ireland has been agreed. SFI ERC Support Programme awards will only be made if a reasonable amount of time remains on the ERC award following transfer to an Irish Host Institution. The level of funding awarded in such instances will be decided on a case-by-case basis that may be determined by the time remaining on the ERC award. 

Downloads

SFI ERC Support Programme Call Document

Further Information

For all queries, please contact erc@sfi.ie