+ More Filters

Reset Filters

Title

Funding Organization

Funding Type

Eligible Country

Deadline

Other (Select all that apply)

Show Expired Programs

Show Verified Programs

Not Verified

Public Engagement with Research Award

European Research Council

You are an ERC grantee? You carried out public engagement or science communication activities in the course of your project or up to two years after its end? Your efforts and impact can be rewarded with a prize of €10 000! Check if you are eligible, read the call documents and apply before the deadline.

Many ERC grantees engage the public with their research, showing commitment to bridging the gap between science and society. Some are outstanding science communicators, effectively conveying complex ideas to diverse audiences and promoting a deeper understanding of cutting-edge scientific advancements. Others invest in public outreach or embrace citizen science, enabling the public to actively participate in scientific research, fostering a sense of shared discovery.

The ERC's Public Engagement with Research Award recognizes and rewards grantees who successfully engage audiences outside their domain with ERC-funded research.

ERC Principal Investigators – even though they don’t have to include a plan for communication activities in their grant applications – have a contractual obligation to promote their ERC-funded research.

What is Public Engagement with Research?

In a two-way interaction, public engagement with ERC-funded activities involves the public in project design, conduct, or dissemination, fostering mutual understanding for mutual benefit.

The public engagement activities may include, for example:

Citizen science activities conducted in collaboration or consultation with the public at any stage of the frontier research project, from design to implementation. Citizen science initiatives comprise activities such as public consultations or citizen juries.
Public outreach activities putting the spotlight on a research topic by disseminating its content, promoting discussion, or inspiring potential future researchers. Public outreach initiatives can consist of diverse activities, such as art and science projects, educational programmes, exhibitions, and can include diverse audiences and venues such as students, schools, museums, or science festivals.
Activities that foster consultation and exchange with citizen groups to raise awareness on a topic, to address a societal challenge, or to contribute to an issue in the public debate. These activities can be undertaken based on preliminary or final project results, as well as any particular result or output generated in the context of an ERC frontier research project. Examples of people and organisations that are likely to be engaged include journalists, policy makers at regional, national, or international level, non-governmental organisations, citizen or patient groups, product users.

Award amount

Up to eight prizes will be awarded under this work programme of a value of €10 000 each.

Award criteria

The quality of the applications received will be evaluated on the basis of two weighted award criteria:

Strategy and implementation: quality of the public engagement strategy and its implementation, including appropriateness of the used tools, channels and resources and the implementation to the objectives and audience of the action. Degree of novelty or creativity of the approach. quality of the public engagement strategy, its alignment with action objectives and audience, and the novelty or creativity of the approach, along with the appropriateness of tools, channels, and resources used.
Impact: quantitative and qualitative evidence of the activity’s success in achieving its own public engagement objectives, including evidence of learning by the research team or the public who engaged in the activity on how to successfully engage with each other. quantitative and qualitative evidence of the activity’s success in achieving its own public engagement objectives, including possible evidence of learning for both the research team and the engaged public regarding successful engaging strategies.

AI Based Application Success Predictor

1. A bold, high-gain scientific idea (“high risk–high reward”)

ERC reviewers consistently fund projects that:

Challenge existing paradigms

Propose new concepts, techniques, directions

Have transformative (not incremental) potential

Predictor: A clearly disruptive idea expressed in the first page.

2. Grounding the bold idea in convincing feasibility

ERC wants ambition + credibility. The most successful projects combine:

Strong preliminary evidence

Clear methodological path

Demonstrated expertise in all required techniques

Predictor: Balance of ambition and feasibility.

3. An outstanding PI track record (relative to career stage)

ERC is PI-centric, and panel scoring heavily favors excellence markers such as:

For ERC Starting:

Top publications without supervisor

Early independence signals

Awards, invited talks, collaborations

For ERC Consolidator:

Sustained, rising trajectory

Clear independent research line

High-quality papers as senior/last author

For ERC Advanced:

Field leadership

Major contributions

High citation impact

Global visibility

For ERC Synergy:

Complementary leaders solving a problem no one PI could solve

Predictor: Demonstrated independence + excellence, visible in the CV.

4. A crystal-clear research question + objectives

Funded ERC proposals have:

Very focused central questions

2–3 major objectives (not 7–10)

A narrative that flows logically from problem → idea → approach

Predictor: Clarity and coherence of the scientific story.

5. A well-designed work plan (coherent with risk and ambition)

Panels reject proposals with ambiguous or overly dense work packages. Successful ones show:

Well-defined WPs, tasks, and milestones

Mitigation plans for risks

Credible team recruitment strategy

Predictor: Clear, realistic execution strategy.

6. Strong novelty & breakthrough character

ERC panels consistently identify lack of innovation as the main reason for rejection.
Successful grants articulate:

What is fundamentally new

Why the idea could not be done before

Why ERC funding is uniquely enabling

Predictor: Persuasive articulation of “what’s new and why it matters.”

7. PI’s intellectual ownership and independence

Across Starting/Consolidator panels, a major success predictor is:

The project clearly originates from the PI and reflects their independent research vision.

Panels look for independence from:

Former supervisors

Host institution agendas

Collaborators

Predictor: Clear solo intellectual leadership.

8. A compelling first page (ERC’s most important page)

Panels repeatedly state:

Funding decisions are often shaped by the first page and extended synopsis.

Successful PIs use the first page to communicate:

Big idea

Why it is urgent

Why only they can do it

What breakthroughs are expected

Predictor: Immediate clarity and excitement.

🔍 Predictors Specific to Each ERC Scheme

⭐ ERC Starting Grant Predictors

Evidence of early independence

Publications without PhD/postdoc supervisor

Strong letters supporting independence

A sharply focused, high-risk idea

Red flag: If the proposal looks like a continuation of the supervisor’s line.

⭐ ERC Consolidator Grant Predictors

Distinct scientific leadership

A coherent, growing research portfolio

Ability to run a team

Work plan showing the next 5–7 years of a research vision

Red flag: Fragmented research output.

⭐ ERC Advanced Grant Predictors

A transformative idea requiring a leader’s expertise

A track record showing major scientific influence

Bold, visionary concepts

Red flag: Incremental or too safe proposals.

⭐ ERC Synergy Grant Predictors

A truly non-reducible interdisciplinary challenge

Complementary PIs each indispensable

Demonstrated capacity to collaborate effectively

Red flag: Projects that could be done by one PI.

❌ Common Reasons ERC Proposals Fail

Panels repeatedly cite the same issues:

Too descriptive, not conceptual

Not novel enough

Excessive work packages or unclear methodology

Weak risk assessment

PI’s track record not matching the ambition

Objectives too broad or unfocused

Proposal does not read as a coherent scientific vision

The first page fails to excite

Specialties

Public Health

Eligibility Requirements

All Principal Investigators in an ERC frontier research project, ongoing or ended on or after 31 December 2023, are eligible to apply. Please see Annex 3 of the ERC Work Programme 2026 for any restrictions.

Each Principal Investigator may submit only one application per ERC project under this work programme.

Eligible and admissible applications

All applications must refer to public engagement activities for an ERC-funded project, regardless of the sources of funding for the public engagement activities themselves. These activities should be sufficiently mature to demonstrate impact.

Sponsor Details

Sponsor Institute/Organizations: European Research Council

Sponsor Type: Corporate/Non-Profit

Address: Place Rogier 16 B-1049 Brussels

Legal & Affiliation Disclaimer

Affiliation Disclaimer: Trialect operates independently and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or supported by any sponsors or organizations posting on the GrantsBoard platform. As an independent aggregator of publicly available funding opportunities, Trialect provides equal access to information for all users without endorsing any specific funding source, content, organization, or sponsor. Trialect assumes no responsibility for the content posted by sponsors or third parties.

Subscription Disclaimer: Upon logging into Trialect, you may choose to SUBSCRIBE to GrantsBoard for timely notifications of funding opportunities and to access exclusive benefits, such as priority alerts, reminders, personalized recommendations, and additional application support. However, users are advised to contact sponsors directly for any questions and are not required to subscribe to engage with funding opportunities.

Content Ownership and Copyright Disclaimer: Trialect respects the intellectual property rights of all organizations and individuals. All content posted on GrantsBoard is provided solely for informational purposes and remains the property of the original owners. Trialect does not claim ownership of, nor does it have any proprietary interest in, content provided by third-party sponsors. Users are encouraged to verify content and ownership directly with the posting sponsor.

Fair Use Disclaimer: The information and content available on GrantsBoard are compiled from publicly accessible sources in alignment with fair use principles under U.S. copyright law. Trialect serves as an aggregator of this content, offering it to users in good faith and with the understanding that it is available for public dissemination. Any organization or individual who believes their intellectual property rights have been violated is encouraged to contact us for prompt resolution.

Third-Party Posting Responsibility Disclaimer: Trialect is a neutral platform that allows third-party sponsors to post funding opportunities for informational purposes only. Sponsors are solely responsible for ensuring that their postings comply with copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. Trialect assumes no liability for any copyright or intellectual property infringements in third-party content and will take appropriate action to address any substantiated claims.

Accuracy and Verification Disclaimer: Trialect makes no warranties regarding the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information provided by sponsors. Users are advised to verify the details of any funding opportunity directly with the sponsor before taking action. Trialect cannot be held liable for any discrepancies, omissions, or inaccuracies in third-party postings.

Notice and Takedown Policy: Trialect is committed to upholding copyright law and protecting the rights of intellectual property owners. If you believe that content on GrantsBoard infringes your copyright or intellectual property rights, please contact us with detailed information about the claim. Upon receipt of a valid notice, Trialect will promptly investigate and, where appropriate, remove or disable access to the infringing content.

View Funding Opportunity