The number of grant applications is rising sharply. Our capacity for their evaluation isn’t. ERC President Maria Leptin explains why stricter resubmission limits are being introduced for 2027 calls and what they mean for applicants. 🔗 link.europa.eu/xF7kjc

I don’t know if you saw the MASSIVE news announced by @erc.europa.eu today: from now on, if you get a B at step 1 you are eligible to apply at N+3(!!!) years. Say you got a B in STG2026 step 1, you thought you could apply in STG2028, but no: only in STG2029! erc.europa.eu/news-events/...

Last Friday I had the HUGE pleasure of visiting LS1 @erc.europa.eu grantees based at the University of Oxford and to give an info session on all the changes implemented in the 2026 WP. Thanks so much for the warm welcome @agwrobel.bsky.social, @georgiaisom.bsky.social and @achilleskap.bsky.social!

Meet Karolin Luger @nucleosomepolice.bsky.social, 2026 Vilcek Prizewinner in Biomedical Science! Luger moved to the U.S. to join the country’s “amazing scientific enterprise.” Her groundbreaking research transformed how we understand DNA & diseases like cancer. Learn more: https://vilcek.co/45rAjQG

Once again, not enough money... so HUGE congratulations to LS1 @erc.europa.eu #ERCCoG grantees: @plaschkalab.bsky.social , Andreas Bock , Timm Fiebig , @wojtekgalej.bsky.social , Danny Nedialkova, Nataliya Petryk, @cryotud.bsky.social , @ajasjaljubetic.bsky.social ! You are TRULY extraordinary!

Once more,LS1 people did amazingly in #ERCSyG: check out projects CHAPEROME, DegrAbility, GeneMotors, MitoContact, RGNcestry, snoOPERA and XSBuilder_1! CONGRATULATIONS! 🥳I observed their interviews and can confirm they are truly amazing! BTW they are >10% of this year's projects!

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day (in this case 10 years 🤪) in your life. Thank you @erc.europa.eu !

New #CORDIS article on work by Claudine Kraft @kraftlabfr.bsky.social l "Autophagy: the cell’s waste disposal system" - work was result of @erc.europa.eu LS1 project "AutoClean" #H2020 #EUfunded cordis.europa.eu/article/id/4...

New article on work by María García-Parajo @icfo.eu , who I had the pleasure of working with in the context of the LS1 Advanced panels! "A closer look at how cells respond to mechanical forces" #H2020 #EUfunded cordis.europa.eu/article/id/4...

Did you wonder why the @erc.europa.eu Scientific council has changed the proposal format? (And no, it’s not to make you do extra work 😀) Or why it changed the eligibility windows? This document explains things 🤪

WARM congratulations to: Tom DENDOOVEN, @martinpacesa.bsky.social, @mschuhmacher.bsky.social , @lfmilles.bsky.social, @preinerin.bsky.social,Markus Hopfler, @charleneboumendil.bsky.social, Gergo Gogl, @shifralansky.bsky.social, @alexanderbelyy.bsky.social,Erik Benson, @dbojar.bsky.social! 🤩 #ERCStG

COURAGE to those preparing to submit their @erc.europa.eu advanced proposals. 💪💪Deadline is tomorrow 🫣😱but better submit a version today just to be sure (you can keep resubmitting until tomorrow but at least you know one version is safe!). From our side we are ready to take care of them!👷‍♀️#ERCAdG

New CORDIS article on the work of @polosophie.bsky.social "Investigating epigenome maintenance after UV damage" @erc.europa.eu Project REMIND #H2020 #EUfunded cordis.europa.eu/article/id/4...

Hello future #Ercstg applicants! Check out the new templates: they are quite different so read the text in the Word files carefully! And please don’t wait till 2027 because of the change in the eligibility windows! Life sciences people I am talking to you 🤪

Congratulations to our director Ana García-Sáez for receiving an ERC Advanced Grant! 📣 Her work on mitochondrial membranes continues to push the frontiers of biophysics and cell biology 🧬 #ERCAdG @erc.europa.eu @office-garcia.bsky.social

👏 Alwin Köhler, group leader and scientific director, has received an @erc.europa.eu Advanced Grant! His project will explore how nuclear pore complexes remodel nuclear membranes to form functional channels ➡️ tinyurl.com/3wcvexc9 #ERCAdG @univie.ac.at @meduniwien.ac.at

CONGRATS LS1grantees:A.Köhler @maxperutzlabs.bsky.social ,C.Joazeiro @labjoazeiro.bsky.social ,D.Drew @scilifelab.se,C.Spahn Charité,J.Hirst @mrc-mbu.bsky.social,Torben Heick @heick.bsky.social,I.SzabÒ @unipd.bsky.social, B.Van Den Berg @newcastleuni.bsky.social &A.García-Sáez @mpibp.bsky.social

Cracking the code of DNA folding machines - new article on the LS1 @erc.europa.eu CHROCODYLE project by Stephan Gruber @gruberlab.bsky.social from @unil.bsky.social #EUfunded cordis.europa.eu/article/id/4...

Cellular gateways shaped by membranes and metabolism - an article on the results of LS1 @erc.europa.eu project NPC-BUILD by Prof. Alwin Köhler @maxperutzlabs.bsky.social #H2020 #EUfunded cordis.europa.eu/article/id/4...

On my way to and from my @erc.europa.eu Starting Grant panel meeting this week, I listened to an interview of one of the best panel members I ever had in LS1: @nucleosomepolice.bsky.social ! Greatly recommended! open.spotify.com/episode/7gQf...

MAAAAASSIVE NEWS!!!! Changes to the 2026 and 2027 Work Programmes are announced! The proposal structure is changing in 2026 and... drumroll... eligibility windows are extended from 2027!!! erc.europa.eu/news-events/... @erc.europa.eu

8 December 1955 | The Council of Europe adopts the blue flag with 12 gold stars as its emblem. 30 years later, EU Institutions made it the official European Union flag. A story of symbolism, religious connotations, suggestions refused and Sandra Kim... 🧵

Congratulations! At the same time as grantee he was also panel member in the LS1 Advanced Grant panel for one year. It was an honour to work with him!

🎉 Congratulations to Wolfgang Baumeister @maxplanck.de, awarded the 2025 #ShawPrize in Life Science & Medicine for pioneering work in cryo-ET! Learn more 👉 europa.eu/!JBXDBG #FrontierResearch #ERCSyG #CryoET #StructuralBiology #shawprize2025

I am sure you have started working on your proposal already, so this is just a reminder that you still have 3 months to go. Make sure you put some timeline and risk assessment, even in Part B1. Best of luck to everyone!!!

🚀 We are proud to launch the new "Ambassadors for the ERC" initiative, together with @ercgrantees.bsky.social ! We aim to empower researchers across Europe to advocate for frontier research. Find out more 👉 bit.ly/44bQzp7 🌟 Excited to see what can be achieved! #Amb4ERC

Have you applied for an @erc.europa.eu Consolidator grant in 2025? The list of panel members is published: erc.europa.eu/sites/defaul.... An opportunity to practice your detective skills since 1)not all panel members have agreed for their name to be there & 2)they are not sorted by panel. Good luck!

By taking a closer look at how proteins are managed by the body, the #EUFunded @erc.europa.eu #Nedd8Activate project by Brenda Schulman hopes to pave the way for new ways to treat #disease. Read the article here 👉 europa.eu/!Cy3W3t #ResearchImpactEU

🦠 Most #bacteria form #biofilms, protective communities that resist #antibiotics. Petya Krasteva's research explores the structure & behaviour of these biofilms, hoping to develop new #antimicrobial strategies. Read more 👉 buff.ly/YajqauG @krastevalab.bsky.social @iecb.bsky.social @CNRS.fr

It’s our turn next week - @erc.europa.eu Life Sciences Advanced panels - to decide who gets funded. Super looking forward to the amazing science to be discussed 🤩 but I am also feeling the stress of the applicants 😣! Best of luck to all of you! 🤞🤞🤞🤞💪💪💪💪

More good news: MEP Christian Ehler's ITRE report adopted by the European Parliament: strong support for an expanded and independent ERC. Happy with the proposal of €220 billion for the EU's next research framework programme! Thank you! Press briefing multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/en/webstream...

Today all 27 EU countries endorsed the Warsaw Declaration. Thank you for your solid support in calling for the independence of the European Research Council to be preserved and for the role of the ERC to be expanded. polish-presidency.consilium.europa.eu/media/r5fa13... 🇪🇺

Did you or someone you know applied for a STG2025 @erc.europa.eu grant? For the 1st time this year we’ll be publishing panel member names (for those who have agreed) just before Step 1 (erc.europa.eu/apply-grant/...) - they are not listed by panel unfortunately but you might want to check it out!🤪

Yay 😀

Bizarrely,it's those just below funding line panels are most happy for.So,HUGEcongratulations to:Anais Menny&Wojciech Nawrocki(STG),@duxinlab.bsky.social & @krastevalab.bsky.social (COG),Helle Ulrich& @nynkedekkerlab.bsky.social (ADG)!Your rollercoaster had happy end! erc.europa.eu/news-events/...

Did you know that the PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers in @ERC_Research-funded teams can apply for a 3-month, fully funded internship programme that connects them with startups and SMEs across Europe? innonext-project.eu Please RT!

Is it weird that I’m thinking of my counterparts at the #NIH? Those people that’ve been preparing with passion the evaluation process,who’ve been making sure all proposals get fair treatment,who cannot wait to see their panel members&who will be the new grantees? Then suddenly bam:everything stops!

Congratulations to LS1 #ERC grantees @dcswarts.bsky.social and Geert van den Bogaart @unigroningen.bsky.social for their POC grants! 🥳 🥳 🥳 🥳 🥳#ERCPoC erc.europa.eu/news-events/...

Wonderful first day at the #NGSB24 ! Learning loads! :) to repeat myself: apply for some ERC funding for your brilliant ideas!

Gooooood morning from super rainy and windy Brussels ☔️ but we are ready to listen about the Earth’s boundaries as the ERC annual conference so super exciting day ahead. 🤩 Including a speech from the new Commissioner @EZaharievaEU! 🏠 I will be live tweeting as a farewell to the old place!

Klára Hlouchová from the Department of Cell Biology received an ERC Consolidator grant!👋 A groundbreaking ERC-funded project aims to create 'LIFE-19'—a bacterial strain using just 19 amino acids instead of 20 🧬. Congratulations! #SyntheticBiology #ERCCoG 📌 1url.cz/U1Zvc

Big announcement day today: #ERCCOG grantees announced erc.europa.eu/news-events/... congratulations to the LS1 grantees 🥳🤩🥳🤩 super deserved!