ERC backtracks on resubmission rule changes after community response
The European Research Council (ERC) has readjusted planned changes to its grant resubmission rules following concerns from the research community, maintaining most existing restrictions for its core funding schemes.
The decision, announced by the ERC Scientific Council and set out in a letter signed by Maria Leptin, follows widespread feedback on proposals unveiled earlier this month aimed at managing growing demand for ERC funding.
The original changes, published on 16 April, were intended to address a surge in applications expected under the 2027 Work Programme. However, researchers voiced concern about the potential impact of tighter resubmission rules on access to funding.
In response, the Scientific Council confirmed it would retain the current resubmission restrictions for Starting, Consolidator, Advanced and ERC Plus Grants.
Maria Leptin wrote: “The Scientific Council (ScC) of the European Research Council (ERC) would like to thank the many members of the research community who have responded to the changes in the rules for re-submission, as announced on 16 April 2026. While the main feedback was concern about the change in the rules for re-submission, these responses also express a great deal of support for the ERC as an important funder for frontier research in Europe.”
The Council acknowledged both criticism and support in the responses, noting that while many suggestions had already been considered, further evaluation would follow.
“We value the useful and interesting suggestions in these responses. While many of the ideas had already been evaluated and considered by the ScC, we will carefully review the suggestions and continue to consider how we can work together to ensure a viable ERC into the future. It is vital that we address the increasing number of applications, while maintaining an assessment process of the very highest quality. This may include different measures, such as changes to the rules for re-submission. We will explain our thinking and responses to the proposals from the community in a separate document to be published on our website in due course.
“The clear request from the community has been for the ERC to reconsider how we manage the growing demand with an unchanged total budget. In the 2027 Work Programme, we have thus decided not to change the re-submission restrictions for Starting, Consolidator, Advanced and ERC Plus Grants from those employed over the past years. However, we will use wider restrictions when it comes to applications for Synergy Grants.”
“We look forward to working with the community to ensure that the ERC continues to deliver the best support for research in Europe.”