Funding

The ERC funds excellent, ground-breaking research across all disciplines. Designed for individual researchers at all career stages, ERC grants empower top scientists to pursue ambitious, high-impact projects with scientific independence.

Types of Grants:
Starting Grants (2–7 years post-PhD)
Consolidator Grants (7–12 years post-PhD)
Advanced Grants (for established researchers with a strong track record)
Synergy Grants (for collaborative, interdisciplinary teams)
Proof of Concept Grants (to bridge research and innovation from ERC projects)

MSCA promotes researcher mobility, career development, and international collaboration. These actions are ideal for early-stage and experienced researchers looking for opportunities across sectors, borders, and disciplines.

Types of Grants:
Postdoctoral Fellowships (individual mobility for postdocs in and outside Europe)
Doctoral Networks (joint training of PhD candidates in research consortia)
Staff Exchanges (short-term mobility across academia and industry)
COFUND (co-financing of regional, national, or international fellowship/training programs)
MSCA and Citizens (science outreach and public engagement)

This is the European Commission’s central platform for all EU funding programs. From finding open calls and managing applications to forming international partnerships — the portal is the main gateway for research, innovation, and collaboration across Europe.

Types of Grants:
All EU research and innovation programs (e.g., Horizon Europe, Digital Europe, LIFE, Erasmus+)
Calls for proposals in areas like health, environment, energy, digitalization, and more
Access to proposal tools, partner search, and project management features

Horizon Europe is the EU’s largest research and innovation program, with a budget of over €95 billion for the period 2021–2027. It supports collaborative, interdisciplinary research and innovation projects that address global challenges — from climate change and health to digital transformation and societal resilience.

Types of Grants:
Collaborative projects across academia, industry, and civil society
Pillar I: Excellent Science (e.g., ERC, MSCA, research infrastructures)
Pillar II: Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness (e.g., health, climate, digital, energy)
Pillar III: Innovative Europe (e.g., European Innovation Council, support for SMEs)
Missions and partnerships tackling specific societal goals (e.g., cancer, climate adaptation)

The BMBF supports research projects with high societal relevance and future potential — both nationally and internationally. With a broad range of funding lines, the BMBF provides opportunities for universities, research institutions, and industry partners to launch innovative and interdisciplinary projects.

Types of Grants:
Collaborative research and development projects
Funding for early-career research groups
Innovation support for SMEs
Thematic project funding (e.g., digitalization, health, energy, sustainability)

BMBF Portal on Horizon Europe (in German)
Although available only in German, the BMBF’s dedicated website on Horizon Europe is an excellent and well-structured resource for anyone preparing a proposal or managing an EU-funded project. It provides detailed guidance on the structure of Horizon Europe, step-by-step instructions for proposal submission, templates, handouts, project management advice, consultation services, and monitoring tools.

The DFG is Germany’s central self-governing research funding organization. It supports excellent science across all disciplines by funding research projects, infrastructure, and collaboration. The DFG emphasizes academic freedom, bottom-up project ideas, and the advancement of early-career researchers.

Types of Grants:
Individual Research Grants (for single or collaborative projects)
Research Units, Priority Programs, and Collaborative Research Centres
Emmy Noether Programme (for postdocs on the path to professorship)
Heisenberg Programme (for highly qualified researchers after habilitation or equivalent)
Research Training Groups (for structured doctoral training)

The Volkswagen Foundation is a private research funder supporting innovative and interdisciplinary research with a focus on societal relevance and pioneering ideas. It funds both early-career researchers and established teams, often with thematic calls that cross disciplinary and institutional boundaries.

Types of Grants:
Exploration of innovative research ideas (e.g., "Experiment!", "Pioneering Research – Exploring the Unknown")
Thematic initiatives (e.g., "Global Issues", "Social Transformations")
Fellowships for early-career researchers
International research cooperation and capacity building

This archive provides an overview of earlier EU research funding opportunities, with a focus on the 7th Framework Programme (FP7, 2007–2013). It includes background information on EU research policy, funding structures, and instruments available at the time. Visitors will find concise explanations of programs like COOPERATION, IDEAS (ERC), PEOPLE (Marie Curie), and CAPACITIES, as well as details on funding mechanisms such as collaborative projects, networks of excellence, and support actions. Useful links are included for further exploration of specific topics.

Please note: As this content is archived, we cannot guarantee that all links are still active or up to date.