Funding from the European Research Council (ERC), the EU body supporting excellent researchers finances unconventional multidisciplinary and bottom-up proposals. The ERC main objective is to strengthen the European "frontier" research, in support of pioneering projects on the initiative of researchers from different scientific, technical and academic fields.

The University of Bergamo offers:

• support for the development and writing of new applications and/or resubmissions in the research areas of the University;
• additional research funds for PhD scholarship, post-doctoral fellowship and scientific lab equipment;
• a dynamic and high-quality environment: University of Bergamo is in the top 100 of the Young University Ranking 2018.

With the launch of the competitions for grants under ERC Work Programme 2026 in July of this year, several changes to the submission of applications and the evaluation of proposals will apply. The main novelties for 2026, as well as the longer-term goal to extend the eligibility of applicants for Starting and Consolidator Grants from 2027 are summarised here.