European Commission adopted the ERC Work Programme 2016

The programme, established by the ERC Scientific Council, foresees €1.67 billion for grants to top researchers from anywhere in the world who are ready to come or to stay in Europe to pursue their breakthrough ideas. The work programme introduces a new action to widen participation in ERC competitions: a support to a consortium of formally nominated ERC National Contact Points (NCPs) to identify and share good practices and raise the quality of support to applicants.

Compared to last year, the main novelty for ERC applicants is a relative "softening" of the resubmission rules. Applicants who scored B at step 2 of the evaluation in the last call will be able to reapply immediately, while under the 2015 work programme they had to wait for one year. There are also new restrictions for applications from applicants whose proposals have been rejected on grounds of breach of research integrity.

Among other actions, the Work Programme introduces a new action to widen participation in ERC competitions: a support to a consortium of formally nominated ERC National Contact Points (NCPs) to identify and share good practices and raise the quality of support to applicants.