How to write an ERC grant in 2026 (or any major research proposal) with a business approach
- Ana Pineda
- 4 hours ago
- 17 min read
ERC grants are often seen as the gold standard of research funding in Europe and the most prestigious personal grants: high risk, high gain, and career-changing when funded. But that “gain” comes with pressure. Writing an ERC grant can feel overwhelming, especially when you are at the stage where you’re supposed to “already know how to do it.”
By the time you start writing an ERC proposal, whether it is an ERC Starting Grant, ERC Consolidator Grant, or ERC Advanced Grant, you are not a beginner anymore. You are managing projects, writing papers, mentoring others, and juggling endless tasks. Finding time to think big again is not easy.
After helping dozens of scientists prepare major research proposals, I have seen the same patterns repeat over and over: brilliant researchers making predictable mistakes that keep their ideas from standing out.
This article will help you identify the 2 traps that are sabotaging your dream academic career and build a new way to approach grant writing. A business mindset approach.
Before that, I want to briefly introduce myself… Hola, I’m Ana, scientist turned grant-writing coach and founder of I Focus and Write.
I’ve spent over 15 years in research, supervising people, writing papers, being an editor, and getting my own funding. And since 2020, I’ve helped many scientists focus, write their papers, and get funded too… even ERC grants 🎊. But my favourite part isn’t the money or the prestige they get. It’s watching what happens inside the scientists we coach.
Because writing a competitive grant isn’t just about getting funded. It’s about learning to think big, step into a new and scary version of you as an academic, and communicate your vision clearly.
In my work, I combine scientific writing expertise with business leadership and a mindful, humane approach. The result? Stronger proposals, more confident scientists, and a process that actually feels meaningful 😍.
Should we start?
Table of Contents
2 traps that explain why brilliant scientists still struggle to write big grants
Many scientists who could write a competitive ERC grant never do. Or what I see far too often: they start and never finish. And it is not about competence. It is about two traps that keep them stuck:
Trap #1. Lack of confidence and the underlying fear of rejection
When I ask academics, “Why haven’t you written an ERC yet?” the number one answer I hear is:
“I didn’t have a good-enough idea.”
And honestly, this breaks my heart. Because you can have infinite ideas, and from there, a few can be shaped into an ERC-worthy one.
Many scientists label the effort a “waste of time”, but underneath is fear of rejection, fear of failure, and sometimes fear of success (even when they don’t recognise it).
After years as recognised experts, failing in public feels unbearable, so they avoid trying or under-deliver because, anyway, “I’m not getting it", creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. But this fear costs more than any rejection: it keeps great ideas from even being written.
What happens when you don’t believe your idea is good enough?
That lack of confidence shows up everywhere: in the writing of your ideas, in the way you describe your CV, and later, even in your interview.
Self-doubt sounds like subtle phrases that sound “safe” instead of “bold”. And this is not your fault. For many scientists, it doesn’t feel safe to say certain things. We’re afraid of being criticised. And therefore, we keep it safe.
But safe doesn’t get you the money.
Trap #2. Lack of time: not making time for deep work
Once you believe that you can have an ERC-worthy idea, the next step is to let your creativity flow to actually create that idea. And this is where the second most common struggle appears. When I ask scientists why they’ve never written an ERC grant, the #2 reason is:
“I didn’t have time”
Many of them actually started. They opened a blank document, wrote a few lines, maybe even the B1, and then …never finished. They got caught up in the chaos of everything else.
From my experience supporting ERC applicants, most scientists decide to start writing their ERC grants too late. Or they start early, but then let other tasks get in their way. Their best hours go to emails, meetings, and supervision, so strategic thinking never happens. Instead…
Creativity needs space. And the number one enemy of creativity is stress.
In an ERC, you’re writing about a breakthrough, something big that has never been done before. And that kind of thinking can’t be squeezed into one hour at the end of the day, when you're stressed after spending your entire day putting fires out.
And if you’re asking yourself, “How long does it take to write an ERC grant?”, my answer is 6 months. No, it’s not 6 months full-time writing, but this is the time I recommend my clients to work on their idea, read recent literature, write and do several rounds of feedback.
Mid-career often feels like the messy middle: juggling it all, but without yet having the funding or team size to delegate the way you wish you could. If you’re in this messy middle, you need a time management system in place to manage your multiple projects while protecting your thinking time, especially when you need to prioritise your ERC idea.
That’s why planning and time management aren’t just productivity tools. They’re creative strategies. And something that at “I focus and write”, we’ve been helping hundreds of scientists with.
In the end, these two traps mean that the vast majority of scientists who could get an ERC grant never try.
And these traps are especially dangerous for women in science. If we look at the facts and figures of the last ERC submissions, we can clearly see a gender gap that widens at senior levels: women submitted 43% of the starting grants, 38% of the consolidator grants, and only 25% of the advanced grants. And at “I focus and write”, we want to change this.
A new perspective: Lead your ERC grant writing like a business
If you’re writing an ERC or a similar big grant, you cannot treat it like a national grant or, worse, an experimental paper. An ERC-level proposal is not “more of the same.” It requires a completely different way of thinking and communicating.
You are not simply writing a grant; ERC is the most competitive funding scheme in Europe; you need to develop new skills to lead your proposal from idea to funded. And those skills are very similar to the skills that a business owner also needs.
So, if you’re asking yourself, “How to win an ERC grant?’, what if, instead of writing your ERC like a scientist, you approached it like a business CEO looking for investors?
The 5 mindset shifts to write your ERC grant as a business CEO
1- Detach yourself from the results
When you write a grant proposal, you’re asking for funds to do your research. Not external validation of you as a researcher, and even less, as a person. Being rejected the first time is normal and part of the process.
Let’s stay realistic… How hard is it to get an ERC grant? The official ERC success rate is around 15%. But from talking to scientists all over Europe, I can tell you that most of the other 85% still end up getting their ideas funded through other calls, collaborations, or follow-up applications.
That’s why I always say: a not-funded ERC Starting Grant paves the road for a funded ERC Consolidator Grant. And the same for an ERC Advanced Grant.
And this brings me to a deeper point: past rejections can leave scars. Many scientists carry a “funding trauma” that makes it hard to believe that this time could be different.
But statistically, it is different.
According to ERC’s own data, repeat applicants have a 1.5× higher chance of being funded than first-timers. But for that, you need to write it first, and be open to treating rejection as part of the process, not as a personal failure.
Believing that it will get funded one way or another is the first step toward a successful proposal.
2- Build a support team
In one of my favourite business books, 10x is easier than 2x by Dan Sullivan and Dr Benjamin Hardy, one of the lessons is that to achieve 10x results, we need to ask who, not how. Getting an ERC grant is a 10x result. Not only in terms of money, but also in how your academic career and then your private life can change.
The “who” part is something I see repeatedly with our clients: you need to build a support team. Like thriving businesses do. Like top sporters do when they go to the Olympics.
Instead, many scientists write an ERC grant without the necessary support.
They rely only on internal university support, which often covers administrative aspects, the Budget and the ethics section. But they rarely support with the idea development, clarity, or storytelling.
Maybe they ask a few colleagues to give them feedback. But I see that the selection of those colleagues is a critical step… sometimes none of them had experience with an ERC grant. Or their experience was negative, and so it’s the feedback.
Other times, the feedback comes at the wrong time to be useful. Sometimes, it's too late to incorporate into the proposal. And sometimes too early when the idea is not mature, and the confidence is low.
Now, I know this might sound like something from the self-development world, but believing in this big idea when it’s still raw is scary and a highly vulnerable moment. And not everyone has the capacity to give constructive feedback that challenges you, while creating a safe space. So be sure you build your team mindfully.
3- Upgrade your communication skills
Once you believe you can do this, and once you’ve made space in your calendar, yes, it’s time to write. And here comes a big mistake I see over and over again:
Most scientists write a grant proposal as if it were a scientific paper.
This is one of the hardest habits to break. At this career level, you have scientific writing skills. You’ve written papers, maybe some with high impact.
And for smaller grants, those skills might have been enough. But when you go for large, highly competitive calls like the ERC, it’s not enough.
Not even with ChatGPT by your side.
You think you’re being clear, general enough, that all the elements are there… but from an external perspective, they’re not. Reviewers, committee members, and even colleagues often end up missing key information that you thought was obvious.
You need to know how to structure each key section so that every essential element is in place and easy to find by evaluators who are also very busy. And because space is limited, every word counts.
There’s no room for redundancy and vague phrasing. Each sentence must earn its place: sharp and persuasive for the different kinds of reviewers who will read it, both generalists and specialists in your field.
That’s why writing a strong ERC proposal requires mastering different writing skills.
My advice: ask trusted colleagues for feedback with enough time. And whenever possible, bring in professional help: editors or coaches who know how to translate great science into a fundable proposal.
They bring an outside perspective from the experience of seeing what gets funded, and what doesn’t, across dozens of proposals and reviewer reports. And of course, this is where my team and I can support you.
4- Embrace a selling mindset
And with that, we come to the fourth step: selling your ideas and yourself with confidence.
When I ask scientists which part of writing a proposal they struggle with the most, selling is usually the one. Many tell me things like:
“I don’t want to brag about myself”
“It feels uncomfortable to talk about my achievements”
So they don’t do it, or they do it only halfway, often in ways that don’t really convey their value. And that’s normal. Please don’t feel guilty about it.
The truth is, selling is a skill. One you probably never learned because academia doesn’t teach it, and it rarely gives you chances to practice it.
But here’s the good news: once you understand how to do it, you can get good at it. It’s something you can train, just like you trained to analyse data or write papers.
Selling in academia does not mean manipulation or exaggeration, but confidence in your idea and clarity in your message. And as I always share with my clients:
You don’t need to sell yourself as the best scientist. But you need to show you’re the best scientist to do THIS project.
5- Invest time, energy, and money to maximise your probability of success
You cannot do what you’ve always done and expect to win an ERC grant. Does it happen? Yes. Will it happen to you? Probably not. Instead, I’d like you to maximise your chances, taking seriously the investments that a business CEO would make to secure 1 million euros:
1. Time investments
A thriving business isn’t built with leftovers of time. And the same goes for a thriving academic career or a big grant like the ERC. You can’t wait to have time to write. You have to create it. Intentionally, during your highest-focus hours, protect it from distractions.
2. Energy investments
As the hard project that this is, it requires energy to do all the necessary uncomfortable things, from asking for help to writing those breakthrough ideas, which are a step out of your comfort zone.
3. Money investments
A business that doesn’t invest money isn’t a business; it’s a hobby. And the results are hobby-level too. When you invest money, you can save time and energy, your most precious resources. And still, many scientists go for this big grant without making this investment, and end up burned out. They may even have the budget, but they don’t give themselves the “permission” to invest it.
Approach your ERC grant writing like a business owner who knows that to reach new results, you need to invest something: money, time, or energy.
The Academic Launchpad: A business-based system to write your best proposal to date
This business approach is exactly what we focus on inside The Academic Launchpad, our grant writing program at “I focus and write”. We help you learn how to sell your ideas and yourself authentically, without pretending, and without losing your scientific integrity.
We do this by combining two worlds I know deeply:
the academic world, with its specific language, evidence-based statements, and review culture, and
the business world, where I’ve had to learn (and invest in learning) how to communicate, market, and sell effectively.
Since launching my business in 2020, I’ve discovered first-hand the power of storytelling, marketing, and copywriting. These principles make people say:
“Yes, this is what I need. This is where I want to invest.”
And that’s exactly the reaction we want to trigger in your reviewers and panel evaluators. When you complement your groundbreaking idea and your expertise with business writing skills, that's when those evaluators start thinking:
“Yes, this is the project we need. This is the scientist who can make it happen.”
But before the part of SELLING. You need to put into place the other essential elements first: BELIEVING that this is possible, CREATING a time management system for those ideas to develop, and WRITING a proposal that stands out.
Whether or not your proposal is funded the first time, this business approach transforms everything. You will write your best proposal to date. And you will communicate your science with new confidence.
You are not simply writing a grant; you are developing the communication skills to lead your proposals from idea to funded. And those skills will serve you over and over in all your future grants.
Bringing it all together
With this, we come to the end of the process of writing your ERC grant, or any other major research proposal. And I want you to take a moment to realise something important:
This is probably the biggest grant you’ve ever written on your own.
You might have been part of other large projects as a co-PI or collaborator, but this time, you’re the one leading it. And that requires a completely new approach. Only…
“What got you here won’t get you there”
You cannot write an ERC with the same skills that got you your previous grants. They are simply not enough.
Yes, you’ll hear stories about people who wrote their proposals in a month, who had no time for feedback, and still got funded. But those are the unicorns. This article wasn’t written for the unicorns. It’s for the real people, those who sometimes think:
“I’m not good enough.”
“I don’t have time.”
“Why bother if the chances are so low?”
And here’s what I want you to take with you:
1️. Writing an ERC proposal always pays off
Even if you don’t get funded the first time, your ideas mature, new opportunities appear, and your confidence grows. I’ve seen this over and over again. And when these high-level ideas are written, they get funded.
2️. Approach your next grant with a business mindset
An ERC is not just another grant. You’re asking for 1-2 million euros. This is an extraordinary result that requires extraordinary efforts. And for that, you need a new approach, and similar to what businesses do, it requires time, energy and money investments.
3️. Don’t write an ERC grant alone
Going for an ERC or similar is like going to the Olympics; no one goes there without a team. Build yours. Surround yourself with people who believe in you and your project and can help you shape it.
And if you’d like, we can be part of that team. That’s exactly what we do inside The Academic Launchpad: help you write proposals you’re proud of, without sacrificing your well-being or weekends.
If this article resonated with you, I invite you to watch my free masterclass: “Getting funded: The 4 mistakes to avoid when you write your next grant” In there, you’ll learn concrete tips to start solving the struggles of this post right away.
You’ll receive some emails with the link so you can start watching immediately.
Thanks for spending this time of your day reading this piece.
Ana
Frequently asked questions on how to win an ERC grant
What are the ERC grant deadlines for 2026 (2027 Work Program)?
The ERC grant deadlines have been pretty consistent in recent years. Although the official dates will only be published when the work program is official, here are the 2026 deadlines for Consolidator and Advanced grants (2026 Work Program). The ERC Starting grant deadline in 2026 will be part of the 2027 Work Program, so please note that changes may occur.
ERC grant types | Opening Date | 2026 deadline | First Results | Final Results |
ERC Starting Grant | Early July | Early October 2026 | End April 2027 | End August 2027 |
ERC Consolidator Grant | 25 September 2025 | 13 January 2026 | 17 July 2026 | 12 December 2026 |
ERC Advanced grant | 28 May 2026 | 27 August 2026 | 29 January 2027 | 11 June 2027 |
Table 1. ERC grant deadlines for 2026, based on the 2026 Work Program.
What is the ERC grant eligibility for 2026?
A common question I get is “Who can apply for an ERC grant?” The simple answer to this is eligibility. And in 2026, big changes are coming. In summer 2025, ERC announced new windows of eligibility for the 2027 Work program (which will affect the Starting grants with a deadline in October 2026 and the Consolidator grants with an estimated deadline in January 2027). And although the final confirmation will only be once the different calls are officially open (see Table 1) this is what is now on the ERC website:
ERC grant types | Target group | 2026 Work Program | 2027 Work Program |
ERC Starting Grant | Early Career | > 2 years ≤ 7 years | ≤ 10 years |
ERC Consolidator Grant | Mid Career | > 7 years ≤ 12 years | > 5 years ≤ 15 years |
ERC Advanced grant | Late Career | Open to all | Open to all |
Table 2: Eligibility of ERC grants in 2026-2027
In addition to this window, other extensions apply for maternity leave (starting at 18 months per child), parental leave, long-term illness, and others. You can read more about these extensions in the work program here.
Now, just because you can apply, you shouldn’t. My advice is that you make a long-term plan, taking into consideration your eligibility, years with the possibility of re-applying if not funded and considering you may not be allowed to apply for a year, and your personal capacity.
For example, ideally, you’d apply 3 years before your last chance, so you could try again once more in case it is not funded. What if, for example, you have a two-year window? Then that’s a tricky decision, and you should consider the quality of the idea, of the proposal, and of the CV that you can submit in each of those years.
And by personal capacity, I mean the mental, emotional, and time capacity you have for your ERC. It’s a project that will require a significant amount of time and energy, and I don’t recommend it when we cannot make the time for it, or when our mental or physical health is not optimal.
How long does it take to write an ERC grant?
My answer is that to do it well, you should plan 6 months to prepare your ERC proposal. Based on this, you cannot wait for the calls to open to start writing your ERC. You need to plan and start earlier. Here you see a month-by-month plan of what I recommend to our clients:
Month 1- Thinking, reading and discussing the idea with colleagues
Month 2- You have a first idea. Now it’s time to read (80%) and write (20% of the time).
Month 3- Now 80% of the time is for writing with the goal of having a B1 ready to share for feedback
Month 4- Your life is ERC- the rest of the proposal is taking shape in a first version
Month 5- You continue deep into ERC mode. The goal is to have an almost final version that you send for feedback.
Month 6- This is the month to receive and discuss the last feedback and implement minor changes.
How much is the ERC grant?
The maximum grant amount is 1.5 million € for a Starting grant, 2 million € for a Consolidator grant, and 1 million € for an Advanced grant. In addition, in all categories you can ask for an additional 1 Million €. And if you’re relocating to the EU or an Associated Country from elsewhere to take up your ERC grant, then you can ask for an extra 1 million €.
How hard is it to get an ERC grant?
I’m not going to sugarcoat it…it’s hard. And this is linked to another common question I often get: “How prestigious is an ERC grant?”. ERC are the most prestigious personal grant in Europe. The success rates based on the latest results are: 12.2% for Starting grants, 14.2% for Consolidator, and 11% Advanced.
And only a certain fraction of scientists apply. But what is for sure is that if you don’t apply, your chances of success are 0%. And remember, when you apply, sooner or later, those ideas will get funded.
Where to find ERC proposal examples?
This is what I recommend to my clients:
Ask colleagues who got funded, or at least who passed to the interview phase. Those will be great examples of proposals on your topic, maybe even in your panel.
Some institutions organise reading days where you can go to a location and see funded proposals, be inspired, and take notes (but often no pictures). Other institutions have examples for their applicants.
My go-to database is Open Grants. But you can also find individual scientists who share their proposals online.
I’d like to point out two important aspects when reading other people’s proposals:
Do not get discouraged by other people’s CVs; remember, you need to show you’re the best candidate to develop this idea. You don’t need a paper in Nature.
Look at when it was funded. The format has changed, but I also see that the quality of the document itself is increasing year after year (the writing, the figures, the format…).
How to write a successful ERC grant proposal?
The official website of ERC has a fantastic collection of videos and extra resources to help you prepare your ERC proposal. To start, my favourite is this presentation in PDF.
And our online coaching program, The Academic Launchpad, is my next recommendation to learn how to write your best grant proposal to date, including ERC grants.
