The University of Tartu incentive grant gives researchers time to write proposals for European Research Council grants

To encourage researchers to apply for European Research Council grants and free up their time for writing the grant application, the Grant Office developed a 10,000-euro UT ERC Incentive Grant in 2021. In the last year’s pilot call, 16 researchers received the grant. The second call for applications takes place in spring 2022 already and will involve up to 20 researchers.

The European Research Council (ERC) grants are among the largest and most prestigious individual research grants in the world. There could be many promising applicants at the University of Tartu, as the number of UT researchers who are influential in their field has been steadily growing. However, one of the main obstacles to writing successful grant applications is the academic staff’s lack of time. To encourage researchers to apply for ERC grants, the Grant Office has developed an intra-university funding instrument called the ERC Incentive Grant.

To apply for the ERC Incentive Grant, the applicant must have an active employment relationship with the University of Tartu. In 2022, the amount of the ERC Incentive Grant is 10,000 euros, and researchers applying either for the ERC Starting Grant, Consolidator Grant, or since this year, also the Advanced Grant, are eligible. The grant will be awarded to the institute, who can use it together with the researcher applying for the ERC grant to cover the direct expenses (for example, the salary costs) necessary to release the researcher from other obligations, for example, teaching and research administration commitments, during the time of writing the ERC grant application. The grant can also be used to cover consultancy costs, proofreading or editing and other costs related to project writing (excluding the overheads).