Webinar for Institutions on National Support for ERC Grant Applicants: What Will Change Next Year and Why? – PRESENTATION

On 21 October 2026, the Expert Group for Supporting Applicants to ERC Calls and the Technology Centre Prague held a webinar for institutions. Prof. Zdeněk Strakoš, together with the National Contact Points for the ERC, explained the planned changes to the national support system for ERC grant applicants. The presentation (in Czech) is available for download in the left-hand menu.

What will change in the national support system?

• Information Day: The event will generally be held once every two years, unless significant changes to ERC rules occur sooner.
• New Reading Days: Organised by research domain (PE, LS, SSH); these sessions will involve reading and discussing a funded ERC project. They will be open, with no requirement to submit any materials in advance.
• More demanding admission requirements for workshops: In addition to an abstract, CV and TR, applicants will now need to submit a draft of the core of the future first part of the grant project (2–5 pages).
• Second workshop: Participants will review the entire ERC project proposal, including Part B2.
• Individual mentoring for participants of our workshops: Instead of the third workshop, applicants will have the option of individual mentoring by experts, organised in cooperation with their institutions.

Our ultimate goal is to help transform the Czech Republic's research environment towards European standards.

Read Prof. Zdeněk Strakoš’s article on the VědaVýzkum.cz portal, in which he explains the planned changes in detail.