European Commission/Horizon Europe upcoming funding opportunities: Health pillar and ERC Synergy Grants

Health Pillar (HORIZON-HLTH)

The Health Pillar goals include improving and protecting the health and well-being of citizens of all ages by generating new knowledge, developing innovative solutions, and integrating where relevant a gender perspective to prevent, diagnose, monitor, treat and cure diseases. Funds for this Pillar total €5.3 billion, covering 2021–2027. Specific information about this Pillar is found in the Horizon Europe Health Work Programme 2025. Please note that all European Commission proposals require submission through Harvard Global.

The due date for Health Pillar proposals is September 16, 2025 at 17:00 Brussels time (important note: proposals are due to the submitting offices and Harvard Global on September 9, 2025 for School-level and Harvard Global review).

ERC Synergy Grants (ERC-2026-SyG)

The European Research Council (ERC), under the European Commission, provides funding to excellent investigators and their research teams to pursue ground-breaking and ambitious research. Research funded by the ERC is expected to lead to advances at the frontiers of knowledge and to set a clear and inspirational target for frontier research across Europe. The European Commission has set aside €16B for ERC awards under Horizon Europe (2021-2027). Each Synergy Grant can be up to a maximum of €10M for a period of 6 years, with up to an additional €4M to cover certain eligible costs. Specific information about this funding is found in ERC Work Programme 2026 and the funding opportunity is found in the Call for Proposals for ERC Synergy Grant (ERC-2026-SYG) here. Please note that all European Commission proposals require submission through Harvard Global.

The due date for ERC Synergy proposals is November 5, 2025 at 17:00 Brussels time (important note: proposals are due to the submitting offices and Harvard Global on October 29, 2025 for School-level and Harvard Global review). 

ERC Synergy Grants are the only ERC funding mechanism which allows for one of the PIs to be based at a US host institution. ERC Synergy Principal Investigators that are based in the US are required to devote at least 30% effort (including summer months, total working time) to the project. Both the Health pillar and ERC grants have substantial compliance requirements which should be discussed with OSP and Harvard Global ahead of proposal submission. To learn more about the grant mechanism, visit the ERC Synergy Grant website. 

If your faculty are interested in applying to either of these funding opportunities as part of an EU-based group of PIs, contact Peggy Darnowsky (Peggy_Darnowsky@harvard.edu) or Lia Tjahjana at Harvard Global (lia_tjahjana@harvard.edu, sponsored@harvardglobal.org) as soon as possible. For more information about European Commission awards in general, please see the EC Funding Cheat Sheet.