ERC Consolidator Grant 2025: grants hosted by the CNRS

In 2025, the European Research Council (ERC) is funding 349 researchers in Europe through its ERC Consolidator Grants, for a total amount of €728 million from the Horizon Europe framework program.

Supporting the best in exploratory research in all fields, these grants reward European project leaders who obtained their doctorate between 7 and 12 years ago. Consolidator grants (up to €2 million) fall between Starting grants (up to €1.5 million and 2 to 7 years after a PhD) and Advanced grants (up to €2.5 million and aimed at established researchers). They are awarded once a year for a period of five years to scientists from all over the world, but who must carry out their research in a European or associated country.

In total, 11.2% of the 3,121 projects proposed were funded in 2025. The 215 male and 134 female winners will carry out their projects in universities, research centers, and companies in 25 European countries, including the United Kingdom (66 grants), Germany (58), the Netherlands (40), Spain (26), and France (25).

However, ERC President Maria Leptin said she was impressed by the creativity and audacity of the projects submitted: "To see all this talent with groundbreaking ideas, based in Europe, is truly inspiring. This bold research may well lead to new industries, improve lives and strengthen Europe’s global standing. This was one of the most competitive ERC calls ever, with record demand and also many excellent projects left unfunded. It is yet another reminder of how urgent the call for increased EU investment in frontier research has become". 

The 12 winning projects for which CNRS is the host institution are as follows : 

• Berislav BUCA –  Laboratoire de physique théorique et modèles statistiques (CNRS / Université Paris-Saclay) for the project EmPhaSys,
• Guilhem CHAUBET – Research Professor, Chémo-Biologie Synthétique & Thérapeutique (CNRS / Université de Strasbourg) for the project MuSyC
• Lucie ETIENNE –  Research Professor, Centre International de Recherche en Infectiologie (CNRS/ ENS de Lyon / INSERM / Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 / Hospices Civils de Lyon / Université Jean Monnet – Saint-Etienne) for the project FUNEVO
• Julien GUÉNOLÉ –  Associate Research Professor, Laboratoire d’Etude des Microstructures et de Mécanique des Matériaux (CNRS / Arts et Métiers / Université de Lorraine) for the project AtomicPIE
• Johan MAZOYER –  Associate Research Professo, Laboratoire d’Instrumentation et de Recherche en Astrophysique (CNRS / Observatoire de Paris – PSL / Sorbonne Université / Université Paris Cité / CY Cergy Paris Université) for the project ECHOES
• Anna PAKHOMOVA –  Laboratoire de planétologie et géosciences (CNRS / Nantes Université / Université Angers / Le Mans Université) for the project OCEAN
• Nataliya PETRYK – Intégrité du Génome et Cancers (CNRS / Institut Gustave Roussy / Université Paris-Saclay / Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes - Université Paris Saclay) for the project REGEMREGEM
• Leandro QUADRANA –   Research Professor, l'Institut des Sciences des Plantes de Paris Saclay (CNRS / INRAE / Université Paris Cité / Université Paris-Saclay / Université Evry Paris-Saclay) for the project HosTEome
• Idoia QUINTANA-URZAINQUI, for the project EvoBrainShark
• Eva TERNON –  Associate Research Professor, Laboratoire d’océanographie de Villefranche (CNRS / Sorbonne Université) (CNRS Terre & Univers) for the project UNIVOC
• Serena VILLATA –  Research Professor, Laboratoire d’Informatique, Signaux et Systèmes de Sophia Antipolis (CNRS / Université Côte d’Azur / INRIA) for the project PANDORA
• Savvas ZAFEIROPOULOS –  Associate Research Professor, Centre de Physique Théorique (Aix-Marseille Université / Université de Toulon) for the project HADaSTRaLS