Program ERC inkubátor (ERC-in)

ERC Incubator Program

What is the goal of the ERC incubator?

The ERC incubator program (ERC-in) is designed to help researchers across all institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences to prepare their individual high-quality project proposals to European Research Council and improve their success rate.

ERC-in further aims at raising awareness of ERC opportunities, increasing the motivation of CAS’s researchers to develop and submit ERC projects and strengthen the ability of CAS’s institutes to attract and retain excellent researchers and run ERC projects.

What does ERC-in offer to ERC applicants?

Applicants accepted to the ERC-in will receive comprehensive support, including:

• Specialized career and project consultations
• Individual mentoring by an experienced researcher during proposal preparation and, if successful in reaching the second evaluation step, preparation for the ERC interview
• Mock interview designed specifically for each applicant/proposal reaching the second step of the evaluation
• Funding to remunerate scientific consultant(s) who were instrumental in critically commenting on the project proposal
• Help with preparing the “technical” parts of proposal such as the project budget

What does ERC-in offer to CAS institutes?

CAS institutes can benefit from:

• Financial support for ERC project preparation of institute’s researchers accepted to ERC-in to cover the costs of project preparation
• Facilitation of know-how sharing with / among institutions with ERC experience
• Help with building project department infrastructure
• Help with stimulating researchers’ interest in the ERC funding

Who Can Apply?

All researchers that plan to submit an ERC proposal hosted by one of the Czech Academy of Sciences institute are eligible to apply for the ERC-in support through the respective institute.

ERC calls and deadlines

* Researchers who submitted a Starting proposal in October 2025 may still apply for ERC‑in after this deadline (as soon as possible after receving their results).

How to Apply?

For 1st round preparation (proposal preparation), fill in the application form below, attach your CV and host Declaration form and send it through the host institute to the CAS data box (ID: fr6adt5) to apply for enrollment into ERC-in.

• Application form
• CV template
• Declaration form

For 2nd round preparation (preparation for interview), fill in the simplified application form below, attach your submitted ERC B1 and B2 form and Evaluation Letter - Step 1, and send it through the host institute to the CAS data box (ID: fr6adt5) to apply for enrollment into ERC-in.

• • Application form 2nd round

For more information on the ERC-in structure and operation, please see the ERC incubator Guideline: CZ or EN.

Presentation from the workshop "News in Supporting Excellence and Careers at the Czech Academy of Sciences" of 21 January 2026 is available here.

Questions?

Contact person: Jana Whalen, T: 221 403 354, erc-in@kav.cas.cz