European Research Council Executive Agency

Mission and mandate

ERCEA was established by Commission Decision 2008/37/EC of 14 December 2007 and became operational from 15 July 2009. The Agency operates as an executive agency under Council Regulation (EC) 58/2003 — the legal framework governing the EU executive agencies that implement specific Community programmes on behalf of the Commission. ERCEA's mandate is to implement the European Research Council programme on behalf of the European Commission's DG RTD.

The European Research Council itself is composed of two parts: the ERC Scientific Council (the academic governance body, composed of 22 distinguished researchers covering all scientific disciplines) and ERCEA (the executive agency providing operational implementation). The Scientific Council sets the ERC's scientific strategy and methodology; ERCEA implements the programme operationally.

ERCEA's operational mandate has four pillars. First, grant programme management: ERCEA runs the annual ERC calls (Starting Grants for early-career researchers, Consolidator Grants for mid-career researchers, Advanced Grants for senior established researchers, Synergy Grants for groups of two to four researchers, and Proof of Concept Grants for ERC grantees commercialising prior research). Each call attracts thousands of proposals from researchers worldwide; ERCEA receives and processes proposals, runs the eligibility check, and manages the evaluation logistics.

Second, peer-review evaluation: ERCEA supports the ERC's panels of evaluators (around 25 scientific panels covering all disciplines) and coordinates the work of around 2,000 international peer reviewers per call. The evaluation process is two-stage: a Step 1 evaluation of the research proposal and CV, and a Step 2 evaluation including the full proposal and an interview at ERCEA premises in Brussels. The peer-review process is a substantial logistical operation.

Third, grant agreement preparation and management: for successful proposals, ERCEA negotiates the grant agreement with the host institution, monitors the implementation of the grant over its 4-7 year duration, manages financial payments and reporting, and supports grantee mobility and grant amendments.

Fourth, support to the ERC Scientific Council: ERCEA provides secretariat services to the ERC Scientific Council, manages its meetings and decision-making process, and supports the ERC President's representation function. The ERC Scientific Council is structurally independent and operates under its own rules but relies on ERCEA for operational implementation.

Structure and operational divisions

ERCEA is led by a Director appointed by the Commission for a renewable five-year term. The Steering Committee — composed of five senior Commission officials — oversees the Agency's implementation of its mandate. The ERC President — a distinguished researcher elected by the Scientific Council — heads the ERC's scientific governance and is the Agency's principal academic interlocutor.

Internal organisation is grouped into operational and support departments. The Scientific Department is the largest and is sub-divided by scientific domain into Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Engineering, and Social Sciences and Humanities. Each domain has scientific officers (typically AD7–AD12 with PhD-level research backgrounds and substantive scientific reviewing experience) who manage the evaluation panels and individual grant portfolios in their disciplines.

The Grant Management Department handles the operational grant administration: grant agreement preparation, payment processing, financial reporting, audit liaison, grant amendments, and the supporting workflow infrastructure. Grant officers (typically AD5–AD9 and FG IV) form the largest single hiring stream by headcount.

The Communications, Outreach and Events Department supports the ERC Scientific Council, the President, the annual ERC awards and meetings, the ERC's public communications, and the broader outreach to the international research community.

The Resources Department covers HR, finance, procurement, legal, IT, and the Director's Cabinet. The Agency operates under tight financial-control rules given its grant-payment volume (around €2.4 billion per year in payments to ERC grantees and host institutions).

Hiring landscape over the last 12 months

ERCEA is one of the larger executive agencies by headcount and one of the steadiest hirers. Typical annual hiring is 30–50 vacancy notices across the operational and support departments.

Hiring is concentrated at AD5 and AD7 grades for scientific officers in the Scientific Department, with periodic AD9 senior scientific officer and AD12 head-of-unit notices. Grant officers at AD5–AD7 and AST3 are recruited continuously. The Grant Management Department also runs FG IV CA hiring for project finance, audit support, and grant-administration roles.

In the last 12 months ERCEA has been a regular subscriber to EPSO's AD5 and AD7 generalist competitions and has published numerous direct vacancy notices for: scientific officers across the three scientific domains (with sub-discipline specialisation in life sciences, physical sciences and engineering, social sciences and humanities); grant officers; IT specialists; communications officers; and corporate-services staff.

Contract-agent hiring at FG III and FG IV is concentrated in grant administration, IT, project finance, audit support, communications, and corporate services. ERCEA is one of the larger users of CAST Permanent in the EU institutional landscape. Seconded national experts from national research-funding agencies (DFG in Germany, ANR in France, NWO in the Netherlands, FWF in Austria, UKRI as a non-EU but cooperating example, AEI in Spain, MIUR in Italy, and others) are an occasional channel.

The candidate pool for ERCEA scientific officer posts is highly specialist: researchers with PhDs in life sciences, physical sciences, engineering, or social sciences and humanities, plus substantive scientific-reviewing experience (typically through peer review for major journals or research-funding agencies). Many successful candidates have post-doctoral or academic-position backgrounds before transitioning to research-administration.

Salary realism by grade and the Brussels coefficient

ERCEA staff are paid under the EU Staff Regulations and the Brussels duty-station coefficient is 100 — full Brussels parity. AD5 step 1 grosses €6,153 monthly basic; AD7 step 1 €7,876; AD9 step 1 €10,083; AD12 step 1 €13,830.

With expatriation (16%) and household allowance for a married hire with one child the on-paper figure for an AD7 typically lands around €10,500–€11,500 gross monthly. The standard EU package applies and the expatriation allowance is the single biggest differentiator.

Net purchasing power at ERCEA is identical to other Brussels-based EU bodies. The work environment at the executive agency — scientifically intensive, with substantial international researcher interaction, and at the heart of the EU frontier-research agenda — is the main differentiator versus the Commission and the EU agencies for scientific candidates choosing between research-administration roles.

Languages, security clearance, and competition profile

English is the working language at ERCEA. The regulatory second-language minimum applies under the Staff Regulations. Knowledge of French is useful for daily life in Brussels. For scientific officer roles knowledge of the international scientific-reviewing language (English) is paramount; additional EU languages are not material for the work itself but are valued.

ERCEA staff do not require security clearance. Selected posts handling commercially sensitive proposals or pre-decision evaluation material are subject to internal confidentiality and conflict-of-interest rules under the EU Financial Regulation but not classified-information procedures.

ERCEA recruits via EPSO for generalist posts and through direct TA vacancy notices for specialised scientific officer roles. The competition profile is highly specialist for scientific officer posts: well-credentialed researchers with substantive peer-review or research-funding experience progress through the structured selection process well; generalist research-administration candidates face a steeper bar. For grant officer posts the pool is broader. For senior AD9 and AD12 posts internal mobility and lateral mobility from other Horizon Europe executive agencies (EISMEA, REA, HADEA, CINEA), national research-funding agencies, and the Commission's DG RTD is significant.

Application paths

Three main routes. EPSO official: pass an EPSO competition (most commonly the AD5 or AD7 generalist competitions, with research-officer sub-streams), enter a reserve list, and wait to be selected for a specific ERCEA vacancy. ERCEA is a regular user of EPSO reserve lists across the AD5–AD7 grades.

Direct TA vacancy: scientific officer posts are increasingly recruited through direct vacancy notices that target researchers with specific scientific-domain expertise. Apply directly to the published notice; expect a CV and motivation letter screening, a written test (frequently a scientific-evaluation or research-administration case study), and a structured competency-based interview.

Contract agent: a substantial share of hiring, concentrated in grant administration, IT, project finance, audit support, communications, and corporate services. Candidates register on CAST Permanent in the relevant function group and respond to ERCEA notices that draw from the CAST pool, or apply directly to ERCEA CA notices. Many CA staff progress to TA roles via subsequent in-house selection.

A practical note: ERCEA scientific officer roles are particularly attractive for researchers seeking a stable EU career while remaining close to substantive scientific work. The career path is narrow but deep: scientific officers manage research grants in their domain, interact regularly with leading international researchers, and support the ERC Scientific Council's strategic direction. Lateral mobility into other Horizon Europe executive agencies, the Commission's DG RTD, national research-funding agencies, and academic-research positions is well-established.