Preparing the budget of an ERC proposal - Structure at proposal level - Personnel and purchase costs

Sep 12, 2026

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Guidance for preparing the budget of an ERC proposal, focusing on the proposal-level budget structure and how to enter figures in the online budget system. The material explains how to respect the maximum EU contribution set by the Work Programme, encode direct costs with automatic calculation of indirect and total eligible costs, and provide justification text in the required fields. It covers personnel costs for actual costs and lump sums, estimation by person-month and year, and using ERC historical data, then outlines purchase costs, including travel and subsistence plus equipment versus consumables, with specific rules for equipment depreciation and exceptional full capitalised items.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPresentations

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time5 min

AccessFree to download

Preparing the budget

The structure at proposal level

Personnel costs: Actual costs (StG, CoG)

Personnel costs: Lump sums (AdG)

Purchase costs

The European Research Council Preparing the budget of an ERC proposal Catherine Merolla Preparing the budget The structure at proposal level │ 2 Preparing the budget The structure at proposal level • Max. EU contribution as per the Work Programme • Budget online • Encode direct costs: ✓ indirect costs and total eligible costs automatically calculated • Pay attention to the EU requested contribution: enter the amount you wish to request │ 3 Preparing the budget The structure at proposal level • Costs to be justified in a single text box ✓ AdG call: separate text boxes • Important to explain why the resources are needed and the related costs for each costs category │ 4 Preparing the budget Personnel costs / Actual costs (StG, CoG) │ 5 Preparing the budget Personnel costs Describe the size and nature of the team, indicating, where appropriate, the key team members and their roles. • Principal investigator • Senior staff (tenured professors) • Post docs • Students (PhD researchers and/or Master’s and undergraduate students) • Other (laboratory technicians and/or administrative personnel) ✓ Get monthly average gross costs per staff category ✓ Make an estimation by person/month and by year │ 6 Preparing the budget Personnel costs/ Lump sums (AdG) |
Beneficiary Short Name | | PI | | Senior staff | | | Post docs
| | | Students
| | | Other staff | | |
A. Total personnel costs/€ | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | Person
Months | Cost/€ | Average Monthly Cost | Person
Months | Cost/€ | Average Monthly Cost | Person
Months | Cost/€ | Average Monthly Cost | Person
Months | Cost/€ | Average Monthly Cost | Person
Months | Cost/€ | Average Monthly Cost | | | Participant X | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Participant Y | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Affiliated entity X | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Affiliated entity Y | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Total | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | • For AdG call, person-months and total amount must be encoded • System will calculate automatically the average monthly costs ✓ ERC historical data personnel costs available for consultation │ 7 Preparing the budget Purchase costs │ 8 Preparing the budget Purchase costs • Travel and subsistence: both for your team and for invited/guests researchers (you might calculate an indicative amount per person per year) • Equipment vs Consumables: depends on the beneficiary’s accounting practice • Equipment costs: charged according to depreciation and percentage of usage ✓ AdG call: equipment depreciation table to be uploaded │ 9 Preparing the budget Equipment Full capitalised costs • Principle: only depreciation costs of equipment must be budgeted • Exception (check the Work Programme): equipment, purchased specifically for the action (or developed as part of the action tasks) may, exceptionally, be included as full capitalised costs. ✓ These items must be clearly listed and justified in the proposal. ✓ E.g., prototype developed specifically in the course of the project │ 10

FAQs

What must be respected when preparing the ERC proposal budget at proposal level?

The budget must respect the maximum EU contribution as defined in the Work Programme, and the EU requested contribution amount should be entered according to the proposal needs.

How are personnel costs handled for actual costs (StG, CoG) and lump sums (AdG)?

For actual costs, the team size and nature are described and estimates are made by person/month and year using monthly average gross costs by staff category. For AdG lump sums, person-months and total amounts must be encoded so the system can calculate average monthly costs automatically.

What rules apply to purchase costs, especially equipment?

Travel and subsistence must be budgeted for the team and invited/guest researchers. Equipment and consumables depend on the beneficiary’s accounting practice; equipment costs are budgeted through depreciation, with an exception allowing full capitalised costs only for items clearly listed and justified per the Work Programme.

Sep 12, 2026

Upload by Maeve