European Commission
How to apply for European Commission research funding
The Funding & Tenders Portal is the European Commission's online system to search and apply for funding.
Applications should be sent to Research Services for institutional approval at least 5 working days before the deadline (10 working days for most ERC and Marie Skłodowska-Curie calls).
How to apply for funding
An EU Login account is required to create, edit and submit an application via the Funding & Tenders Portal.
Click the ‘Register’ button (top right-hand corner) to create an account. Fill in your details. It is recommended that principal investigators use their university/department email address. The system will automatically create a username. Your username or email can then be used to log in.
The proposal coordinator (or principal investigator/applicant for fellowship applications) creates a proposal. To do this, navigate to the call page on the Funding & Tenders Portal. Once in the topic-specific page, click on ‘start submission’ button to begin the application process.
Log in to your EU Login account. Once created, all proposals to which you have access appear in the ‘My Proposals’ section, which can be accessed from the left-hand side of the home screen.
Note: if you are the Oxford PI on a collaborative project, but not the lead, or if you are an administrator/research facilitator and need access to a proposal the coordinator/PI will need to give you access to the proposal (you will need an EU Login account – see step 1).
Research Services must be given access to all proposals involving Oxford academics/researchers.
EC applications have two sections: online administrative forms (A forms) and the proposal Part B.
The form of Part B varies according to the type of call. The relevant template Part B can be downloaded in pdf version from the draft proposal page on the portal. The Part B templates include guidance notes on how to complete them. The coordinator should be able to access the Word version of the Part B templates by going into the application itself.
The coordinator (or PI for fellowship applications) will lead on completing Part B and non-lead beneficiaries will be asked to contribute (and complete their details on the A forms).
All proposals must be supported by a University of Oxford department/faculty. Please note that as colleges are separate legal entities to the University, colleges cannot support University applications to EC calls.
The PI/applicant will need to work with their departmental administrator or research facilitator to cost the Oxford proposal budget in X5. All proposal budget information is in Euros. Costings are calculated in sterling using the applicable University exchange rate.
Additional call-specific guidance from Research Services is available on the Oxford Global Research website.
As part of the application approval process the department should aim to submit the X5 costing no later than 5 working days before the call deadline (10 working days for most ERC and Marie Skłodowska-Curie calls).
Please also email researchgrants@admin.ox.ac.uk with full details of the application.
Additional call specific guidance from Research Services is available on the Oxford Global Research website.
The checks made by Research Services differ depending on the call. For information see scheme specific guidance (in PDF format) on the Oxford Global Research website.
As a minimum, the X5 costing budget will be checked against the Oxford budget in the proposal A forms and any feedback or advice will be given to the PI (applicant) and department. Once checks are complete Research Services will send approval.
ERC calls require an Oxford signed host support letter. This is provided in the Research Services approval email.
Only the project coordinator (for collaborative projects) or the PI/applicant (for fellowship applications) can submit proposals – Research Services does not submit proposals. Submitted proposals are supported formally by the department and Research Services only after the internal approval process is complete.
All EC applications must be submitted by 4pm (UK time) on the date of the call deadline. Proposals will not be accepted for evaluation if the 4pm deadline is missed. The EC operates no exceptions to this rule.
Last updated 08/01/2024
Need help?
Contact researchgrants@admin.ox.ac.uk for help with your application
Contact the Participant Portal's IT helpdesk for technical issues with the system
Quick links
- EC Funding & Tenders Portal
- Participant Portal's reference documents (for work programmes, annotated model grant agreement, templates etc)
- Participant Portal online manual (general guidance on pre- and post-award EC funding)
- Oxford Global Research: Factsheets & Presentations