Objectives

The Starting Grant supports excellent Principal Investigators starting or having recently started their own independent research team or programme. A Starting Grant Principal Investigator should have already shown evidence of the potential for research independence, for example, by having produced at least one important publication as its main author or a publication without the participation of their PhD supervisor. A researcher may be the Principal Investigator of only one ERC Starting Grant in their career.

Size of ERC Starting Grants

Starting Grants may be awarded up to a maximum of EUR 1 500 000 for a period of 60 months. The maximum amount of the grants is reduced pro rata temporis for proposals of shorter duration.

Additional funding up to EUR 1 000 000 *1 can be requested to cover further eligible costs for any cost category when these are necessary to carry out the proposed work. The request for additional funding must be duly justified in the proposal.

The maximum amount of the grant is reduced pro rata temporis for proposals of shorter duration. Additional funding is not subject to pro rata temporis reduction for projects of shorter duration.

Both the grant amount and any additional funding requested are assessed during evaluation.

*1 Except for Principal Investigators in Starting, Consolidator, or Advanced Grant re-locating to the EU or an Associated Country from elsewhere to take up their ERC grant. In this case, the maximum additional funding shall be EUR 2 000 000. Applicants requesting more than EUR 1 000 000 as additional funding must be based outside the EU or an Associated Country at the time of the call deadline for the increased maximum additional funding to apply.

Profile of the ERC Starting Grant Principal Investigator

The Principal Investigators will be eligible for a Starting Grant if they have defended their PhD in the ten-year period preceding the 1st of January 2027. Cut-off dates: Successful defence of PhD between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2026 (inclusive)*2. Principal Investigators who have already held a Starting or a Consolidator Grant in the past will not be able to apply for the same type of grant. Other eligibility or resubmission criteria might also apply.

The eligibility period may be extended beyond 10 years in some well-documented circumstances or events. See section 1.4 Admissibility, Eligibility, Resubmission Restrictions of the ERC Work Programme 2027.

*2 A Principal Investigator applying for an ERC Starting or Consolidator Grant must hold a PhD or an equivalent doctoral degree at the time of the call deadline.