Starting Grant
Starting Grant supports early-career researchers building independent teams or programmes, funding ambitious, high-risk research across all fields to advance the frontier of scientific knowledge.
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Funder: European Research Council
Due Dates: October 14, 2026, at 17:00 Brussels time (ERC-2027-STG submission)
Funding Amounts: Up to €1.5 million for five years, plus up to €1 million additional funding (€2 million for eligible relocating PIs)
Summary: Supports early-career researchers establishing independent teams or programmes to pursue ambitious frontier research in any field.
Key Information: PIs must commit at least 50% of working time to the project and 50% in an EU Member State or Associated Country.
Description
The European Research Council’s Starting Grant supports excellent researchers starting, or having recently started, their own independent research team or programme. Funded through Horizon Europe and administered by the European Research Council Executive Agency (ERCEA), it provides longer-term funding and independence to pursue ground-breaking, ambitious, high-risk research.
The programme operates bottom-up, without predetermined thematic priorities, across life sciences, physical and engineering sciences, and social sciences and humanities. Interdisciplinary, pioneering and unconventional approaches are welcome. Projects are led by a single Principal Investigator (PI), whose team may consist solely of the PI. Scientific excellence is the sole evaluation criterion, assessed jointly for the research and the investigator through international peer review.
