ERC Starting Grant
The ERC Starting Grant funds talented early-career researchers to build their own team in Europe, judged on scientific excellence alone.
No ERC Starting Grant call is open in our listings right now.
What it funds
Frontier research in any field, led by one principal investigator with a team they assemble. There are no thematic priorities.
Who can apply
Researchers 2 to 7 years after their PhD (with extensions for career breaks such as parental leave), of any nationality, who will be hosted by an institution in an EU member state or Horizon Europe associated country and spend at least half their working time there.
Award size
Up to €1.5 million over five years in recent calls, with up to €1 million more for start-up costs such as moving to Europe or major equipment.
Duration
Up to 5 years.
How applications are reviewed
Two-step panel review: the extended synopsis and CV in step 1, then the full proposal and an interview in Brussels in step 2. Excellence is the only criterion, applied to both the project and the PI.
Deadlines
One call a year, recently closing in October. Check the current ERC Work Programme for dates and limits.
Our summary, checked against EU guidance in October 2026. Rules, budgets and dates change: always confirm in the current announcement before you apply.
Open ERC Starting Grant calls
None open in our listings today. We add new calls twice a day; create a free account to get an alert when one opens.
Recently funded ERC projects (all schemes)
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Active Hybrid Photonic Integrated Circuits for Ultra-Efficient Electro-Optic Conversion and Signal Processing
European Commission · European Research Council (ERC) · €13,999,999
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Mutations in healthy tissues: a double-edged sword for tissues homeostasis
European Commission · European Research Council (ERC) · €9,808,142
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Mechanical characterization of soft tissue in vivo by microstructural imaging and physics-informed neural networks: bridging the gap between biomechanics and clinical practice
European Commission · European Research Council (ERC) · €9,991,449
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Reconstructing Embodied Musical knowledge At the Keyboard
European Commission · European Research Council (ERC) · €8,031,361
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MOLECULAR QUANTUM DYNAMICS IN LOW TEMPERATURE CONDENSED PHASE ASTROCHEMISTRY
European Commission · European Research Council (ERC) · €12,085,363
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Unravelling the complexity of the reionization history though simulations and multi-wavelength observations
European Commission · European Research Council (ERC) · €9,765,000
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