EU Call for Applications: ERC-2026-Starting Grant
The European Commission calls for proposals for the ERC Starting Grant (StG) 2026 to support excellent Principal Investigators starting or having recently started their own independent research team or programme.
Eligibility:
- Researchers of any nationality with 2-7 years of experience since completion of PhD, a scientific track record showing great promise and an excellent research proposal
- Applications can be made in any field of research. The ERC’s grants operate on a ‘bottom-up’ basis without predetermined priorities.
- Applications for an ERC grant require a single Principal Investigator (PI) to submit the application on behalf of their host institution.The host institution must offer suitable conditions for the PI to independently lead the research and manage funding. The PI can be hosted by any legal entity in an EU Member State or associated country.
Financial details:
- Starting Grants may be awarded up to €1.5 million.
- A period of 5 years (pro rata for projects of shorter duration).
- An ERC grant can cover up to 100% of the total eligible direct costs of the research plus a contribution of 25% of the total eligible costs towards indirect costs.
Read here for further information.
Application deadline, 14th of October 2025.
