Programme: Horizon Europe
Priority: Excellent Science
Objective: European Research Council
Budget: 594,10 M€
Opening Date: 22/07/2026
Deadline: 14/10/2026
Documents: ERC-2027-StG
Link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/ERC-2027-STG
Objective of the European Research Council is to sustain excellence research, with a bottom-up approach, enhancing dynamism and creativity of European frontier research, by financing ground-breaking, high-risk and ambitious projects led by Principal Investigators with internationally relevant curricula, thus attracting the best talent and skill to Europe and increasing its competitiveness.
All scientific fields are eligible. ERC encourages interdisciplinary proposals that cross the boundaries between different fields of research.
As a novelty, the Starting Grant action is addressed to young researchers, of any age and nationality, residing anywhere in the world at the time of application, that have successfully defended their first PhD degree more than 0 and up to 10 years prior to 1 January 2027.
The Principal Investigator should start or have recently started his/her own independent research team or programme and should be able to demonstrate his/her potential for research independence, proven, for example, by having produced at least one important publication as main author. As a novelty, a researcher may be the Principal Investigator of only one ERC Starting Grant in his/her career.
Proposals are submitted by the Principal Investigator on behalf of the host institution, which must confirm its association with and support to the project and the PI through a Support Letter.
The PI is required to spend at least 50% of his/her total working time on the financed project and to conduct overall, for the same percentage, his/her activity in an EU Member State or Associated Country.
The budget allocated by the European Commission for this deadline is 594,10 M€, with a number of granted projects foreseen in 373.
The maximum amount expected per Grant is 1,5 M€ for a period of 5 years (to reduce pro rata for projects of shorter duration). The maximum additional funding amount (for further eligible costs for any cost category, duly justified, e.g. major equipment, access to large facilities, …) of 1 M€ will be doubled in case the applicant relocates to the EU or an Associated Country from elsewhere, to take up the ERC grant.
For this action the EC contribution corresponds to 100% of the eligible costs directly linked to the project activities on which a 25% share is recognized to cover indirect costs (excluding direct costs incurred for subcontracting).
The host institution must be a legal entity, normally the sole one participating in the project, located in an EU Member State or Associated Country. Nevertheless it is foreseen that, if they bring scientific added value to the project, the team may involve researchers from other organizations, established anywhere, legal entities that, in turn, can benefit from the EU contribution.
The grant agreements shall be signed by the European Research Council Executive Agency and the host institution, which guarantees to the PI autonomy, independence and the scientific responsibility for the project.
Normally, the Principal Investigator will be employed by the host institution for at least the duration of the project. Moreover, a Supplementary Agreement between the Principal Investigator and the host institution will be signed for the regulation of rights and obligations of the parties.
The research proposal is composed as follows:
Part I of the Scientific Proposal: setting out the envisaged original and creative research, the current state of knowledge, the scientific question and the objectives of the project, the overall approach or research strategy, how the project will advance the frontier of knowledge and what contribution it will make to the research field;
Part II of the Scientific Proposal: focusing primarily on the detailed explanation of the project implementation, feasibility, research methodology, work plan and risk assessment;
Curriculum Vitae and Track Record;
Resources and Time Commitment.
The proposals will be evaluated by peer review panels of experts based on the sole criterion of scientific excellence, with a focus on the quality of the research project, on its ground-breaking nature and ambition. At the same time, the intellectual capacity and creativity of the PI will be evaluated, in particular in relation to his ability to successfully execute the project.
The proposal is evaluated in two steps. At Step 1, Part I and the CV and Track Record are assessed. At Step 2, the complete research proposal is assessed and the PI is called for an interview.
In addition to the usual restrictions for PIs that applied under previous ERC Work Programmes, new restrictions are set out for calls under ERC WP 2027, due to the large number of applications received every year, in order to guarantee the quality and integrity of the evaluation process at the ERC.