ERC Starting Grant 2027: Up to €1.5 Million for Early-Career Researchers

ERC Starting Grant 2027: Up to €1.5 Million for Early-Career Researchers

Overview

The European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant 2027 is open for applications. The call opened on 22 July 2026 and closes on 14 October 2026. Although the competition is called “Starting Grant 2027,” the application deadline falls in 2026, so candidates need to plan around the October closing date rather than wait for a later 2027 deadline.

This grant is for an excellent researcher who is starting, or has recently started, an independent research team or programme. ERC funding is bottom-up: applications can address any field of research, without a predefined topic list. The proposal must nevertheless make a persuasive case for an ambitious frontier-research question, a convincing approach, and the Principal Investigator’s capacity to lead the work.

The award is made to a host institution on behalf of a single Principal Investigator (PI). The host may be a public or private legal entity, including a university or research organisation, in an EU Member State or an associated country. The PI does not have to be employed by that institution when the proposal is submitted, but the host must provide the required binding support and engage the PI if the proposal is funded.

At a glance

The 2027 Work Programme describes the opening and closing dates as provisional, meaning the European Research Council Executive Agency may adjust them within the limits stated in the programme. Treat 14 October 2026 as the working deadline shown on the official call page, and check the ERC page and EU Funding & Tenders Portal before submitting.

What the grant can fund

The standard maximum is €1.5 million for a project lasting up to 60 months. A shorter project is subject to a pro-rata reduction of the main grant amount. The Starting Grant uses an actual-cost funding model: eligible direct costs can be reimbursed at 100%, with a flat 25% contribution for eligible indirect costs under the Horizon Europe rules.

The proposal may request up to €1 million in additional funding when further eligible costs are necessary for the work. The request must be justified in the proposal, not treated as an automatic supplement. Examples can include major equipment, access to large facilities, substantial fieldwork, or other costs that are necessary for the project but are not realistically covered by the standard maximum.

The 2027 Work Programme also provides increased additional funding, up to €2 million, for qualifying Starting Grant PIs who are based in a non-associated third country at the call deadline and relocate to the EU or an associated country to take up the grant. A candidate should check the detailed conditions before relying on that higher ceiling. The maximum requested amount is still assessed alongside the scientific case and the proposed resources.

This is a flexible research grant, not an unrestricted operating budget. Personnel, equipment, travel, materials, facilities, and other costs must be connected to the proposed work and supported by a credible resource plan. The host institution receives the grant and has responsibilities for the financial and administrative implementation, while the PI remains responsible for the scientific direction.

Who can apply in the 2027 cycle

The most important change for this cycle is the eligibility window. A Starting Grant applicant must have defended their PhD more than 0 and no more than 10 years before 1 January 2027. The relevant reference is the certified date of the successful PhD defence, not simply the date on which a degree certificate was issued. If no defence or viva was organised, the applicant needs written confirmation from the awarding institution stating when the PhD was approved.

The ERC allows eligibility extensions for documented circumstances such as maternity, paternity or parental leave, illness, national service, clinical training, natural disasters, asylum, and being a victim of gender-based or other violence. The detailed rules and evidence requirements vary by circumstance. Candidates who need an extension should collect the supporting documents early and describe the request in the submission system rather than assuming the panel will infer it from a CV.

Researchers of any nationality may apply. The research must be carried out at an eligible host institution in an EU Member State or associated country. The PI may already work at the host or may be moving to it. A single PI submits on behalf of the host institution, and the team may include researchers of any nationality; team members may also be located outside Europe where their contribution adds scientific value and the applicable participation rules are met.

The PI must commit at least 50% of their working time to the ERC-funded project and spend at least 50% of their working time in an EU Member State or associated country. These are minimum programme requirements, not merely recommended workload targets. The application must present a credible commitment that fits the candidate’s other responsibilities.

The Starting Grant is aimed at a transition to research independence. The 2027 Work Programme says that a PI should already show evidence of the potential for independence, such as an important publication as main author or a publication without the PhD supervisor. A long publication list alone is not enough. The track record should make the candidate’s own contribution, scientific judgement, and emerging leadership easy to understand.

What the application contains

The application is submitted through the EU Funding & Tenders Portal in response to the ERC-2027-StG call. The complete package includes the administrative forms, the research proposal, and supplementary documents. Use the templates supplied in the submission system and follow the call documents currently attached to the portal.

The 2027 applicant guidance describes the research proposal as three connected parts:

• Part I of the Scientific Proposal, with a maximum of 5 pages excluding the cover page and references. It should explain the state of knowledge, the central scientific question, the objectives, and the overall research strategy.
• The Curriculum Vitae and Track Record in the Part B1 template, with a maximum of 4 pages. It should cover personal details, education, positions, supervisors and mentors, up to ten research outputs, and selected examples of peer recognition, with enough explanation to show why the outputs matter.
• Part II of the Scientific Proposal in the Part B2 template, with a maximum of 7 pages. It should set out the methodology, work plan, implementation, risks, mitigation measures, and any necessary background that is not already in Part I.

The administrative Part A also contains the budget and resources information and the PI’s time commitment. The budget should agree with the implementation plan. If the methodology requires a team member, facility, instrument, dataset, or field activity, the resources section should make that need visible and quantify it sensibly. A detailed budget explanation belongs in the resources section; Part II should describe how the resources enable the work rather than repeat a separate set of figures.

The supporting documents include a PhD certificate, a Host Institution Support Letter, and, where relevant, documentation for an eligibility extension. Ethics and security material may also be required depending on the project. The host support letter is a binding statement from the legal entity confirming support for the PI and project and committing to the required conditions if the proposal is successful. An absent institutional statement can make a proposal inadmissible.

Page limits are strict. References do not count towards the proposal page limits, but extra scientific material beyond the limits is not a safe place to put essential arguments. Put the central idea, its importance, the approach, and the reason the PI is positioned to carry it out inside Part I, because Part I and the CV/Track Record are what the panel sees at the first evaluation step.

How the 2027 evaluation works

Excellence is the sole evaluation criterion and is applied to the research project and the PI together. Reviewers consider whether the project addresses important scientific questions, has ambitious and convincing objectives, advances the frontier of knowledge, and uses an appropriate research strategy. They also consider the PI’s intellectual capacity, creativity, expertise, and ability to execute the project.

At Step 1, panel members and remote evaluators assess Part I and the PI’s CV and Track Record. Only the strongest proposals proceed. At Step 2, the complete proposal is assessed, including Part II, the budget and resources, and the time commitment. The PI also attends an interview of approximately 30 minutes. Prepare the interview as a scientific explanation of the project’s importance, choices, risks, and feasibility rather than as a presentation of every detail in the application.

The ERC organises panels across Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Engineering, and Social Sciences and Humanities. A proposal may receive input from remote experts when specialised or interdisciplinary expertise is needed. Write Part I for a broad panel in the relevant area: define the problem plainly, identify what is genuinely new, and show why the approach is convincing without depending on links that reviewers may not consult.

2027 call and evaluation timeline

The call’s published schedule is:

The ERC labels the evaluation timeframe preliminary, and the Work Programme labels the call dates provisional. Use these milestones to organise preparation and institutional planning, not as a promise that every message will arrive on the listed day. The immediate fixed planning problem is the application deadline: the host letter, PhD evidence, extension records, proposal files, and portal submission all need to be ready before the call closes.

A practical preparation plan

Start with eligibility and host arrangements. Confirm the successful PhD defence date, calculate the period against 1 January 2027, and identify any extension evidence. At the same time, find a host institution that can provide the research environment, administrative support, facilities, and binding support letter. The host relationship should be a working arrangement, not an address added at the end.

Next, write the five-page Part I before expanding the methodology. It should answer four questions: What important problem is unresolved? What is the project’s precise idea? How will the work change knowledge if it succeeds? Why is this PI ready to lead it? Ask researchers outside the immediate speciality to read it. If they cannot restate the question and proposed advance, the panel may struggle too.

Then build Part II, the work plan, and the resource request as one coherent system. Break the research into activities and decision points. Identify the risks that could change the method, the evidence that would show a problem early, and the alternative route if a key assumption fails. Match staff time, equipment, access charges, travel, and other costs to those activities. Request additional funding only where the proposal shows why it is needed.

Complete the CV and Track Record with context rather than a publication dump. Select outputs that show the applicant’s contribution and progress toward independence. Explain significant recognition briefly and accurately. If a publication was produced with a supervisor or a large collaboration, make the PI’s role clear.

Finally, complete the portal forms, upload the PhD certificate and host letter, check the ethics and security questions, and run the portal’s validation. The ERC applicant guidance recommends submitting a first version at least 48 hours before the deadline. A later submission can overwrite an earlier one before closing, but only the last version submitted before the deadline is evaluated. Download the consolidated proposal after submission and verify that the intended files and the host commitment are present.

Common reasons a strong idea can fail

An ambitious idea can still be unconvincing if the proposal hides its main question behind technical detail. Part I should not read like a protocol or a literature survey. It needs a clear scientific claim and a persuasive route to testing it.

A good track record can also be weakened by unclear independence. State what the PI personally discovered, designed, led, or delivered. Do not assume that a panel will reconstruct this from author order or a long list of awards.

Budget credibility matters at Step 2. A large request without a visible connection to the work plan creates doubt, while an unrealistically small team can make the schedule look impossible. Treat the resources section as part of the scientific argument.

Host support is another admissibility risk. The institution must provide the required statement at application time, using the official wording and signature arrangements. Start this process early enough for institutional approvals rather than waiting for the final proposal draft.

Bottom line

ERC Starting Grant 2027 is an open, highly selective route for a researcher ready to establish an independent programme. The call closes on 14 October 2026. The widened eligibility window means that candidates with a successful PhD defence more than 0 and no more than 10 years before 1 January 2027 should reassess their eligibility, while all applicants still need a strong independence signal, a qualifying host, and the required time commitments.

Before investing in a full proposal, confirm the PhD date and extensions, secure a host willing to sign the support letter, and test whether the project’s central idea fits convincingly within Part I. Then build the detailed method, resources, evidence, and risk plan around that argument. The official ERC page, the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, the ERC Work Programme 2027, and the 2027 information for applicants are the controlling documents for the submission.

Official links

• ERC Starting Grant page: https://erc.europa.eu/apply-grant/starting-grant
• ERC Work Programme 2027: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/wp-call/2027/wp_horizon-erc-2027_en.pdf
• Information for applicants to the Starting and Consolidator Grant Calls: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/information-for-applicants_he-erc-stg-cog_en.pdf
• Starting Grant 2027 evaluation timeframe: https://erc.europa.eu/timeframe-starting-grant-2027-evaluation