Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
Horizon Europe is the European Union (EU) funding programme for the period 2021 – 2027, which targets the sectors of research and innovation. The programme’s budget is around € 95.5 billion, of which € 5.4 billion is from NextGenerationEU to stimulate recovery and strengthen the EU’s resilience in the future, and € 4.5 billion is additional aid.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
The Starting Grant supports excellent Principal Investigators starting or having recently started their own independent research team or programme.
A Starting Grant Principal Investigator should have already shown evidence of the potential for research independence, for example, by having produced at least one important publication as its main author or a publication without the participation of their PhD supervisor.
Detailed Call Description
Size of ERC Starting Grants
Starting Grants may be awarded up to a maximum of EUR 1 500 000 for a period of 5 years. The maximum size of the grants is reduced pro rata temporis for proposals of shorter duration.
Additional funding up to EUR 1 000 000 * can be requested to cover further eligible costs (e.g. start-up costs, major equipment, access to large facilities, major experimental and field work costs) when these are necessary to carry out the proposed work. The requests for additional funding must be duly justified in the proposal.
The maximum amount of the grant is reduced pro rata temporis for proposals of shorter duration. Additional funding is not subject to pro rata temporis reduction for projects of shorter duration.
Both the grant amount requested, as well as any additional funding are assessed during evaluation.
* Except for Principal Investigators in Starting, Consolidator, or Advanced Grant re-locating to the EU or an Associated Country from elsewhere to take up their ERC grant. In this case, the maximum additional funding shall be EUR 2 000 000.
Profile of the ERC Starting Grant Principal Investigator
The Principal Investigators shall have successfully defended their first PhD at least 2 and up to 7 years prior to 1 January 2026. Cut-off dates: Successful defence of PhD between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2023 (inclusive).
The eligibility period can be extended beyond 7 years in certain properly documented circumstances. See section 1.4 Admissibility, Eligibility, Resubmission Restrictions of the ERC Work Programme 2026.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
Funding rate 100% / 25% for indirect costs.
All Principal Investigators funded through an ERC Starting Grant must spend a minimum of 50% of their working time in an EU Member State or Associated Country and a minimum of 50% of their working time on the ERC project.
Thematic Categories
- Education and training
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
Eligibility for Participation
- Educational Institutions
- Other Beneficiaries
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
Eligibility For Participation Notes
The content of the proposal must relate to the objectives and to the grant type set out in the call, as defined in the ERC Work Programme 2026 (section 1.1 Objectives of ERC Grant Schemes). If a proposal is considered not to relate to the objectives of the grant or call for proposals, it will be declared ineligible.
Eligible Principal Investigators: The ERC grant schemes are open to researchers of any age and nationality, residing anywhere in the world at the time of application, and wishing to carry out their research in one of the EU or Associated Country-based Host Institutions (see Annex 3 of the ERC Work Programme 2026).
Principal Investigators applying to the Starting Grants must meet specific eligibility criteria based on the time elapsed between the date of the successful defence of their first PhD degree or an equivalent doctoral degree as described in the ERC Work Programme 2026 (see also Annex 2 ‘ERC policy on PhD and equivalent doctoral degrees’ and specific provisions for applicants holding a degree in medicine).
All Principal Investigators funded through an ERC Starting Grant must spend a minimum of 50% of their working time in an EU Member State or Associated Country and a minimum of 50% of their working time on the ERC project.
Eligible Host Institution: Any type of legal entity, public or private, including a university, a research organisation or an undertaking can host a Principal Investigator and their team. The host institution (Applicant Legal Entity) must engage and host the Principal Investigator for at least the duration of the project, as defined in the grant agreement. It must be established either in an EU Member State or an Associated Country (see Annex 3 of the ERC Work Programme 2026) as a legal entity created under national law, or it may be an international European research organisation (such as CERN, EMBL, etc.), or any other entity created under EU law. International organisations with headquarters in an EU Member State or an Associated Country shall be deemed to be established in that Member State or Associated Country.
Eligible countries:
The conditions specific to the ERC are described in the ERC Work Programme 2026 under the heading ‘Admissibility, eligibility and resubmission restrictions‘ and in Annex 3. An overview is provided below:
The ERC actions are open to researchers of any age and nationality, residing anywhere in the world at the time of application, and wishing to carry out their research in one of the EU Member State or Associated Country-based Host Institutions(see Annex 3 of the ERC Work Programme 2026). Principal Investigators funded through the ERC frontier research grants shall spend a minimum percentage of their working time on the ERC project (50%) and a minimum percentage of their working time in an EU Member State or an Associated Country (50%).
Eligible Scientific Field: Applications in any field of science are eligible for the ERC funding and the ERC welcomes research proposals of an interdisciplinary nature.
Restrictions on applications: Given the large number of applications received every year, and the need to uphold the quality and integrity of the evaluation process, restrictions apply. For further details please consult the ERC Work Programme 2026, heading ‘Restrictions on applications’ and the corresponding Table 6 or the Frequently Asked Questions.
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Research and Innovation Foundation
29a Andrea Michalakopoulou Street, 1075 Nicosia, P.O. Box 23422, 1683 Nicosia
Telephone: +357 22205000
Email: support@research.org.cy
Website: https://www.research.org.cy/en/
Contact Person:
Dr. Leda Skoufari – Themistou
Senior Scientific Officer
Email: leda@research.org.cy