Open calls
ERC Starting Grant
High-trust frontier funding for researchers building their first major independent programme.
European Research CouncilEarly-career principal investigatorsRecurring call
Who usually fits
- • investigators with a clear independent scientific direction
- • frontier ideas that do not need a large consortium wrapper
- • applicants ready to defend ambition with precision
What to watch before drafting
- • investigator independence
- • frontier ambition without vagueness
- • project shape that stays legible at panel scale
Why this page matters
The ERC Starting Grant remains a defining programme for early-career principal investigators who can pair a sharp frontier question with a clear independence case.
For many applicants, ERC Starting Grant is still the clearest signal that frontier work can be funded without diluting the scientific core into a broader programme narrative.