Are you a talented early-career scientist who has already produced excellent supervised work, is ready to work independently and shows potential to be a research leader? The European Research Council’s Starting Grant is for people like you.

But how would do you know if you qualify? We have put together a handy flow chart below for your convenience:

How to apply for an ERC Grant?

ERC grant applications can only be submitted in response to a Call for Proposals. The ERC has yearly calls for proposals covering all scientific fields.

For an ERC grant application to be complete, it needs to include the administrative forms, the research proposal and the supplementary documents. The completed proposal should be submitted by the specified closing date.

Calls are published on the page of the ERC, the European Commission’s Participant Portal and in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Step-by-step from the website of the ERC:

Before the call is published:

1. Find out which ERC grant and which call is suitable for you.
2. Identify the host institution and team members you would like to work with. (see also the EURAXESS Hosting Database)
3. Contact the National Contact Point (NCP) in your country for support.

Once the call is open:

1. Read the call documents carefully.
2. Contact the host institution and gather all the details you need for the application.
3. Start writing your proposal. Allow time for other people to review your draft. Your NCP, peers and other scientists can all give you helpful support and feedback.
4. Familiarise yourself with the Funding and Tender’s Portal’s submission service. This is the online system through which proposals must be submitted. (see also the Online Manual for EU Funding & Tenders and the Horizon Europe Programme Guide).
5. Submit your proposal as early as possible. Deadlines cannot be changed under any circumstances. You can update your submitted proposal any time before the deadline by simply submitting a new version, which will overwrite the old one.
6. You will get an ‘acknowledgement of receipt’ by e-mail for each submission.

After the deadline:

1. The ERC will check whether your proposal meets the call’s eligibility criteria.
2. External experts will evaluate all the eligible proposals.
3. You will receive further information as your proposal progresses through the evaluation. For more information we invite you to consult the timeframe for the current call.