The 2027 call opens on 22 July. With a € 594M budget to support ~373 projects, the ERC Staring Grant (StG) is a strategic opportunity for early-career researchers. Switzerland is currently eligible to ERC; this may change from 2028.
Success rate: ~12.2% (call 2024).

ERC StG supports talented early-career scientists who have already produced excellent supervised work. Applicants should have already shown evidence of potential for research independence (e.g. one important publication as main author or without the participation of their PhD supervisor).

Internal candidates w a professorial position are invited to send an expression of interest to servizio.ricerca@usi.ch by 24 August, including provisional abstract and title of the proposal.

ERC funds researchers with an excellent track record, which is assessed based on field norms, career stage & personal circumstances, prioritizing quality over quantity. List up to 10 key outputs showcasing your contribution to the SoA. Previous grants & publications are not automatically advantages.

• Open to researchers 0–10 years after PhD
• 1 January 2027 is the reference date for the eligibility period
• Eligibility can be extended for HR reasons
• Applicants may receive only 1 ERC Starting Grant and 1 ERC Consolidator Grant in their career.

• Up to € 1.5M for 5 years (pro rata for shorter duration) with an extra €1M possible for other significant project-related costs (€2M for researchers moving to EU).
• Grant can cover the PI’s salary. In any case min. commitment time of 50% required.
• Budget must include 25% OH.
• No co-financing.

Proposals are evaluated by selected international peer reviewers and by discipline-specific panels in a two-step evaluation procedure. Selected applicants are invited for an online interview taking place in early summer 2027. Final results are expected in September 2027.

Explore projects funded in the latest ERC calls using the ERC Dashboard. Filter by discipline, panel, or keywords, and read abstracts to identify the panel that best fits your proposal. You can also browse the ERC Panel Members database to better understand the expertise represented in each panel.

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