ERC Starting Grants are designed to support excellent Principal Investigators at the career stage at which they are starting their own independent research team or programme. Applicant Principal Investigators must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their scientific proposal.

Starting Grants may be awarded up to a maximum of EUR 1 500 000 for a period of 5 years. However, up to an additional EUR 500 000 can be requested in the proposal to cover (a) eligible "start-up" costs for Principal Investigators moving to the EU or an Associated Country from elsewhere as a consequence of receiving the ERC grant and/or (b) the purchase of major equipment and/or (c) access to large facilities.

The Principal Investigator shall have been awarded their first PhD at least 2 and up to 7 years prior to 1 January 2016. The effective elapsed time since the award of the first PhD can be reduced in certain properly documented circumstances.