November 8, 2026

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The European Post

Policy • Diplomacy • strategic insight

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Israeli Settlement Imports Ban Splits Commission And CouncilUnlimited Pesticide Approvals Face Public Rejection In PollMethane Import Rules Delayed A Year With Review ClauseSustainable Tourism Strategy Hands Europe A Toolbox For Crowded CitiesPharma Package Heads To Parliament After Council Backs Drug ReformRussia Sanctions Alignment Pulls Nine Partners Into Arms ListingsBrazil Farm Exports Jump 14.8 Percent Under EU Mercosur Trade DealNorth Korea IT Workers Draw Joint Western Sanctions ResponseDRC Sanctions Regime Gains Arms Ban And Peacekeeper ProtectionMade With Taiwan Pitch Tests Europe’s Economic Security AppetiteGeorgia Visa-Free Regime Faces January Review After Kallas WarningTeacher Shortages Put The EU Teachers Agenda To The TestKingspan Fine And KKR Charge Put EU Merger Control To WorkMEPs Near First Vote On EU Space Act In Parliament Industry CommitteeMercosur Safeguard Rules Let EU Curb Surges In Car And Goods ImportsMontenegro And Albania Receive EU Accession Roadmaps From CommissionHelsinki Presses Washington Over Paid-For Patriot InterceptorsMeloni Letter Exposes The EU Single Voice Problem On UkraineEmissions Trading Link Defines The EU-UK Summit Agenda For 20 NovemberAddis Ababa Talks Test The EU-African Union Partnership PlanIsraeli Settlement Imports Ban Splits Commission And CouncilUnlimited Pesticide Approvals Face Public Rejection In PollMethane Import Rules Delayed A Year With Review ClauseSustainable Tourism Strategy Hands Europe A Toolbox For Crowded CitiesPharma Package Heads To Parliament After Council Backs Drug ReformRussia Sanctions Alignment Pulls Nine Partners Into Arms ListingsBrazil Farm Exports Jump 14.8 Percent Under EU Mercosur Trade DealNorth Korea IT Workers Draw Joint Western Sanctions ResponseDRC Sanctions Regime Gains Arms Ban And Peacekeeper ProtectionMade With Taiwan Pitch Tests Europe’s Economic Security AppetiteGeorgia Visa-Free Regime Faces January Review After Kallas WarningTeacher Shortages Put The EU Teachers Agenda To The TestKingspan Fine And KKR Charge Put EU Merger Control To WorkMEPs Near First Vote On EU Space Act In Parliament Industry CommitteeMercosur Safeguard Rules Let EU Curb Surges In Car And Goods ImportsMontenegro And Albania Receive EU Accession Roadmaps From CommissionHelsinki Presses Washington Over Paid-For Patriot InterceptorsMeloni Letter Exposes The EU Single Voice Problem On UkraineEmissions Trading Link Defines The EU-UK Summit Agenda For 20 NovemberAddis Ababa Talks Test The EU-African Union Partnership Plan
November 8, 2026

Newsletter

The European Post

Policy • Diplomacy • strategic insight

LATEST
Israeli Settlement Imports Ban Splits Commission And CouncilUnlimited Pesticide Approvals Face Public Rejection In PollMethane Import Rules Delayed A Year With Review ClauseSustainable Tourism Strategy Hands Europe A Toolbox For Crowded CitiesPharma Package Heads To Parliament After Council Backs Drug ReformRussia Sanctions Alignment Pulls Nine Partners Into Arms ListingsBrazil Farm Exports Jump 14.8 Percent Under EU Mercosur Trade DealNorth Korea IT Workers Draw Joint Western Sanctions ResponseDRC Sanctions Regime Gains Arms Ban And Peacekeeper ProtectionMade With Taiwan Pitch Tests Europe’s Economic Security AppetiteGeorgia Visa-Free Regime Faces January Review After Kallas WarningTeacher Shortages Put The EU Teachers Agenda To The TestKingspan Fine And KKR Charge Put EU Merger Control To WorkMEPs Near First Vote On EU Space Act In Parliament Industry CommitteeMercosur Safeguard Rules Let EU Curb Surges In Car And Goods ImportsMontenegro And Albania Receive EU Accession Roadmaps From CommissionHelsinki Presses Washington Over Paid-For Patriot InterceptorsMeloni Letter Exposes The EU Single Voice Problem On UkraineEmissions Trading Link Defines The EU-UK Summit Agenda For 20 NovemberAddis Ababa Talks Test The EU-African Union Partnership PlanIsraeli Settlement Imports Ban Splits Commission And CouncilUnlimited Pesticide Approvals Face Public Rejection In PollMethane Import Rules Delayed A Year With Review ClauseSustainable Tourism Strategy Hands Europe A Toolbox For Crowded CitiesPharma Package Heads To Parliament After Council Backs Drug ReformRussia Sanctions Alignment Pulls Nine Partners Into Arms ListingsBrazil Farm Exports Jump 14.8 Percent Under EU Mercosur Trade DealNorth Korea IT Workers Draw Joint Western Sanctions ResponseDRC Sanctions Regime Gains Arms Ban And Peacekeeper ProtectionMade With Taiwan Pitch Tests Europe’s Economic Security AppetiteGeorgia Visa-Free Regime Faces January Review After Kallas WarningTeacher Shortages Put The EU Teachers Agenda To The TestKingspan Fine And KKR Charge Put EU Merger Control To WorkMEPs Near First Vote On EU Space Act In Parliament Industry CommitteeMercosur Safeguard Rules Let EU Curb Surges In Car And Goods ImportsMontenegro And Albania Receive EU Accession Roadmaps From CommissionHelsinki Presses Washington Over Paid-For Patriot InterceptorsMeloni Letter Exposes The EU Single Voice Problem On UkraineEmissions Trading Link Defines The EU-UK Summit Agenda For 20 NovemberAddis Ababa Talks Test The EU-African Union Partnership Plan

Record 4,807 Bids Compete For 421 ERC Starting Grants This Year

Jakob Santelmann
Regulatory Affairs Reporter, Research and Innovation

Heidelberg: The ERC Starting Grants for 2026 will fund 421 early-career researchers with 705 million euros, the Commission announced on 3 September 2026. Only 8.8 percent of the 4,807 proposals won support, which shows how competitive the scheme has become. The call drew a record number of applications, up 22 percent from 3,928 last year.

Research Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva said she was particularly pleased that 21 researchers based in the United States and Canada plan to move to Europe. In total, 21 applicants based outside Europe will relocate to EU or Horizon Europe associated countries, up from 11 last year. Those who move under the Choose Europe initiative can request up to 2 million euros extra for labs or teams. The ERC Starting Grants also feed the Choose Europe push to attract researchers from abroad.

Host institutions sit in 25 EU member states and associated countries, and Germany leads with 89 grants. France follows with 38, Switzerland with 36 and the Netherlands with 33. By nationality, 84 grantees are German, 50 Italian, 30 French and 24 Spanish, alongside researchers from 48 other nationalities.

The grants cover life sciences, engineering, social sciences and the humanities. The Commission expects the ERC Starting Grants to create more than 3,000 jobs in the teams that grantees build. The money supports researchers who set up their own teams and independent programmes, usually at a stage when funding is hardest to find. The ERC Starting Grants therefore matter beyond the 421 winners, since 4,386 applicants went without funding.

Earlier in 2026 the European Research Council also made its first Proof of Concept awards, which test the commercial or societal potential of earlier results. On 30 June it announced 27.3 million euros for 182 researchers at 150,000 euros each, from 554 proposals. The 2026 work programme holds two Proof of Concept rounds worth 60 million euros, and results from the second round are due later in 2026.

The reports leave some points open. The Brussels Times coverage on which these figures rely is a secondary source, and it does not say which call year the grants belong to or what size each grant takes. It also does not make clear whether the 48 nationalities include the four named countries, so readers should check the ERC’s own tables.

The numbers still carry a message for research policy. With fewer than one in eleven proposals funded, demand clearly outruns supply, and Zaharieva’s focus on relocation shows that the Commission sees the ERC Starting Grants as a tool in the global competition for talent. The next marker is the second Proof of Concept round, which will show whether the pipeline from basic research to market keeps growing.

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