ERC Grants - Dr Paula Cadima

Dr Paula CADIMA

Research Programme OfficerStarting Grants Unit

ERC EA

European Research CouncilEuropean Research CouncilFrontier research and the opportunities of the Frontier research and the opportunities of the

IDEAS ProgrammeIDEAS Programme

EMCC Conference Centre, University of Nottingham, UK, 9 July 2010EMCC Conference Centre, University of Nottingham, UK, 9 July 2010

European Research Council

• What is the ERCWhat is the ERC• Funding schemesFunding schemes• How to applyHow to apply• Evaluation processEvaluation process• Achievements to dateAchievements to date• Deadlines and documentsDeadlines and documents

Presentation outlinePresentation outline

ERC, “Ideas” and FP7ERC, “Ideas” and FP7European Research Council

Part of the 7th Framework Programme (FP7) 2007-2013: Co-operation IdeasIdeas People Capacities

A new initiative to support the ERA

Complementary to other FP7 support excellence in frontier research bottom-up vs. targeted research individual vs. collaborative research

A new “institution” to manage Ideas

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ERC “Ideas” and the ERC “Ideas” and the ERCEAERCEA

An “integrated structure” with a specific vocation Independent scientific governance

Scientific Council with 21 members Dedicated Implementation Structure

Executive Agency with 389 employees by 2013

Nicosia - 29 and 31 May 2007 5


0

300

600

900

1200

1500

1800

Mio

€

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Year

4% 7,3% 10,8% 15,1% 17,8% 21,6% 23,4%

ERC Budget 2007 – 2013 : € 7.51 bnERC Budget 2007 – 2013 : € 7.51 bnAnnual budget evolution (prospective schedule)

Strategic aimStrategic aimEuropean Research Council

Stimulating excellence in frontier research in Europe

by investing in the best researchers and ideas

through competition at the European level

on the basis of scientific excellence as the sole criterion

in potential unpredictable scientific and technological discoveries beyond established frontiers of knowledge and at the boundaries of disciplines

leading to international recognition to individual researchers


Who can apply - general requirementsWho can apply - general requirements

Principal InvestigatorNationality, age or current placeof work not relevant

Host organisationTo be located in MS or AC

Frontier Research ProjectAll fields of science, engineeringand scholarship are eligible(investigator-driven, bottom-up)

Individual research teamPI has freedom to chooseteam members



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ERC Grant schemesERC Grant schemesTwo complementary funding schemes

ERC Starting Grant (StG):Support researchers at the start of their independent research career and establishing or consolidating their own independent research team or programme

- attract & retain the next generation of independent research leaders - up to € 1.5 Mio for 5 years (exceptionally 2.0 Mio)

ERC Advanced Grant (AdG):Support excellent investigator-initiated frontier research projects by established independent research leaders

- attract & reward established independent research leaders - up to € 2.5 Mio for 5 years (exceptionally 3.5 Mio)



• Frontier Research – pursuit of questions at or beyond the frontiers of knowledge

• Any field of research

• Pioneering proposals addressing new and emerging fields of research

• Unconventional, innovative approaches

• Impact on science, scholarhip or engineering

• High-gain/High-risk

ERC Grant SchemesERC Grant SchemesWhat kind of research is funded?What kind of research is funded?


Profile of StG applicantProfile of StG applicant

• At least one publication without participation of PhD supervisor

• Promising track-record of early achievements- significant publications- invited presentations in conferences- funding, patents, awards, prizes

• Specific stage of research career at time of application- starters- consolidators

• Any nationality or age• Any current place of work

but: working or moving to work in Europe


• First PhD awarded 2-10 years before call publication date- starters (PhD award: 2-6 years)- consolidators (PhD award: 6-10 years)- responsibility of applicant to justify change of stage (exceptionally)- final decision by the panel

• Extension may be requested:- up to 14.5 years- maternity (up 18 months/child) / paternity leave (up 12 months/child),- long-term illness, military service, statutory reasons (clinicalqualification)- applies to starter / consolidator stage - must be supported by official documents

StG Applicant: PhD RequirementStG Applicant: PhD Requirement


•Active researchers having a track-record of significant research achievements in the last 10 years

•Benchmarks (one or more below) including–10 publications as senior author–3 major research monographs–5 granted patents–10 invited presentations–International recognition through scientific prizes/awards or membership in well-regarded academies

Advanced Grant ApplicantAdvanced Grant ApplicantAm I a competitive candidate?




Operational principlesOperational principlesEuropean Research Council

Application in response to calls for proposals via Electronic Proposal Submission System (EPSS)

Evaluation Procedure in 2 steps

International peer review evaluation process Proposals reviewed by :

- panels of experts- external remote reviewers


Single submission • deadline according to domain

• to a targeted panel

Eligibility check • deadline strictly enforced

• all parts and annexes present and readable

Relevant documents sent to reviewers

SubmissionSubmission

For operational reasons : 25 panels in 3 main domainsPE: Physical Sciences, Engineering (10 panels)LS: Life Sciences (9 panels)SH: Social Sciences and Humanities (6 panels)

Allocation of Call budget per domain as follows: PE domain: 39%LS domain: 34%SH domain : 14%Interdisciplinary domain: 13%

Within domains, indicative budget is allocated to panels on a demand basis► probability of success independent of panel

Scientific DomainsScientific DomainsEuropean Research Council


Social Sciences and Humanities SH1 Individuals, institutions & markets SH2 Institutions, values, beliefs and behaviour SH3 Environment & society SH4 The Human Mind and its complexity SH5 Cultures & cultural production SH6 The study of the human past

Physical Sciences & Engineering PE1 Mathematical foundations PE2 Fundamental constituents of matter PE3 Condensed matter physics PE4 Physical & Analytical Chemical sciences PE5 Materials & Synthesis PE6 Computer science & informatics PE7 Systems & communication engineering PE8 Products & process engineering PE9 Universe sciences PE10 Earth system science

Life Sciences LS1 Molecular & Structural Biology &

Biochemistry LS2 Genetics, Genomics, Bioinformatics &

Systems Biology LS3 Cellular and Developmental Biology LS4 Physiology, Pathophysiology &

Endocrinology LS5 Neurosciences & neural disorders LS6 Immunity & infection LS7 Diagnostic tools, therapies & public

health LS8 Evolutionary, population &

environmental biology LS9 Applied life sciences & biotechnology

ERC Panel Structure: 25 PanelsERC Panel Structure: 25 Panels


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Host institutionHost institution

Applicant legal entity: institution that engages and hosts the PI for the duration of the project

Any type of legal entity: universities, research centres, business research units … as long as it is in MS or ACas long as it is in MS or AC

Commitment of HI: to ensure that the PI may- apply for funding independently

- manage research and funding for the project

- publish independently as senior author

- have access to reasonable space and facilities

Size of grantsSize of grants

Eligible costs:Support the project (personnel, equipment, consumables, travel, publi., admin.)

Non-eligible (taxes, provisions, debts, related to another project)

No double-funding


Possible requested amount : StG: max € 1,500,000 for 5 years

+ € 500,000 if new research activity in EU by moving from TCAdG: max € 2,500,000 for 5 years

+ € 500,000 if new research activity in EU by moving from TC

Assessment:Requested budget reviewed by panel > total amount granted

Freedom of budget breakdown


Eligibility & Re-SubmissionsEligibility & Re-Submissions

• Ineligibility - submission after the deadline- incomplete proposals including annexes- no commitment letter from HI- HI outside EU or AC- StG: PhD award date (>10 or <2)- missing supporting official documents

• Re-application- only one active ERC grant at any time- only one application per PI within a calendar year-- if 2010 ► 2011: only if > threshold step 1


• Work programme states: PIs will be assessed by the evaluation panels as "startersstarters" or "consolidatorsconsolidators“ taking into account the specific stage of their research career at the time of the application.

• “By default” people fall into the stream that corresponds by the number of years past Ph.D.

• Applicants need to argue their case for different consideration.

• All “objective” (parental leave, military service, long term illness, etc) reasons that apply for extending the eligibility window apply by analogy to extending the “starter” window.

Implementation of Streaming (StG)Implementation of Streaming (StG)


• Valid reasons: “Career break” outside science/research (e.g. volunteer work, professional activity completely unrelated to research career, unemployment, etc)

• Non valid reasons: Difficulties with experiments, personal difficulties with post-doc supervisor, two Ph.Ds, working as a professional in a company in same or close field (examples: patent lawyer, editor of scientific journals etc)

• Ultimate decision power with panel and panel chair

““Subjective” Reasons for Changing StreamSubjective” Reasons for Changing Stream




Eligibility check

Step 1 (remote) evaluation on the basis of section of

proposal* by panel members

Proposals passing to step 2

Individual assessment of full proposals by panel members &

referees

AdG :2nd Panel meeting

Panel chairs´ meeting Consolidation of 3 main domains &

interdisciplinary/high risk – high gain projects rank lists

Submission of full proposals

Proposals selected for funding

ERC Grants: how does it operate?ERC Grants: how does it operate?Submission, evaluation and selectionSubmission, evaluation and selection

* Profile of PI, projects extended synopsis

1st Panel meeting

StG: 2nd Panel meeting incl. interviews of applicants


ERC Review PanelsERC Review Panels

• Peer review is carried out through 25 panels (for each StG and AdG)

• Panels have about 12-15 members plus a chair and are coordinated by an ERC Research Programme Officer

• Panels may be assisted by external reviewers

• Panels are grouped along the main scientific domains covering all fields of science, engineering and knowledge

International Peer-Reviewing


• Are going to take place at Step 2 meetings

• Panels take into account the results of the interview alongside the other elements

• Interviews will last between 20-30 minutes in total– 5-15 minutes presentation by the PI – 10-20 minutes: questions and answers

• Invited applicants are reimbursed

Starting Grant 2010Starting Grant 2010InterviewsInterviews


Scientific Excellence is the sole criterion

• Only the criteria published in the Call are applied

• Evaluation of excellence at 3 levels:• Quality of principal investigator• Quality of the research project• Quality of research environment (at step 2)

• Referees and panels evaluate and score criteria 1 & 2 numerically which results in the ranking of the projects:

• 1-4 per criterion• threshold ≥ 2 per criterion

• Criteria 3 is considered as "pass/fail"

4: oustanding3: excellent2: very good1: non-competitive

Evaluation CriteriaEvaluation Criteria


Potential of the Principal Investigator: (last 10 years for AdG)Quality of research output (track record, qualification, achievements, independence, reputation)

Intellectual capacity and creativity (collaborations, mentoring, challenge confrontation, initiative for new lines of thinking) and capacity to attract funding (AdG)

Quality of the research project:Ground-breaking nature (challenges, ambition, trans-discipinarity, new concepts)

Potential impact (open new horizons, enhance frontier research in Europe)

Methodology (approach, timescale, resources, feasibility)

High risk/high gain balance (new or unconventional methodology, major breakthrough)

Research environment:Contribution to the project (infrastructural and intellectual environment)

Participation of other legal entities (if added value to the proposal)

Evaluation CriteriaEvaluation Criteria




ERC Starting & Advanced grant calls 2007, 2008 & 2009ERC Starting & Advanced grant calls 2007, 2008 & 2009Submitted proposals by domain

Number of proposals Proposals by domain

37,1% 37,0% 35,3% 32,1%

48,1% 44,4% 46,0%46,7%

14,9% 18,5% 18,6% 21,2%

0%

50%

100%

2007 2009 2008 2009

Starting Grant Advanced Grant

Social Sciences & HumanitiesPhysical Sciences & EngineeringLife Sciences

+ +

+_

__3399

927 766 506

4406

1112 997736

1362

464404

335

0

2000

4000

6000

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10000

2007 2009 2008 2009

Starting Grant Advanced Grant

Social Sciences & HumanitiesPhysical Sciences & EngineeringLife Sciences

9167

25032167

1577

- 72,7 %

- 27 %

Proposals

European Research Council ERC StG 2007 and StG 2009Share of applications by applicant’s countryShare of applications by applicant’s country

ERC Starting Grants, number of proposals

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200

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AT

AU BE

CA

CH CY

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NO PL

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US

Applicant Country

Num

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total 2007 total 2009

European Research Council ERC AdG 2008 and AdG 2009Share of applications by applicant’s countryShare of applications by applicant’s country

ERC Advanced Grants, Number of Proposals

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Applicant Country at call closure

Num

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posa

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total proposals 2008 total proposals 2009


ERC Starting Grants Success rates for funding

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AT AU BE CA CH CY DE DK EE EL ES FI FR HU IE IL IT JP NL NO PL PT RO SE SK UK US

Applicant country at time of call closure

% o

f pro

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ted

for f

undi

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2007

2009

35 proposals funded

62 proposals funded

ERC StG 2007 and StG 2009Share of selected proposals by applicant’s countryShare of selected proposals by applicant’s country

ERC AdG 2008 and AdG 2009Share of selected proposals by applicant’s countryShare of selected proposals by applicant’s country


ERC Advanced Grants Success rates for funding

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5

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25

30

AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EL ES FI FR HU IE IL IT NL NO PL PT SE TR UK US

Applicants country at time of Call Closure

% o

f Pro

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ecte

d fo

r Fun

ding

20082009

55 proposals funded

51 proposals funded

Selected proposals by Host Institutions Selected proposals by Host Institutions for StG & AdG in the UKfor StG & AdG in the UK


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ERC Starting & Advanced grant calls 2007 - 2009Origin of grantees

0

25

50

75

100

125

150

175

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225

UK FR DE CH NL IT ES IL SE BE AT FI DK HU EL PT NO IE PL CY CZ BG TR IS EE

Country of host institution

Num

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f Gra

ntee

s

Grantees moving to another country ("European" & "non-European" nationals)Grantees staying in the country: "Non-European" nationals

Grantees staying in the country: other "European" nationalsGrantees staying in the country: nationals of that country

ERC 2010: StG-07/09 & AdG-08/09

1611

65

43

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0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

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ERC Calls Indicative Schedule (2010-2011)ERC Calls Indicative Schedule (2010-2011)


Winter 11 – Spring 12Autumn 11Summer 11StG5May 2011

Winter 10 – Spring 11Autumn 10Summer 10StG4May 2010

EvaluationCall DeadlineCall openERC Action

Work Programme Revision

ERC Starting Grant Calls

Spring 12 - Autumn 13Spring 12Autumn 11AdG5May 2011

Spring 11 - Autumn 12Spring 11Autumn 10AdG4May 2010

EvaluationCall DeadlineCall openERC Action

Work Programme Revision

ERC Advanced Grant Calls

Support and serviceSupport and serviceEuropean Research Council

• ERC website: http://erc.europa.eu documentation detailed stastistics news alert

• ERC National Contact Points inform, raise awareness and provide advice on ERC funding

opportunities, application, follow-up

• ERC helpdesk dedicated email and phoneline

• EPSS helpdesk technical support on electronic proposal submission

Thank youThank you


Education

ERC Grants - Dr Paula Cadima