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Funding Opportunities in 2013
Pilar López, Ph.D.
Scientific Officer
ERC Executive Agency
Scientific Department
The European Research Council
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
Background
Starting, Consolidator, Advanced and
Synergy Grant Funding Schemes
Data on submissions
│ 2
Outline
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
• Scientific Council with 22 members
• Support by the ERC Executive Agency
• Significant budget (1.2 billion €/year)
• Excellence as the only valid criterion
• Support for the individual scientist – no networks!
• International peer-review
• No predetermined subjects (bottom-up)
• Support of frontier research in all fields of science and
humanities │ 3
Le
gis
lati
on
S
tra
teg
y
The ERC supports excellence in frontier research through a
bottom-up, individual-based, pan-European competition.
What is the ERC?
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
10.8%
4%
7.3%
15.1%
17.8%
21.6%
23.4%
0
300
600
900
1200
1500
1800
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Mil
lio
n E
uro
FP7 budget € 50.5 billion
ERC budget € 7.5 billion; increase by € 250 M/year
Co-operation (65 %)
Ideas
(15 %)
People (9 %)
Capacities
(8 %) JRC non-
nuclear (3 %)
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
• Funds top scientists based all over the world working on frontier
research'
Evaluation only based on 'excellence'
Bottom-up, investigator driven approach
Sizeable and flexible grants that make a difference
• Retain excellent researchers in Europe and the Associated
Countries
• Repatriate and Recruit excellent researchers from outside
Europe to Europe and the Associated Countries
Funding Strategy
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
ERC offers independence, recognition & visibility
• to work on a research topic of own choice, with a team of own choice
• to gain true financial autonomy for 5 years
• to negotiate with the host institution the best conditions of work
• to attract top team members (EU and non-EU) and collaborators
• to move with the grant to any place in Europe if necessary (portability
of grants)
• to attract additional funding and gain recognition; ERC is a quality
label
ERC Funding Schemes
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
• Highly recognised by the research community
• More than 3000 funded proposals
• Working in >500 different host institutes in 27 countries; almost 5
billion euro
• Highly competitive (average success rate 12%)
• 50% of grantees in 50 institutes; 'Excellence attracts excellence'
• Benchmarking effect, e.g. competition between universities
• Efficient and fast grant management
After 5 years of existence……
A success story
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
Starting Grants 2-7 years after PhD
up to € 2.0 M for 5 years
Advanced Grants track-record of significant research achievements in the last 10 years
up to € 3.5 M for 5 years
Synergy Grants 2 – 4 Principal Investigators
up to € 15.0 M for 6 years
Proof-of-Concept bridging gap between research - earliest
stage of marketable innovation -
up to € 150 k for ERC grant holders
Consolidator Grants (new from 2013) 7-12 years after PhD
up to € 2.75 M for 5 years
ERC Grant Schemes
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
Researchers career development
and complementary funding schemes
Post-docs
Senior Professor
Students
Post Graduates
Junior Professor/ Junior Researcher
Associated Professor
Full Professor
Erasmus
Marie Curie
ERC Advanced
ERC StG - Starters
ERC StG – Consolidators ERC SyG– Synergy
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
ERC Grant Schemes – who can apply?
• Excellent Researchers (PIs)
• Any nationality, age or current place of work
• In conjunction with a Host Institution
• Based in the EU or an Associated Country
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
Evaluation of excellence at two levels:
•Excellence of the Research Project
Ground breaking nature
Potential impact
Scientific Approach
Added-value of the Group (only SyG)
•Excellence of the Principal Investigator
Intellectual capacity
Creativity
Commitment
Referees and panels evaluate and score each criterion, which results
in a ranking of the proposals.
Excellence is the sole evaluation criterion
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
Social Sciences and Humanities
SH1 Individuals, institutions & markets
SH2 Institutions, values, beliefs and behaviour
SH3 Environment, space and population
SH4 The human mind and its complexity
SH5 Cultures and 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
Each panel: Panel Chair and
10-15 Panel Members
Panel Structure – 3 domains – 25 panels
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
Remote assessment by Panel members
of section 1 (Part B1 ONLY)
Panel meeting
Retained
proposals
STEP 1
Remote assessment by Panel
members and external reviewers of
all sections (Part B1 + Part B2)
Panel meeting + interview (StG
& CoG)
Ranked list of
proposals
STEP 2
Feedback to
applicants
Rejected
proposals Rejected
proposals
ERC Peer Review Evaluation: Single submission, two-step evaluation
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
Background
Starting, Consolidator and Advanced
Grant Funding Schemes
Data on submissions
│ 14
Outline
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
• Potential for (StG) or demonstrated research
independence (CoG)
• At least one (StG) or several (CoG) important
publications without the participation of your PhD
supervisor
• Promising track-record of early achievements
Significant publications
Invited publications
Funding, awards, prizes
Starting and Consolidator Grants: Profile of an applicant
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
• At least 2 – 7 years post PhD (StG)
• At least 7 – 12 years post PhD (CoG)
• Extensions to this period are possible( maternity
leave, long illness, military service)
Eligibility
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
• 1.5 M Euro (StG)
• 2.0 M Euro (CoG)
• 3.0 M Euro (AdG)
• 100% total eligible direct costs (salaries,
equipment, etc)
Grant Size
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
│ 18
ERC Advanced Grants The applicant’s profile
Track-record of significant research
achievements in the last 10 years
Exceptional leaders and mentors
10 publications as senior author in
major scientific journals
5 granted patents
10 invited presentations at international
conferences
3 international conferences where
Principal Investigator was an organiser
International prizes/awards
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
Before submitting the proposal
• Read the work programme and the Guide for
applicants! from the ERC website or Cordis • http://cordis.europa.eu/
• http://erc.europa.eu/
• Get your idea clear. Ask the following questions: • Is this a groundbreaking idea? Can I prove that I will go
beyond the State of the art?
• Have I been able to identify the innovation components of
my research?
• Ask questions to the NCP
│ 19
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
│ 20
PART A – online forms
A1 Proposal and PI info
A2 Host institution info
A3 Budget
PART B1 – submitted as .pdf
CV 2 p.
Track record 2 p.
Extended synopsis 5 p.
Annexes – submitted as .pdf
• Statement of support of HI
• If applicable: explanatory
information on ethical issues;
copy of PhD (StG & CoG); document
for extension of eligibility
window (StG & CoG)
PART B2 – submitted as .pdf
Scientific proposal 15 p.
(incl. budget table)
Proposal structure
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
• Part B1 = 'The PI'
• Extended synopsis (5 pgs)
• CV (2 pgs)
• Early achievement track-record (2 pgs)
• Part B2 = Full Scientific Proposal (15 pgs)
• Ethical Review information (where appropriate)
• Separate additional documents:
Host Institution Support Letter (headed letter with signature, stamp, date)
Copy of PhD document
Documents to prove extension to the eligibility window
Proposal Structure – Part B
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
• Allow sufficient time to prepare your application
• Talk to the Grants Office
• Your Profile
Major accomplishments; capacity and creativity;
competitive edge; independence
Be accurate
Caution: assert; do not sell
Preparing an application (1)
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
Scientific proposal (15 pages) with an extended
synopsis (5 pages) and an abstract
State-of-the-art is not enough
Explain ground-breaking features, high-risk/high-
gain balance
Have alternative strategies to mitigate risk
Justify the use of your resources
Preparing an application (2)
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
Follow the formatting rules and page limits
Proof-read the proposal well
Have all your documentation ready in time
Submit in advance of the deadline
Preparing an application (3)
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
Evaluation of proposals Evaluation principles
Evaluation based on peer review, the procedure is defined by
the Scientific Council
Sole evaluation criteria: “excellence”.
Excellence is implemented through the selection of well-known,
knowledgeable top researchers as panel members
High level Panel Members add credibility / visibility / prestige to the programme (Several Panel Members with Nobel Prize winners)
Panel Members are selected and recruited by ERC Scientific Council
Who evaluate the proposals ?
Panel members: typically 600 / call
high-level well-known scientists
recruited by ScC from all over the world: ~14%
from outside Europe
typically 12 members & the chair/panel
Referees: typically 2000 / call
evaluate only a small number of proposals
similar to normal practise in peer-reviewed
journals
are nominated by the panel members
Europe and Associated
Countries
(86%)
US (7%)
Other
(7%)
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
Possibility to exclude reviewers (new
since 2012)
PI can nominate up to three persons to be excluded from the evaluation
of their proposal, specifying the reason for exclusion: Direct scientific rivalry
Professional Hostility
Similar situation which would impair or put in doubt the objectivity of the
potential evaluator
Exclusion may concern any independent expert, including the panel
chair, panel members as well as remote referees
The concerned persons will be excluded from the evaluation of the
proposal assuming that the ERCEA is still in a position to evaluate the
proposal properly
Schemes Evaluation of Excellence:
Criterion 1: Research Project
Ground-breaking nature and potential impact of
the research: To what extent does the proposed research address important
challenges?
To what extent are the objectives ambitious and beyond the
state of the art (e.g. novel concepts and approaches or
development across disciplines)?
How much is the proposed research high risk/high gain?
StG and CoG Schemes Evaluation of Excellence
Criterion 2: Principal Investigator(s)
Intellectual capacity, creativity and commitment: The PI has demonstrated the ability to propose and conduct ground-
breaking research and his/her achievements have typically gone
beyond the state-of-the-art
The PI provides abundant evidence of creative independent thinking
The ERC Grant would contribute significantly to the establishment
and/or further consolidation of the PI's independence
The PI is strongly committed to the project and demonstrates the
willingness to devote a significant amount of time to the project (min
50% of the total working time on it and min 50% in an EU Member
State or Associated Country) (based on Scientific Proposal).
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
ERC calls Call Publication Submission
Deadline
Starting Grant ERC-2013-StG
10 July 2012
17 Oct. 2012
Advanced Grant ERC-2013-AdG
10 July 2012
22 Nov. 2012
Synergy Grant ERC-2013-SyG
10 October 2012
10 Jan. 2013
Consolidator Grant ERC-2013-CoG
7 November 2012 21 Feb. 2013
Timetable of 2013 ERC calls Single deadlines for all Calls
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
AdG: Advanced Grants
CoG: Consolidator Grants
StG: Starting Grants
SyG: ERC Synergy
PoC: Proof of Concept
Call budget distribution for 2013 calls
2012 total budget: € 1,578.1 M
2013 total budget: € 1,754.9 M
StG; 398; 23% CoG; 523; 30%
AdG; 662; 38%
SyG; 150; 8%
10; 0.6%
11,96; 0.7%
Otros; 21,96;
1%
StG
CoG
AdG
SyG
PoC
Admin
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
Breakdown per domain
• Life Sciences – LS
• Physical Sciences &
Engineering – PE
• Social Sciences &
Humanities – SH
Within each domain, budget is broken down according to total funding requested per panel (equal chance in each panel)
Call budget distribution (by domain)
for 2013 calls
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
Background
Starting and Consolidator Grant
Funding Schemes
Data on submissions
│ 33
Outline
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
│ 34
ERC Competitions 2007-2012
Data as of 26/09/2012
Evaluated* Funded success rates**
Starting Grant 2007 9.167 8.787 299 3,4
Starting Grant 2009 2.503 2.392 245 10,2
Starting Grant 2010 2.873 2.767 436 15,8
Starting Grant 2011 4.080 4.005 486 12,1
Starting Grant 2012*** 4.741 4.653 536 11,5
Starting Grant 23.364 22.604 2.002 10,6
Advanced Grant 2008 2.167 2.034 282 13,9
Advanced Grant 2009 1.584 1.526 245 16,1
Advanced Grant 2010 2.009 1.967 271 13,8
Advanced Grant 2011 2.284 2.245 301 13,4
Advanced Grant 8.044 7.772 1.099 14,3
Proof of Concept 2011 - 1&2 151 139 51 36,7
Proof of Concept 2012 - 1*** 75 60 33 55,0
Proof of Concept 226 199 84 45,8
* withdrawn and ineligible proposals not taken into account
** percentage of funded proposals in relation to evaluated proposals
*** selected
Total number of
applications
received
of which
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
• ERC supports independent excellent researchers
• Making a difference – over 3000 funded to date
• If you think that you could be a possible candidate
– get as much information as you can
• Calls for 2014 through to 2020
Summary
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
Relation with National Agencies II
│ 36
Some funding agencies uses ERC evaluation results in support research
National initiatives
in support of
finalist projects
in the ERC calls
A new partnership between
National Funding Councils
and ERC
BE Flanders: FWO
supports the best
ranked PIs on the
ERC-StG reserve list
CY: Research
Promotion
Foundation
supported StG
2009 finalists
FI: support scheme
for finalists in reserve
lists since 2009 calls
FR: ANR launched
an initiative to
support unfunded
StG2007 finalists
HU: Call for unfunded
ERC finalists of
StG2007 and StG2009
IE: New scheme opening
in 2012. Previous scheme
for StG2007 finalists
IT: Call open to all
unfunded StG2007
finalists
LU: FNR supports
unfunded StG and
AdG finalists since
2009 calls
NO: The Research Council
supports unfunded StG finalists
SI: Complementary
scheme for unfunded
finalists of 2010 calls
ES: support for unfunded
finalists of StG calls since 2007
CH: SNSF launched
an initiative to back
unfunded StG2007
finalists
TR: Considers a
scheme to support
unfunded ERC finalists
PL: Support scheme for
finalists of 2009 and 2010
calls. It might continue
EL: support for unfunded
StG and AdG finalists in
2010 and 2011 calls
BG: Develops a
scheme to financially
support projects in the
ERC reserve list
CZ: opened
support scheme
for finalists in 2012
PT: New national initiative
in support of ERC finalists
being developed
RO: opened support scheme
for finalists in 2012
SE: support for unfunded
finalists of StG calls since 2007
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
New scheme: ERC Synergy grant
2012 work programme on a pilot basis
2 – 4 Principal Investigators; complementary skills, knowledge & resources; to jointly address frontier research problems
Up to €15m for up to six years
Based on ERC principles (no consortia, no networks):
• bottom-up and risk-taking
• driven by scientific demand
• PIs expected to spend significant “core time” together
• only one Host Institution, but groups not required to be physically located in the same place
710 submissions to the first Synergy Call
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
│ 38
Step 1a (single panel)
Remote evaluation of short
proposals by panel members
Panel chairs meet: preselect
proposals for full review
Panel meeting: proposals
retained for Step 2a
Step 2a (1 new panel)
Panel members reassess the
retained proposals based on their
step 1 reports
Panel meeting and interviews
Panel meeting: Select
proposals for interview
Select proposals up to available
budget
2.5 times available budget Proposals funded in priority order based
on their rank
1.5 times available budget Step 1b (formation of 5 panels)
Up to 7 times available budget
Step 2b (Same panel as 2a) – Remote evaluation of full proposals
by panel members and external
evaluators
Synergy 2012 Evaluation Procedure
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
HORIZON 2020
HORIZON 2020 structure:
Excellence Science
Industrial leadership
Societal challenges
EIT
JRC
Excellent Science: reinforcing and extending the excellence of the
EU’s science base and consolidating ERA to make EU’s R&I system
more competitive on a global scale
European Research Council (budget proposal under H2020: € 15 billion)
Future and Emerging Technologies
Marie Curie
Research Infrastructures
│ 39
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
Budget proposal under H2020
Co-operation (65 %)
Ideas (15 %)
People (9 %)
Capacities (8 %) JRC non-
nuclear (3 %)
FP7 budget € 50.5 billion
ERC budget € 7.5 billion
H2020 budget € 88 billion
ERC budget € 15 billion
JRC
(2.5%)
EIT
(3.6%)ERC
(17.1%)
Industrial
leadership
(23.1%)
Other Excellent
science (14.6%)
Societal
challenges
(39%)
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
ERC in FP7 and in H2020 : Changes and Continuity
Strengthening the Scientific Governance of the European Research Council
Strengthening the links between the Scientific Council and the Executive Agency Merging positions of President of ERC and Secretary General Full-time President based in Brussels 3 Vice-Chairs elected from amongst the Scientific Council members
Strengthening the role of Scientists in the Steering Committee of the ERCEA Strengthening the relation of the Scientific Council and the ERCEA
Essential features maintained
Independent Scientific Council with full authority over funding strategy Executive Agency with autonomous operation Scientific excellence - the sole criterion on which ERC grants are awarded
European Research Council
Established by the
European Commission
More information
on
http://erc.europa.eu
To subscribe to the ERC newsletter http://erc.europa.eu/keep-updated-erc
National Contact Points
http://cordis.europa.eu/national_service/home_en.html