European Research Council Supporting top researchers across the world Dr Vaida Bankauskaite Scientific Officer Life Sciences 5 December 2016 Nicosia, Cyprus 1
Outline What is the ERC? How ERC research proposals are evaluated? Some tips on preparing an ERC proposal 2 2
What is ERC An autonomous funding body set up by the EU in 2007 and led by scientists Funding excellent researchers of any nationality, to carry out frontier research in Europe, via annual competitions In all fields of science and humanities, without thematic priorities 1 team, 1 Host Institution, 1 project, 1 selection criterion Substantial grants and a recognised label of excellence International, top level peer-review process 3 3
What do ERC grants offer? Creative Freedom of the Individual Grantee ERC offers independence, recognition & visibility fund research on any topic: completely "bottom-up" financial autonomy for 5 years ability to negotiate with the host institution the best conditions of work to attract top team members and collaborators portability ability to attract additional funding 4 4
What is the ERC? Horizon 2020 Budget 77 billion ERC Budget 13 billion FP7 H2020 5
Researchers career development and complementary funding schemes ERC AdG - Advanced ERC CoG Consolidators Senior Professor ERC StG - Starters Marie Curie Junior Professor/ Junior Researcher Associated Professor Full Professor Erasmus Post-docs Students Post Graduates 6
What does ERC offer? ERC Grant Schemes Starting Grants starters 2-7 years after PhD ( 50% commitment) up to 2.0 Mio for 5 years Consolidator Grants consolidators 7-12 years after PhD ( 40% commitment) up to 2.75 Mio for 5 years Advanced Grants track-record of significant research achievements in the last 10 years ( 30% commitment) up to 3.5 Mio for 5 years Proof-of-Concept bridging gap between research - earliest stage of marketable innovation up to 150,000 for ERC grant holders 7
Extension of eligibility window Extensions of eligibility window possible for StG and CoG for documented cases of: Maternity 18 months per child (before or after PhD) Paternity actual time taken off Military service Medical speciality training Caring for seriously ill family members No limit to the total extension 8
ERC grants- size 1.5M (StG) - possibility of an additional.5m 2.0M (CoG) - possibility of an additional.75m 2.5M (AdG) - possibility of additional 1.0M Reasons for additional funds: start-up costs when moving to Europe access to large facilities major equipment 9 9
Evaluation Panel Structure (WP2016) Life Sciences LS1 Molecular and Structural Biology and Biochemistry LS2 Genetics, Genomics, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology LS3 Cellular and Developmental Biology LS4 Physiology, Pathophysiology and Endocrinology LS5 Neurosciences and Neural Disorders LS6 Immunity and Infection LS7 Diagnostic Tools, Therapies and Public Health LS8 Evolutionary, Population and Environmental Biology LS9 Applied Life Sciences and Non-Medical Biotechnology Physical Sciences & Engineering PE1 Mathematics PE2 Fundamental Constituents of Matter PE3 Condensed Matter Physics PE4 Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences PE5 Synthetic Chemistry and Materials PE6 Computer Science and Informatics PE7 Systems and Communication Engineering PE8 Products and Process Engineering PE9 Universe Sciences PE10 Earth System Science Social Sciences and Humanities SH1 Individuals, Markets and Organisations SH2 Institutions, Values, Environment and Space SH3 The Social World, Diversity, Population SH4 The Human Mind and Its Complexity SH5 Cultures and Cultural Production SH6 The Study of the Human Past 10 10
Submission to panels Proposals are submitted to a Targeted Panel (of PI's choice) Can flag one Secondary Review Panel Applicant chooses his/her panel, this panel is responsible and takes ownership for the evaluation of the particular proposal Switching proposals between panels not possible unless clear mistake on part of applicant, or due to the necessary expertise being available in a different panel But: In case of cross-panel or cross-domain proposals, evaluation by members of other panels possible 11 11
How ERC research proposals are evaluated? Excellence is the sole evaluation criterion Evaluation of excellence at two levels: Excellence of the Research Project Ground breaking nature Potential impact Scientific Approach Excellence of the Principal Investigator Intellectual capacity Creativity Commitment 12
How ERC research proposals are evaluated? Evaluation of proposals: review procedure STEP 1 STEP 2 Remote assessment by Panel members of section 1 PI and synopsis Remote assessment by Panel members and reviewers of full proposals Panel meeting Panel meeting + interview (StG and CoG) Proposals retained for step 2 Feedback to applicants Ranked list of proposals Right balance between generalist + specialized review Appropriate treatment of interdisciplinary proposals 13 13
Who evaluates the proposals? Panel members: typically 600 / call High-level scientists Recruited by ScC from all over the world About 12 members plus a chair person USA (7%) Other (7%) Referees: typically 2000 / call Evaluate only a small number of proposals Similar to normal practise in peer-reviewed journals 14 14
How to apply? Go to http://erc.eu: which grant am I eligible for? read FAQ check successful applicants profiles check panels http://erc.europa.eu/evaluation-panels Find a host institution: check National Contact Point (NCP) contact EU Grants office at target institution 15 15
ERC grants- funded projects Menu allows searching by Funding Scheme, Call Year and Country of Host Institution. 16 16
How to prepare and submit an ERC research proposal? Proposal structure PART A online forms PART B1 submitted as.pdf A1 A2 A3 Proposal and PI info Host Institution info Budget Extended Synopsis 5 p. CV 2 p. Early Achievements (StG and CoG) or 10-year Track Record (AdG) 2 p. Annexes submitted as.pdf HI support letter copy of PhD (StG, CoG); document for extension of eligibility window (StG, CoG) PART B2 submitted as.pdf Scientific Proposal 15 p. 17 Read the Information to Applicants 17
Differences in Part B1 and Part B2 In Step 1: Panel members (generalists and with multidisciplinary approaches) see only Part B1 of your proposal: Prepare it accordingly! Pay particular attention to the ground-breaking nature of the research project no incremental research. State-of-the-art is not enough. Think big! Know your competitors what is the state of play and why is your idea and scientific approach outstanding? Only the extended Synopsis is read at Step 1: concise and clear presentation is crucial (evaluators are not necessarily all experts in the field) Outline of the methodological approach (feasibility) Show your scientific independence in your CV (model CV provided in the part B1 template) Funding ID to be filled in 18 18
Preparing an application Hints and tips (Generalities) Register early, get familiar with the system and templates and start filling in the forms A submitted proposal can be revised until the call deadline by submitting a new version and overwriting the previous one Follow the formatting rules and page limits. Download and proof-read the proposal before submitting. Make use of the help tools and call documents (Information for Applicants, Work Programme, Frequently asked questions) to prepare your proposal Talk to the National Contact Points and your Institution's grant office 19 19
Preparing an application Check the statistics on granted projects and on submissions 20 20 Menu allows searching by Funding Scheme, Call year, Domain/Panel and Grantees by Country of Host Institution.
Preparing an application Check past panel members for the call 21 21
Some useful tools and links Read Information for Applicants and Work Programme View the step-by-step video Introduction to application process, including tips & tricks for the interview https://vimeo.com/94179654 Consult ERC website for latest funding opportunities, view ERC funded projects 22
Questions to be asked yourself as an applicant Am I internationally competitive as a researcher at my career stage and in my discipline? Am I able to work independently, and to manage a 5-year project with a substantial budget? Why is my proposed project important? Does it promise to go substantially beyond the state of the art? Why am I the best/only person to carry it out? Is it timely? (Why wasn't it done in the past? Is it feasible now?) What's the risk? Is it justified by a substantial potential gain? Do I have a plan for managing the risk? 23 23
Few tips and advise Panels instructed to seek out high-risk research Remember that Part B1 will be seen by "generalists" (panel members) If you make it to Step 2, reviewers see both B1 and B2, so do not repeat / duplicate part B1 in part B2 Do not include unnecessary partners and collaborators; it is not supposed to be a "consortium" 24
ERC Grants - Proposal Submission Online (via the Participant Portal) http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/ desktop/en/home.html One deadline per call Submit to a specific panel (one of 25) but you can indicate a secondary panel 25 25
Common reasons for rejection: project Objectives Scope: too narrow too broad / unfocussed Hypothesis Incremental research Preliminary data Incremental vs groundbreaking research Work plan not detailed enough/ unclear Insufficient risk management 26 26
Common reasons for rejection: principal investigator Insufficient track record In case of interdisciplinary proposal, track record of the colloborators Insufficient (potential for) scientific independence (for St and CoG) Insufficient experience in leading projects 27 27
Participation of Cyprus in ERC calls LS PE SH Total StG 1 1 2 4 2007 2 2 2010 1 1 2013 1 1 CoG 2 2 2013 1 1 2014 1 1 AdG 1 2 1 4 2008 1 1 2011 1 1 2012 1 1 2 Total 2 5 3 10 28
Participation of Cyprus in ERC calls StG2007 Dr Elena ANDREOU StG2007 Dr Marios AVRAAMIDES AdG2008 Prof Johannes LELIEVELD StG2010 Dr Antonis KIRMIZIS AdG2011 Prof Marios POLYCARPOU AdG2012 Prof Philippos PATSALIS New Results on Structural Change Tests: Theory and Applications Multiple Systems of Spatial Memory: Their role in Reasoning and Action Consistent computation of the chemistrycloud continuum and climate change in Cyprus Functional and regulatory protein networks of chromatin modifying enzymes Fault-Adaptive Monitoring and Control of Complex Distributed Dynamical Systems A Novel Non-Invasive Prenatal Diagnosis for Genetic Disorders University of Cyprus SH 1 PoC University of Cyprus SH 2 PoC Cyprus Institute PE University of Cyprus LS University of Cyprus PE 1 PoC Cyprus Foundation for Muscular Dystrophy Research AdG2012 Prof Christoforos PISSARIDES Employment in Europe University of Cyprus SH StG2013 Dr Triantafyllos STYLIANOPOULOS Re-engineering the tumor microenvironment to alleviate mechanical stresses and improve chemotherapy University of Cyprus LS PE 1 PoC CoG2013 Dr Constantinos SKORDIS Theories and Models of the Dark Sector: Dark Matter, Dark Energy and Gravity University of Cyprus PE CoG2014 Prof Stelios CHOULIS Solution Processed Next Generation Photovoltaics Cyprus University of Technology PE TOTAL 10 5 PoC 29
ERC future calls Deadlines 2017 CoG: February 2017 AdG: End of August 2017 30 30
ERC Grants Further Information More information on http://erc.europa.eu Support to applicants http://erc.europa.eu/national-contact-points To subscribe to ERC newsletter and news alerts http://erc.europa.eu/keep-updated-erc Follow us on https://www.facebook.com/europeanresearchcouncil https://twitter.com/erc_research 31 31
Thank you 32