The European Research Council European Research Council (ERC) Grants Jose Labastida Head Scientific Department Austin, 15-2-2018 7 July 2017
Outline What is the ERC? What does ERC offer? How to prepare and submit an ERC research proposal? How ERC research proposals are evaluated? ERC achievements Participation of non-eu/ac nationals Research visits to ERC projects (agreement with NSF) 2
What is the ERC? 3
What is the ERC? ERC in the H2020 Structure Ø The HORIZON 2020 main components: Excellent Science è World class science is foundation of technologies, jobs, well-being è Europe needs to develop, attract, retain research talent è Researchers need access to the best infrastructures Industrial leadership Societal challenges Ø Excellent Science: European Research Council Future and Emerging Technologies Marie Sklodoswka Curie Actions Research Infrastructures 4
What is the ERC? Budget 77 billion ERC Budget 13 billion FP7 H2020 5
What does ERC offer? 6
What does ERC offer? Creative Freedom of the Individual Grantee 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 5/6 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 7
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 Synergy Grants 2 4 Principal Investigators up to 14.0 Mio for 6 years 8
What does ERC offer? Principal investigator profile and commitment PI Profile: Any current place of work but working or moving to work in Europe (EU member state or H2020 Associated Country) Any nationality or age StG: 2 and up to 7; CoG: 7 and up to 12 years of experience after PhD; AdG and SyG: no constraints Potential (StG) or evidence (CoG) for independence and maturity; strong leadership (AdG) Good track-record appropriate to their research field and career stage PI Commitment: Minimum 50% (StG), 40% (CoG), 30% (AdG, SyG) of PI working time on ERC project Minimum 50% of PI working time in a EU Member Sate or Associated Country 9
What does ERC offer? Funding Starting Grant (StG): Up to 1.5 million for a period of 5 years (pro rata for projects of shorter duration). Up to 0.5 million additional Consolidator Grant (CoG): Up to 2.0 million for a period of 5 years (pro rata for projects of shorter duration). Up to 0.75 million additional Advanced Grant (AdG): Up to 2.5 million for a period of 5 years (pro rata for projects of shorter duration). Up to 1.0 million additional Synergy Grant (AdG): Up to 10 million for a period of 6 years (pro rata for projects of shorter duration). Up to 4 million additional additional to cover (a) eligible "start-up" costs for Principal Investigators moving from a another country to the EU or an Associated Country as a consequence of receiving the ERC grant and/or (b) the purchase of major equipment and/or (c) access to large facilities. 10
What does ERC offer? Role of the host institution Is located in an EU Member State or an Associated Country Hosts the PI for the duration of the project Is a legal entity: university, research center, business research unit, etc. Is committed to ensure that the PI may: o o o o Apply for funding independently Manage research and funding project Publish independently as senior author Have access to reasonable space and facilities Signs Grant Agreement Overhead: 25% 11
What does ERC offer? Features of ERC grants No constraints on eligible costs as long as they are for the execution of the project Rules of the HI apply High flexibility: aims of the project can be modified through amendments to the grant agreement Grants have a light reporting along the project life-time: financial report every 18 months, scientific report at mid-term and end of the project Grants have 25-40% pre-financing PI is empowered to manage the research activity and the funds of the project Grants are portable 12
Which calls are available in 2018? ERC 2018 Work Program Starting Grant Consolidator Grant Advanced Grant Synergy Grant Call identifier ERC-2018-StG ERC-2018-CoG ERC-2018-AdG ERC-2018-SyG Call Opens 18/07/2017 24/10/2017 17/05/2018 19/07/2017 Deadline 17/10/2017 15/02/2018 30/08/2018 14/11/2017 Budget million EUR (estimated number of grants) 583 (391) 553 (287) 452 (194) 250 (30) 13
How to prepare and submit an ERC research proposal? 14
How to prepare and submit an ERC research proposal? Main considerations Have a ground-breaking idea Design a research project to implement the idea Convince yourself on the feasibility of the project Ask yourself if you have the capabilities to build and supervise a research team to carry out the project Contact a HI where the project will be developed (the HI must be located in EU or any of the H2020 associated countries) Get the support from the HI Write your research proposal Submit your research proposal within the deadline 15
How to prepare and submit an ERC research proposal? ERC panel structure for StG, CoG and AdG calls 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 & Public Health LS8 Evolutionary, Population and Environmental Biology LS9 Applied Life Sciences and Biotechnology Social Sciences and Humanities SH1 Markets, Individuals and Institutions SH2 The Social World, Diversity and Common Ground 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 Mathematics PE2 Fundamental Constituents of Matter PE3 Condensed Matter Physics PE4 Physical & Analytical Chemical Sciences PE5 Synthetic Chemistry and Materials PE6 Computer Science & Informatics PE7 Systems & Communication Engineering PE8 Products & Process Engineering PE9 Universe Sciences PE10 Earth System Science 16
How to prepare and submit an ERC research proposal? Proposal structure PART A online forms A1 A2 A3 Proposal and PI info Host Institution info Budget 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 B1 submitted as.pdf Extended Synopsis 5 p. CV 2 p. Early Achievements (StG and CoG) or 10-year Track Record (AdG) 2 p. PART B2 submitted as.pdf Scientific Proposal 15 p. Read the Information to Applicants 17
How ERC research proposals are evaluated? 18
How ERC research proposals are evaluated? Main features of the evaluation process for StG, CoG and AdG calls Ø Goal of the evaluation: select the best frontier research proposals Ø Only evaluation criteria: excellence Ø Method: peer review Ø Structure: 25 panels distributed in 3 scientific domains (10 Physical Sciences, 9 Life sciences and 6 Social Sciences and Humanities) Ø Each panel consists of 1 panel chair and 12-16 panel members What makes ERC evaluation exceptional? Peers Review procedure 19
How ERC research proposals are evaluated? Peers Ø Panel members: typically 375 / call High-level scientists Recruited by ScC from all over the world: ~14% from outside Europe About 12-16 members plus a chair person Ø Referees: typically 2000 / call Evaluate only a small number of proposals Similar to normal practise in peerreviewed journals US (7%) Other (7%) EU and Associated Countries (86%) 20
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 21
ERC achievements 22
ERC achievements Supporting research talent and advancing the frontiers of knowledge ü 8,000 "research champions" and their teams supported ü 55,000 team members, mostly PhDs and postdocs, working on ERC projects ü 75% of a sample of completed ERC projects resulted in scientific breakthroughs or major advances ü ERC grantees won prestigious awards: 6 Nobel Prizes, 4 Fields Medals, 5 Wolf Prizes 23
ERC achievements Enhancing visibility of European research results Clarivate Analytics study based on acknowledgments to funders from papers in the Web of Science in the period 2007-2016 Organization Papers Category normalized citation impact Percentage top 1% papers Percentage of international collaborations European Research Council (ERC) 40.422 2,46 4,84% 59,24% Wellcome Trust 41.040 2,10 3,60% 55,62% US Dapertment of Energy (DOE) 123.864 2,09 3,92% 39,39% UK Medical Research Council 38.442 2,08 3,76% 48,81% Swiss National Science Foundation 50.598 1,90 3,01% 59,03% US National Institutes of Health (NIH) 617.950 1,73 2,61% 28,37% US National Scienc Foundation (NSF) 380.893 1,73 2,76% 36,36% French National Research Agency 41.385 1,62 2,04% 47,65% German Research Foundation (DFG) 171.959 1,55 1,92% 48,56% 24
ERC achievements Promoting innovation ü There is no innovation without frontier research! ü 600 Proof of Concept Grants awarded ü ERC projects have led to 800 patent applications and setting up 75 new ventures (2007-2013) 25
Participation of non-eu/ac nationals 26
Participation of non-eu/ac nationals 30 non-eu/ac nationalities Almost 8% of all ERC grants to principal investigators of non-eu/ac nationality
Participation of non-eu/ac nationals Grantees who applied from non-eu or non- Associated countries Mainly European researchers moving/returning from the US Country of residence International grantees EU/AC nationals Total Argentina 1 1 Australia 2 6 8 Canada 3 5 8 China 2 2 Egipt 1 1 India 1 1 2 Japan 2 2 Korea 1 1 Lebanon 1 1 Malaysia 1 1 Pakistan 1 1 Russia 2 2 Senegal 1 1 USA 47 125 172 Total 56 147 203 Note: ERC grantees residing outside EU/AC at the time of application
Research visits to ERC projects 29
Research visits to ERC projects Types of visits NSF-EC agreement: cooperation between US-based scientists and EUbased scientists through research visits to ERC funded projects (since 2012). N S F E C NSF Career Awardees: Single and long-term (6-12 months) or Multiple short-term visits: should aggregate to an agreed-upon minimum (e.g., 6 months). NSF Postdoctoral Fellows: Single and long-term research visits (6-12 months). Time spent in Europe will be in addition to (rather than in lieu of) their NSF-funded postdoctoral fellowship. ERC Principal Investigator Hosts the US-based scientist as a member of the research team 30
Research visits to ERC projects Conditions For Career Awardees: The salary is covered by the NSF. NSF also provides support for travel expenses of the visiting researcher and also for the travel expenses of accompanying family members in case of long-term visits. ERC grant covers subsistence costs: a per diem or any other applicable modality of the Host Institution. For Postdoctoral Fellows: - NSF provides support for travel expenses of the visiting researcher and also those of accompanying family members. - The salary and any applicable social/health coverage expenses is covered from the ERC grant. 46 USA-based researchers have visited ERC projects 31
Research visits to ERC projects Mechanism ERC launches a call for expression of interest Principal Investigator expresses interest in hosting one or more scientists supported by a non-eu funding agency ERC sends the list of interested PIs to the non-eu based funding agencies Non-EU based funding agency launches a call for proposals to their eligible scientists Non-EU based scientist contacts the Principal Investigator to seek agreement on a possible research visit Principal Investigator accepts or not the research visit; If accepted, the Principal Investigator and the Host Institution provide a letter of support Non-EU based funding agency evaluates the proposals and funds the successful ones Non-EU based scientist plans an executes the research visit in agreement with the Principal Investigator 32
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