This document provides information about the European Research Council (ERC). It discusses the establishment of the ERC by the European Commission and its structure, budget, funding schemes, and evaluation criteria. Statistics are presented on the number of applications received and grants awarded from 2007-2012 for Starting and Advanced Grants. The document also discusses the mobility of researchers, top host institutions in Europe, and the distribution of grants across countries.
1. FP7 IDEAS Programme
The European Research Council
Established by the European Commission
The European Research Council
ERC Calls 2007 – 2013: An overview with focus on Ireland
ERC: Preparing for the unexpectedp g p
Donald B. Dingwell
ERC Secretary General
RIA Seminar: How to Succeed with the
European Research Council
D bli 16th f M 2013
ERCEA Unit A1 Support to the Scientific Council
Dublin, 16th of May 2013
2. Outline
Established by the European Commission
Outline
Background
Funding Schemes and Statisticsg
Early Impact Signs
Prospects – Horizon 2020
│ 2
3. What is ERC?
Established by the European Commission
What is ERC?
The ERC supports excellence in frontier research through
a bottom-up, individual-based, pan-European competition
Budget: € 7.5billion (2007-2013) - € 1.1 billion /yearslation
Scientific governance: independent Scientific Council
with 22 members; full authority over funding strategy
Support by the ERC Executive Agency (autonomous)
Legis
Support by the ERC Executive Agency (autonomous)
Excellence as the only criterion
Support for the individual scientist – no networks!
Global peer-review
No predetermined subjects (bottom-up)
ategy
p j ( p)
Support of frontier research in all fields of science
and humanities │ 2
Stra
4. ERC Structure
Established by the European Commission
ERC Structure
The European Commission
• Provides financing through the EU framework programmes
• Guarantees autonomy of the ERC
• Assures the integrity and accountability of the ERCAssures the integrity and accountability of the ERC
• Adopts annual work programmes as established by
the Scientific Council
The ERC Scientific Council
• 22 prominent researchers proposed by an independent
identification committee
• Appointed by the Commission (4 years, renewable once)
• Establishes overall scientific strategy; annual work programmes
(incl. calls for proposals, evaluation criteria); peer review methodology;
The ERC Executive Agency
selection and accreditation of experts
• Controls quality of operations and management
• Ensures communication with the scientific community
The ERC Executive Agency
• Executes annual work programme as established by the Scientific Council
• Implements calls for proposals and provides information and support to applicants
• Organises peer review evaluation
• Establishes and manages grant agreementsg g g
• Administers scientific and financial aspects and follow-up of grant agreements
• Carries out communication activities and ensures information dissemination
to ERC stakeholders
5. ERC Scientific Council Members
Established by the European Commission
Prof. Don Dingwell
ERC Secretary General
• Prof. Klaus BOCK (Chemistry)
• Prof. Nicholas CANNY (History)
• Prof. Sierd A.P.L. CLOETINGH (Earth Sciences)
• Prof. Tomasz DIETL (Physics)
• Prof. Daniel DOLEV (Computer Sciences)
• Prof. Athene DONALD (Biological Physics)
• Prof. Carlos M. DUARTE (Biology)
• Dr. Barbara ENSOLI (Medicine)
f S ( )• Prof. Daniel ESTEVE (Physics)
• Prof. Pavel EXNER (Applied Mathematics & Mathematical Physics), ERC Vice President
• Prof. Reinhard GENZEL(Astrophysics)
• Prof. Carl-Henrik HELDIN (Molecular Cell Biology), ERC Vice President
• P f Ti th HUNT (Bi l )• Prof. Timothy HUNT (Biology)
• Prof. Matthias KLEINER (Engineering)
• Prof. Eva KONDOROSI (Biology)
• Prof. Nuria SEBASTIAN GALLES (Psychology)
• P f H l NOWOTNY (S i d T h l St di ) ERC P id t• Prof. Helga NOWOTNY (Science and Technology Studies), ERC President
• Prof. Alain PEYRAUBE (Linguistics)
• Prof. Mart SAARMA (Biology)
• Prof. Anna TRAMONTANO (Biochemistry)
• P f I b ll VERNOS (M l l d C ll Bi l )• Prof. Isabelle VERNOS (Molecular and Cell Biology)
• Prof. Reinhilde VEUGELERS (Economics)
6. FP7 budget € 50.5 billion
Established by the European Commission
FP7 budget € 50.5 billion
ERC budget € 7.5 billion; increase by € 250 M/year
C i Id
People
(9 %)
Capacities
(8 %)JRC non-
nuclear (3 %)
1800
Co-operation
(65 %)
Ideas
(15 %)
21 6%
23.4%
1200
1500
15.1%
17.8%
21.6%
900
1200
MillionEuro
10.8%
7.3% 300
600
4%
0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
7. After 6 years of existence…
Established by the European Commission
y
A success story
more than 3.400 funded proposals; over € 5.5 billion awarded
“excellence attracts excellence”: 50% of PIs in 50 institutions,
but more than 500 different host institutions in 29 countries
host the other 50% of the projects
highly competitive: average success rate 12%
EU value added: pan-European competition among
h f th fi t tiresearchers for the first time ever
strengthening peer-review-based evaluation systems
strong structuring effects: reshaping the European landscape
of basic/frontier research
ki E tt ti i th l b l titi fmaking Europe more attractive in the global competition for
scientific talent │ 7
8. Outline
Established by the European Commission
Outline
Background
Funding Schemes and Statisticsg
Early Impact Signs
Prospects – Horizon 2020
│ 8
9. ERC Grant schemes
Established by the European Commission
ERC Grant schemes
Advanced GrantsStarting Grants
starters
(2-7 years after PhD)
Advanced Grants
track-record of
significant research
achievements in the
Consolidator Grants
consolidators
(7 12 years after PhD)(2-7 years after PhD)
up to € 2.0 Mio
for 5 years
achievements in the
last 10 years
up to € 3.5 Mio
f 5
(7-12 years after PhD)
up to € 2.75 Mio
for 5 years
for 5 years
Synergy Grants
2 – 4 Principal Investigators
up to € 15 0 Mio for 6 years
Proof‐of‐Concept
bridging gap between research - earliest
stage of marketable innovation
up to €150 000 for ERC grant holdersup to € 15.0 Mio for 6 years up to €150,000 for ERC grant holders
10. Creative freedom of the individual grantee
Established by the European Commission
Creative freedom of the individual grantee
ERC offers independence, recognition & visibility
t k h t i f h i ith t f h i• to work on a research topic of own choice, with a team of own choice
• to gain true financial autonomy for 5 years
t ti t ith th h t i tit ti th b t diti f k• to negotiate with the host institution the best conditions of work
• to attract top team members (EU and non-EU) and collaborators
t ith th t t l i E if ( t bilit• 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 qualityto attract additional funding and gain recognition; ERC is a quality
label
│ 10
11. Researcher career development
Established by the European Commission
p
and complementary funding schemes
ERC Advanced
ERC S G S Senior
Professor
ERC StG - Starters
ERC StG – ConsolidatorsERC SyG– Synergy
Junior Professor/
Junior Researcher
Full Professor
Marie Curie
ERC StG Starters
Post-docs
P t
Junior Researcher
Associated Professor
Erasmus
Students
Post
Graduates
12. Excellence is the sole evaluation criterion
Established by the European Commission
Excellence is the sole evaluation criterion
Evaluation of excellence at two levels:
• Excellence of the Research Projectj
Ground breaking nature
Potential impact
Scientific Approach
Added-value of the Group (only SyG)
• Excellence of the Principal Investigator• Excellence of the Principal Investigator
Intellectual capacity
CreativityCreativity
Commitment
Referees and panels evaluate and score each criterion which resultsReferees and panels evaluate and score each criterion, which results
in a ranking of the proposals.
13. ERC Competitions 2007 – 2012
Established by the European Commission
Evaluated* Funded success rates**
Starting Grant 2007 9,167 8,787 299 3.4
Total number
of applications
of which
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 12.1Starting Grant 2011 4,080 4,005 486 12.1
Starting Grant 2012 4,741 4,652 566 12.2
Starting Grant 23,364 22,603 2,032 10.7
Ad d G t 2008 2 167 2 034 282 13 9Advanced 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 2012 2,304 2,269 321 14.1
Advanced Grant 10,348 10,041 1,420 14.3, , ,
Proof of Concept 2011 - 1&2 151 139 51 36.7
Proof of Concept 2012 - 1&2 143 120 60 50.0
Proof of Concept 294 259 111 43 3
│ 13Data as of 08/04/2013
Proof of Concept 294 259 111 43.3
Synergy Grant 2012 710 697 11 1.6
* withdrawn and ineligible proposals not taken into account
** percentage of funded proposals in relation to evaluated proposals
14. O 3400 t d d ft 10 StG d AdG ll
Established by the European Commission
Over 3400 grants awarded after 10 StG and AdG calls
15. Evaluated proposals from hosts in Ireland
Established by the European Commission
p p
ERC Starting and Consolidator Grant calls 2007 – 2013
ERC Advanced Grant calls 2008 – 2013
│ 15Ineligible and withdrawn proposals not taken into account; *) all submitted for 2013 calls
16. Granted proposals at host institutions in Ireland
ERC Starting grant 2007 2012
Established by the European Commission
ERC Starting grant 2007 – 2012
ERC Advanced grant 2008 – 2012
│ 16
* current host institutions; data as of 08/04/2013
17. Success rates per country of Host Institution
Established by the European Commission
ERC Starting Grant calls 2007 – 2012
ERC Advanced Grant calls 2008 – 2012
*) First legal signatories of the first grant agreement taken into account
18. ERC grant distribution to countries of HI
Established by the European Commission
g
ERC Starting and Advanced grant calls 2007 – 2012
│ 18*) Host institution refers to the organisation with which the first grant agreement was signed
19. Mobility of researchers
Established by the European Commission
ERC Starting and Advanced Grant calls 2007 – 2012
11 foreign grantees in Ireland
│ 19
19 Irish grantees abroad: 13 in UK, 2 in NL, 2 in DE,
1 in FR, 1 in SE
20. Host institutions in Ireland
ERC Starting grant 2007 2012
Established by the European Commission
ERC Starting grant 2007 – 2012
ERC Advanced grant 2008 – 2012
│ 20Current host institutions; data as of 08/04/2013
21. Top
European
Institutions
Country Higher-Education Institution No StG AdG Total LS PE SH
UK University of Cambridge 1 54 40 94 31 49 14
UK University of Oxford 2 47 43 90 26 43 21
UK University College London 3 42 27 69 28 14 27
Established by the European Commission
hosting
at least 25
ERC
UK University College London 3 42 27 69 28 14 27
CH Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) 4 38 30 68 19 48 1
CH Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) 5 22 41 63 21 40 2
IL Hebrew University of Jerusalem 6 33 24 57 25 21 11
Grantees
by funding
Schemes
IL Weizmann Institute 7 31 21 52 30 21 1
UK Imperial College 8 28 23 51 20 31
BE University of Leuven 9 25 10 35 10 17 8
DE University of Munich 10 12 21 33 15 12 6
StG 2007-2012
AdG 2008-2012
Fi t l l
DE University of Munich 10 12 21 33 15 12 6
UK University of Edinburgh 11 17 15 32 8 13 11
UK University of Bristol 12 13 17 30 6 19 5
NL University of Amsterdam 13 15 14 29 3 8 18
First legal
signatories
of the grant
agreement
NL Leiden University 13 15 14 29 1 15 13
FI University of Helsinki 14 16 12 28 19 7 2
IL Technion - Israel Institute of Technology 15 21 6 27 9 18
DK University of Copenhagen 16 15 11 26 9 11 6
Data as of 08/04/2013
DK University of Copenhagen 16 15 11 26 9 11 6
CH University of Zurich 17 12 13 25 15 5 5
NL Radboud University Nijmegen 17 17 8 25 8 8 9
SE Karolinska Institute 17 15 10 25 24 1
Country Research Organisation No StG AdG Total LS PE SH
FR National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) 1 121 57 178 47 103 28
DE Max Planck Society 2 54 37 91 49 36 6
FR National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) 3 28 13 41 41FR National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) 3 28 13 41 41
FR French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission 4 30 7 37 6 30 1
ES Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) 5 19 11 30 13 12 5
FR National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automatic Control (INRIA) 6 17 12 29 29
22. 25 panels for all areas of science
Established by the European Commission
p
Social Sciences & Humanities
6 panels
Individuals institutions and markets
Physical Mathematics
Sciences Fundamental constituents of matter
& Condensed matter physics
Engineering Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Over 600 grants
Individuals, institutions and markets
Institutions, values, beliefs and
behaviour
Environment, space and population
Engineering Physical and analytical chemical sciences
Synthetic chemistry and materials
10 panels Computer science and informatics
Systems and communication engineering
The Human Mind
Cultures and cultural production
The study of the human past
Products and processes engineering
Universe sciences
Earth system science
Over 1500 grants
Life Molecular and structural biology and biochemistry
Sciences Genetics, genomics, bioinformatics and systems biology
Cellular and developmental biology
9 panels Physiology pathophysiology and endocrinology9 panels Physiology, pathophysiology and endocrinology
Neurosciences and neural disorders
Immunity and infection
Diagnostic tools, therapies and public health
E l i l i d i l bi l
Over 1200 grants
│ 22
Evolutionary, population and environmental biology
Applied life sciences and biotechnology
23. ERC panel members by country of HI and gender
Established by the European Commission
ERC Starting and Advanced Grant calls 2007 – 2012
│ 23* Number of instances that experts of a certain country of origin are contributing to the ERC peer review
24. Frontier research and innovation:
Established by the European Commission
Frontier research and innovation:
ERC Proof of Concept
Initiated to help ERC grant-holder to bridge the gap
between their research and the earliest stage of ag
marketable innovation
Supporting grant-holders during the pre-demonstrationg g g
Up to 150.000 Euro per grant
One step evaluation
2011 2012
Total applications 151 143
Evaluated* 139 120
p Evaluated* 139 120
Funded 51 60
* withdrawn and ineligible proposals not
First call in Autumn 2011 with 2 deadlines
Second call in 2012 with 2 deadlines
g p p
taken into account
Seco d ca 0 t dead es
Third call in 2013 (deadlines 24 April and 3 October)
25. ERC Proof of Concept – areas of application
Established by the European Commission
ERC Proof of Concept areas of application
PoC scheme was introduced in 2011 to allow researchers who are already
ERC grant holders to bridge the gap between their research and the earliest
stage of an innovationstage of an innovation
│ 25
26. Number of ERC grants vs number of PoC grants
Established by the European Commission
Number of ERC grants vs number of PoC grants
(Total PoC grants: 111)
│ 26
27. Share of ERC grants vs share of PoC grants
Established by the European Commission
g g
2011 and 2012
│ 27
28. Speeding up the discovery process:
Established by the European Commission
g y
ERC Synergy grant
2012 work programme on a pilot basis
2 – 4 Principal Investigators; complementary skills,
knowledge & resources; to jointly address frontier researchknowledge & 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
l H t I tit ti b t t i d t b• only one Host Institution, but groups not required to be
physically located in the same place
710 submissions to the first SyG Call; 1 6% success rate710 submissions to the first SyG Call; 1.6% success rate
449 submissions to the second SyG Call
30. Outline
Established by the European Commission
Outline
Background
Funding Schemes and Statisticsg
Early Impact Signs
Prospects – Horizon 2020
│ 30
31. Publications from ERC funded projects
Established by the European Commission
p j
Over 10 000 articles acknowledging ERC funding
│ 31* Thomson Reuters, WoS, End of 2012
32. ERC Grantees features prominently among
Established by the European Commission
Laureates of prestigious Prizes and Awards
Jean-Marie
Lehn
James
Heckman
Theodor
Hansch
Christoforos
Pissarides
Andre
Geim
Konstantin
Novoselov
Nobel 2010
Serge
Haroche
Nobel 2012
Stanislav Smirnov AdG 2008
Simon Donaldson AdG 2009
Elon Lindenstrauss AdG 2010
2013 Wolf Prize awarded to Peter Zoller - SyG 2012
2013 Holberg Prize awarded to Bruno Latour - AdG 2010
2013 Crafoord Prize awarded to Lars Klareskog AdG 2009Elon Lindenstrauss AdG 2010
Other Prizes awarded to ERC grantees
EMBO GOLD MEDAL 2011 – Simon BOULTON - AdG 2010
2012 Prizes awarded
to ERC grantees
2013 Crafoord Prize awarded to Lars Klareskog - AdG 2009
FEBS|EMBO WOMEN IN SCIENCE 2011 - Carol ROBINSON - AdG 2010
EMBO GOLD MEDAL 2010 – Jason W CHIN - StG 2007
THE SHAW PRIZE IN MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES 2011 - Christodoulou Demetrios - AdG 2009
CRAFOORD PRIZE 2011 and EUROPEAN LATSIS PRIZE 2010 – Ilkka Hanski - AdG 2008
EMBO GOLD MEDAL 2012 Jiri FRIML - StG 2011
BALZAN PRIZE 2012 David BAULCOMBE - AdG 2008
EUROPEAN LATSIS PRIZE 2012
Uffe HAAGERUP - AdG 2009
│ 32
L'ORÉAL-UNESCO AWARD FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE 2011 - Anne L'Huillier - AdG 2008
WOLF PRIZE 2010 – Anton ZEILINGER, David BAULCOMBE-AdG 2008, Alain ASPECT–AdG 2010
MILLENIUM AWARD 2010 – Michael GRATZEL - AdG 2009
KELVIN PRIZE 2012 Colin McINNES - AdG 2008
LEIBNIZ PRIZE 2012 Michael BRECHT - AdG 2008
& Joerg WRACHTRUP - AdG 2010
33. Developing a new generation of excellent scientists
/ f ff f
Established by the European Commission
2/3 of staff are people in the training phase of their career
(analysis of 636 on-going projects)
│ 33
34. ERC grantees with a non-ERA nationality*
Established by the European Commission
ERC Starting Grant calls 2007 – 2012
ERC Advanced Grant calls 2008 – 2012
TOTAL number of grantees with non-ERA nationality :
153 StG and 79 AdG
Data as of 08/04/2013*) nationality as last declared by the principal investigator
35. Attracting excellent researchers
Established by the European Commission
g
Composition of ERC teams (PIs not included)
EU 69%EU: 69%
Assoc. Countries: 11%
non-ERA: 17%
unknown: 3%u o 3%
Most non-ERA from
China US IndiaChina, US, India,
and Russia
50% of non-ERA
Breakdown by nationality (97)
50% of non-ERA
team members
''attracted'' to
Europe with the ERC
│ 35
Breakdown by nationality (97)
(sample of 636 Starting and Advanced projects) grant
36. Outline
Established by the European Commission
Outline
Background
Funding Schemes and Statisticsg
Early Impact Signs
Prospects – Horizon 2020
│ 36
37. ERC prospects for the future
Established by the European Commission
ERC prospects for the future
Rising number of applications
38. HORIZON 2020
Established by the European Commission
HORIZON 2020
HORIZON 2020 structure:
− Excellent Science
I d t i l L d hi− Industrial Leadership
− Societal Challenges
− EITEIT
− 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)European Research Council (budget proposal under H2020: € 15 billion)
Future and Emerging Technologies
Marie Curie
R h I f t tResearch Infrastructures
│ 38
39. Established by the European Commission
More information on
htt //http://erc.europa.eu
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