Mathias Dewatripont Université Libre de Bruxelles Member of the Scientific Council of the ERC The European Research Council January 2010

European Research Council │ 2 FP7 (EC)  7 th Framework Programme (FP7)  “Family” of FP7 Specific Programmes  Co-operation  Ideas  People  Capacities  Ideas: complementary to other FP7 support policy vs. science-driven, bottom-up vs. targeted research

European Research Council │ 3 FP7 Ideas Programme  Creates the ERC (new “institution”):  Scientific Council (ScC)  Executive Agency (ERCEA)  Provides funding:  € 7.51 bn ( ), around 15% of FP7 budget  Average budget: € ~1 bn per year  Sets overall objectives for research and operating principles

European Research Council │ 4 Boost European excellence in "Frontier Research"  by investing in the best researchers and ideas  through competition at European level  on the basis of scientific excellence as the sole criterion  raising incentives towards quality and aspirations of individual researchers  providing benchmarks and leverage towards broader (structural) improvements in European research Strategic Aims Overview

European Research Council │ 5 Why “Frontier Research”? Traditional terminology (“basic” / “applied” research “science” vs. “technology”) is no longer appropriate: Research at the frontiers is characterised by an absence of disciplinary boundaries New discoveries are often triggered by real world problems (and vice-versa) Progress in understanding phenomena and techniques for investigation go hand in hand

European Research Council │ 6 ERC Grants Strategic principles  All fields of science and scholarship are eligible  investigator-driven, bottom-up  Excellence is the only valid criterion  individual team + research project  Investment in research talent  Attractive, flexible grants, up to five years  under control of the lead researcher (PI)  Independent individual teams in Europe  nationality of researchers is not relevant  host organisation to be located in EU or AS

European Research Council │ 7 ERC Grant Schemes Launch Strategy of ERC Scientific Council  Retain – Repatriate – Recruit  Favour “brain gain” and “reverse brain drain”  increase competition, recognition and international visibility for excellent individual scientists and scholars in Europe  ERC Advanced Grant: attract & reward established independent research leaders, up to 5 years, up to € 2.5 (3.5) Mio.  Keep (young) researchers in Europe  improve career opportunities and independence - especially for young researchers  ERC Starting Grant: attract & retain the next generation of independent research leaders, up to 5 years, up to € 2.0 Mio.

European Research Council │ 8 ERC Grant Schemes Budget  Total (FP7 Ideas budget): € 7.51 bn  As of 2010, ≈ 1/2 Starting Grants, 1/2 Advanced Grants  Less than 5% for operational ERC management  2007 budget  StG only, € 300 Mio.  2008 budget  AdG only, Spring 2008, € 520 Mio.  2009 budget onwards:  StG + AdG calls.  Budget grows over time (2010: > than € 1bn).

European Research Council │ 9 ERC Grant schemes Operational Principles  Application in response to calls for proposals  Staged Evaluation Procedure due to large number of applications  ERC peer review evaluation process Proposals are assessed and ranked by Panels Scientific Council decides on peer review methodology and selects peer reviewers

European Research Council │ 10 ERC Advanced Grant (ERC Advanced Investigator Researcher Grant)  Designed to support excellent investigator-initiated research projects by established independent research leaders  Targeting researchers who have already established their independence as team leaders and are exceptional leaders in terms of significance of their research achievements (in the last 10 years) up to 5 years, up to € 3,5 million per grant ~2500 Advanced Grants over 7 years of FP7 ( )

European Research Council │ 11  Individual Research Teams:  headed by a single “Principal Investigator” (team leader) + Co-PI in exceptional cases  of any nationality  if necessary, including additional team members.  The PI has the freedom to choose the research topic and the power to assemble his/her research team (including “co-Investigators”) meeting the needs of the project.  Teams can be of national or trans-national character  Hosting institution located in an EU member state or associated country ERC Grants Who can apply ?

European Research Council │ 12 Granting strategy 1.Managing demand for grants  Maximise call budget  By preventing applications over 2 successive years (unless highly ranked but not funded)  Encourage the best to apply  Excellent track record  Strong leadership  Discourage trivial or low-quality applications  Applications should be substantive (one-stage submission with two stage evaluation)  Disincentives to submission of applications which are not of the highest quality

European Research Council │ 13 ERC Advanced Grant Evaluation Criteria: Excellence is the sole award criterion 1.Principal Investigator -Quality of research output/track-record (  10-year track-record) -Intellectual capacity and creativity (  CV + leadership profile) 2.Research Project -Ground-breaking nature of the research -Potential impact -Methodology 3.Research Environment (assessed in Step 2 only) -Contribution of the research environment to the project -Contribution of the project to research environment -Participation of other legal entities (if clear/ substantial added value)

European Research Council │ 14 Proposal structure Part A: Contains “normal” A1-A3 forms Plus additional “A1T”: “Track Record” –Summary of Scientific Leadership –Summary of Track Record Part B: contains 3 sections & 1 annex  Section 1 –Scientific Leadership (2 pages) –CV (including “funding ID”) (2 pages) –Track record (2 pages) –Extended synopsis (5 pages)  Section 2 = Scientific proposal (15 pages)  Section 3 = Research Environment description (2 pages)  Statement of support from the Host Institution

European Research Council │ 15 Benchmarks of “track record” Main author publications in major peer-reviewed multi-disciplinary scientific journals and/or in the leading peer-reviewed journals of their respective research fields Monographs and any translations of monographs (if applicable). Granted patents (if applicable) Invited presentations into peer-reviewed, internationally established conferences and/or international advanced schools (if applicable) Expeditions that the applicant has led (if applicable) International conferences in the field of the applicant that have been organised (member of the steering and/or organising committee) by him/her (if applicable) International Prizes/Awards/Academy memberships (if applicable)

European Research Council │ 16 Indicators of “leadership” Content and impact of the major scientific or scholarly contributions of the applicant to his or her own research field and/or neighbouring research fields and, if applicable, their wider societal impact; The international recognition that these major contributions have received from others (publications or appropriate equivalents/additional funding/ students/international prizes and awards/ institution-building/other);

European Research Council │ 17 Single submission (1 stage, 2 step) Electronic submission via EPSS Early pre-registration strongly recommended 3 deadlines  Physical Sciences on 24th February at 5 pm.  Life Sciences on 17th March at 5 pm.  Social Sciences on 7th April at 5 pm. Submission of proposals

European Research Council │ 18  3 main research domains + interdisciplinary research, with separate indicative budgets: ─Physical Sciences & Engineering (39%) ─Life Sciences (incl. medical) (34%) ─Humanities & Social Sciences (14%) ─Interdisciplinary (13%) Indicative budgets

European Research Council │ 19 Panel structure 3 domains – 25 panels StG Panels distinct from AdG Panels Selection of Panel Members responsibility of the ScC

European Research Council │ 20 Panels: Interdisciplinary, forward-looking constitution Examples (Panels for ERC Starting Grant)  SH1: Individuals, institutions and markets:  SH1: Individuals, institutions and markets: economics, finance and management  PE10: Earth system science:  PE10: Earth system science: physical geography, geology, geophysics, meteorology, oceanography, climatology, ecology, global environmental change, biogeochemical cycles, natural resources management  LS5: Evolutionary, population and environmental biology:  LS5: Evolutionary, population and environmental biology: evolution, ecology, animal behaviour, population biology, biodiversity, biogeography, marine biology, ecotoxicology, prokaryotic biology

European Research Council │ 21 Submission to Panels Applicant submits to a Targeted Panel (of PI choice )  Can choose one additional “Alternative Review Panel” In case cross-panel or cross-domain proposal, evaluation by members of other panels “Interdisciplinary domain” is being populated at a later stage

European Research Council │ 22 Evaluation Criteria Scientific Excellence is the sole Criterion 1.Quality of Principal Investigator 2.Quality of research project 3.Research Environment and Resources  Referees and panels evaluate and score criteria 1 and 2 numerically (with equal weights), which will result in the ranking of the proposals  Criteria 3 will be considered (step 2) on a "pass/fail" basis and commented but not scored

European Research Council │ 23 Two-step evaluation Step 1:  Section 1 of Part B evaluated against Criterion 1 (PI) and 2 (Research Project)  Proposal needs to pass threshold for both criteria to pass to second step  Evaluated by Panel Members Step 2:  All three sections evaluated against all three evaluation criteria  Evaluated by Panel Members + Remote Evaluators

European Research Council │ 24 Evaluation process Step 2 (Panel + remote) Indiv assessments Individual marks Interdisciplinary flag PANEL MEETINGS Ranking Section 1 Section 2 Section 3 Proposal Step 1 (panel) Indiv Assessments Individual Marks PANEL MEETINGS Ranking Section 1 Section 2 Section 3 Proposal Submission + HI support letter Eligibility Check Section 1 Section 2 Section 3 Proposal

European Research Council │ 25 Interdisciplinary Domain Interdisciplinary Research domain (cross-domain & cross- panel)  indicative budget of 13% total budget Proposal submitted to a primary panel Step 1:  Primary panel determines if proposal is “interdisciplinary”  Can take into account if secondary panel is indicated Proposal “flagged” as interdisciplinary, if appropriate  Possibility to invite reviews from members of other panels Step 2:  Interdisciplinary proposals, not funded within panel budget, will be transferred to Interdisciplinary Domain for consideration there

European Research Council │ 26 Can pay for PI wage (if not paid by Host Institu- tion), sabbaticals, teaching buyout, wage supple- ments. Can pay for co-authors, research assistants, post- docs. Can pay for travel, equipment, … linked to the project. Overhead for Host up to 20% of the grant. Flexible (and portable) grants

European Research Council │ 27  ERC Work Programme  ERC Guide for Applicants (Research Grants plus CSAs)  ERC Grant agreement Other:  ERC Guide for Grant Holders  ERC Guide for Peer Reviewers  ERC Rules on submission, evaluation, selection and award procedures Documentation

European Research Council │ 28 Applicants Services ERC National Contact Points inform, raise awareness and provide advice on ERC funding opportunities, application, follow-up ERC helpdesk EPSS helpdesk technical support on electronic proposal submission ERC website:  News Alerthttp://erc.europa.eu

European Research Council │ 29 Thank you !