Gianpietro van de Goor, PhD Deputy Head of Unit “Strategic matters and relations with the ERC Scientific Council” ERC-DIS / European Commission Kalkara/Malta, 11 September 2008 FP7 IDEAS Programme The ERC funding schemes: Starting Grant

European Research Council │ 2 ERC Starting Grant ERC Starting Grant (ERC Starting Investigator Researcher Grant)  Principal Investigator – (2 to 9) 3 to 8 years after PhD  Support researchers at the start of their independent research career and establishing or consolidating their own independent research team (or research programme)  Provide a structure for transition from working under a supervisor to an independent research leader  ~ up to 2, Euros per grant (for 5 years, pro rata reduction for shorter periods)  ~ ⅓ of ERC annual budget per year, annual calls  ~ 300 Starting Grants per year, ~1500 Starting Grants over 7 years of FP7 ( ) Read the Guide for Applicants !

European Research Council │ 3  Indicative budget: ~ € 300 Mio.  Call launch end of July 2008 with 3 call deadlines  Physical Scienceson 29th October 2008  Social Scienceson 19th November 2008  Life Scienceson 10th December 2008  3 main research domains + interdisciplinary research domain, with separate indicative budgets -PE: Physical Sciences & Engineering (39%) -LS: Life Sciences (incl. medical) (34%) -SH: Humanities & Social Sciences (14%) -Interdisciplinary (13%) ERC Starting Grant ERC Starting Grant Next Call 2008/ Preliminary information

European Research Council │ 4 ERC Starting Grant ERC Starting Grant Profile of the PI Any nationality or age Any current place of work – but: working or moving to work in Europe (EU member state, FP7 Associated Country) read the Guide for Applicants!3-8 years of experience after PhD - certain types of career breaks are accepted up to a maximum of 2 years read the Guide for Applicants! Potential for research independence and evidence of maturity  at least one important publication without participation of PhD supervisor Track-record of early research achievements appropriate to their research field and career stage  Starters vs Consolidators First StG call (300 grants, 21 host countries, 32 nationalities, 170 host institutes)  Average Age: 35 years (spans from 24, 28 to 44y)  Average experience: 6-7 years  Average grant size:  Gender: 26% women (as low as 12% in LS2 up to 71% in SH4)

European Research Council │ 5 ERC Starting Grant ERC Starting Grant Early research achievements track-record 1.Publications, as main author indicating those without the presence as co-author of their PhD supervisor) in major international peer- reviewed multi-disciplinary scientific journals and/or in the leading international peer-reviewed journals of their respective research fields, also indicating the number of citations (excluding self- citations) they have attracted. 2.Granted patent(s) (if applicable). 3.Invited presentations to peer-reviewed, internationally established conferences and/or international advanced schools (if applicable) 4.International Prizes/Awards/Academy memberships (if applicable)

European Research Council │ 6 ERC Starting Grants ERC Starting Grants Proposal content and submission (preliminary) ERC Starting Grant proposal PART A – online forms A1 Proposal and PI info “A1T” “Track Record” A2 Host institution info A3 Budget PART B1 – submitted as.pdf Section 1 Track Record of PI Scientific Leadership Potential2 p. CV (including “funding ID”) 2 p. Early achievements track record2 p. Extended synopsis5 p. PART B2 – submitted as.pdf Section 2 Scientific proposal15 p. Section 3 Research Environment2 p. Annexes – submitted as.pdf Statement of support by host PhD certificate (incl. supporting documents to extend the eligibility window)

European Research Council │ 7 ERC Starting Grants ERC Starting Grants Proposal evaluation Step 2 Evaluation - Indiv. assessments - Interdisciplinary flag - Interviews - PANEL MEETINGS - Ranking Section 1 Section 2 Section 3 Step 1 Evaluation - Indiv. Assessments - PANEL MEETINGS - Ranking Section 1 Section 2 Section 3 Submission + Annexes Eligibility Check Section 1 Section 2 Section 3 Proposal - BProposal – B1+B2Proposal – B1

European Research Council │ 8 ERC Starting Grant ERC Starting Grant „Similar type of funding“ Same/similar conceptual aim of the grant scheme  Establishing or consolidating a research team  Establishing or consolidating scientific independence Similar scale of funding: € ’000 per year for up to 5 years, i.e. up to € 2 Mio) Same research project (similar/same objectives or approaches applied) e.g. Marie-Curie Excellence Grants European Young Investigators Awards (EURYI, € 0,75-1,25 Mio. for 5 years) NWO Innovational Research Incentives Scheme “Vidi” (up to € 600’000 for 5 years) DFG Emmy Noether Programme (funding of Independent Junior Research Group, for up to 5-6 years) SNSF Professorship Programme (establishment of independent team, for up to 4-6 years, in average: € 1 Mio.)

European Research Council │ 9 ERC Starting Grant ERC Starting Grant Multiple Applications/Resubmissions General  Only one ERC grant managed by a Principal Investigator (or Co- Investigator) can be active at any time  No Principal Investigator (or co-Investigator) may be associated with more than one application to the ERC during the same year Starting Grant  No Principal Investigator who has submitted an eligible proposal to a Starting Grant call may apply to the next Starting Grant call, unless his/her proposal was evaluated above the quality threshold during the 2nd step but not funded due to insufficient available budget  StG Principal Investigators can compete during the last 2 years of their grant for an AdG Read the Guide for Applicants!