1. The European Research Council
07/05/12
The European Research Council
Jose Manuel
Fernandez de Labastida
Head Scientific Department
Valencia,

2. The European Research Council
Outline:
ERC basics
ERC funding schemes
Evaluation
ERC achievements
Work Programme 2019
Horizon Europe
ERC and Physics
ERC and Spain

3. ERC basics

4. ERC basics Main features
The ERC supports frontier research pan-European competition
Support for individual or small groups of principal investigators
No predetermined subjects (bottom-up)
Support of frontier research in all fields of knowledge
Scientific quality as the only criterion aiming for excellence
Global peer-review

5. ERC basics ERC Governance
The European Commission
Provides financing through the EU framework programmes
Guarantees autonomy of the ERC
Assures 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 identification committee
President appointed following recommendation of a search committee
Appointed by the Commission (4 years, renewable once)
Establishes overall scientific strategy and annual work programmes
Identifies evaluators
Controls quality of operations and management
Ensures communication with the scientific community
The ERC Executive Agency
Executes annual work programme
Implements calls for proposals
Organises peer review evaluation
Signs and monitors grant agreements
Carries out communications activities
Provides support to the Scientific Council

6. ERC basics Key figures
The ERC is a key component of Horizon 2020, the EU programme for Research and Innovation
€13 billion budget for , i.e. 17% of the Horizon 2020 budget
Over 80,000 applications received and around 9,000 projects funded
Highly competitive calls: overall success rate is 11.4 %

7. ERC funding schemes

8. ERC funding schemes Starting Grants 1 Principal Investigator
(2-7 years after PhD)
up to € 2.0 Mio
for 5 years
Consolidator Grants
1 Principal Investigator
(7-12 years after PhD)
up to € 2.75 Mio
for 5 years
Advanced Grants
1 Principal Investigator
up to € 3.5 Mio
for 5 years
Synergy Grants
2 – 4 Principal Investigators
up to € 14.0 Mio for 6 years
Proof-of-Concept
Inquiring on the innovation potential
up to €150,000 for ERC grant
holders

9. ERC funding schemes Principal investigator 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: 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) of PI working time on ERC project
Minimum 50% of PI working time in a EU Member Sate or Associated Country
│ 9

10. ERC funding schemes 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
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.
additional
│ 10

11. ERC funding schemes Role of 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:
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

12. ERC funding schemes Features of the 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

13. ERC funding schemes Synergy grants: principles
For small groups of 2 to 4 Principal Investigators (PIs) with complementary skills, knowledge and resources.
Appropriate configuration of PIs to jointly identify and tackle research objectives aiming at breakthrough discoveries.
Excellence is the sole criterion of evaluation.
Good track-record appropriate to their research field and career stage.
‘Bottom-up’ - research priorities and the configuration of the group determined by the individual investigators.
Projects expected to cover more than one discipline or research field, but not obligatory.
Why was it designed: meets scientific demand:
ERC mission to provide excellent investigators with the resources to pursue ground breaking, frontier research.
Increasing complexity and interdisciplinarity of frontier research.
Requires new ways of working - bringing together complementary skills, knowledge and resources.
The emphasis here is on the unique combination of PIs to jointly address exciting research problems

14. ERC funding schemes Synergy grants: commitment and funding
PIs must be strongly committed to the project and engage in a genuine collaboration.
One of the PIs will act as ‘Corresponding PI’
PIs may apply from any country, institution worldwide.
PIs must devote at least 30% of their working time on the project
All but at most one PI (who cannot be the corresponding PI) is expected to devote 50% of their working time in an EU Member State or Associated Country.
Attractive, long-term funding - maximum grant of 10 million € for a period of up to six years. Up to 4 million € additional.
Synergy Groups can be based in the same country, city, campus, institution or alternatively in various countries and/or organisations.
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.
additional

15. Evaluation

16. Evaluation Proposal structure
PART A – online forms
Info on Proposal, PI, HI and
overall budget
PART B1 – submitted as .pdf
Extended Synopsis 5 p.
CV p.
Track Record p.
Funding ID beyond the 2 page limit for the CV
Explanatory comment if interdisciplinary
Optional template for the CV
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 B2 – submitted as .pdf
Scientific Proposal 15 p.
Template for the budget
Read the Information to Applicants

17. Evaluation Evaluation panels
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
Life Sciences
LS1 Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
LS2 Genetics, ‘Omics’, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology LS3 Cellular and Developmental Biology
LS4 Physiology, Pathophysiology and Endocrinology
LS5 Neurosciences and Neural Disorders
LS6 Immunity and Infection
LS7 Applied Medical Technologies, Diagnostics, Therapies and Public Health
LS8 Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology
LS9 Applied Life Sciences, Biotechnology and Molecular and Biosystems Engineering
Social Sciences and Humanities
SH1 Individuals, Markets and Organizations
SH2 Institutions, Values, Environment and Space
SH3 The Social World, Diversity and Population
SH4 The Human Mind and Its Complexity
SH5 Cultures and Cultural Production
SH6 The Study of the Human Past

18. Evaluation Main features
Goal of the evaluation: select the best frontier research proposals
Only evaluation criteria: excellence
Method: peer review
Structure: 25 panels distributed in 3 scientific domains (10 Physical Sciences, 9 Life sciences and 6 Social Sciences and Humanities)
Each panel consists of 1 panel chair and panel members
44, 39 y 17
Antes 40, 35, 15, 10
What makes ERC evaluation successful?
Peers
Review procedure

19. Evaluation Peers Panel members: typically 375 / call
Other
(7%)
Panel members: typically 375 / call
High-level scientists
Recruited by ScC from all over the world: ~14% from outside Europe
About members plus a chair person
Referees: typically 2000 / call
Evaluate only a small number of proposals
Similar to normal practise in peer-reviewed journals US
(7%)
EU and
Associated
Countries
(86%)

20. Evaluation Review procedure (StG, CoG and AdG)
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
Ranked list of proposals
Feedback to
applicants
Right balance between generalist + specialized review
Appropriate treatment of interdisciplinary proposals
Good cost-benefit ratio

21. Evaluation Review procedure (SyG)
STEP 1
STEP 2
STEP 3
Remote assessment by Panel members of PI and synopsis
Remote assessment by Panel members and reviewers of full proposals
Re-assessment by Panel members
Panel meetings
(dynamically arranged)
Panel chair meeting
Interviews
Proposals retained for step 2
Ranked list of proposals
Proposals retained for step 3
Feedback to
applicants
Feedback to
applicants
* Dynamically arranged
Right balance between generalist + specialized review
Appropriate treatment of interdisciplinary proposals
Good cost-benefit ratio

22. Evaluation Ranking and scoring in Step 1
In Step 1 proposals are ranked by the panels on the basis of the individual reviews and the panels' overall appreciation of their strengths and weaknesses.
Proposals will be retained for Step 2 based on the ranked list and the determined budgetary cut-off level.
Applicants will be informed on the score attained by their proposal:
A: is of sufficient quality to pass to Step 2 of the evaluation,.
B: is of high quality but not sufficient to pass to Step 2 of the evaluation.
C: is not of sufficient quality to pass to Step 2 of the evaluation.
In addition, applicants will be told the ranking range of their proposal out of the proposals evaluated by the panel. 22

23. Evaluation Ranking and scoring in Step 2 (and Step 3 for SyG)
In step 2 (and Step 3 for SyG) proposals are ranked by the panels on the basis of the individual reviews and an overall appreciation of their strengths and weaknesses.
Proposals will be recommended for funding based on the ranked list and the funds available.
Applicants will be informed on the score attained by their proposal:
A: fully meets the ERC's excellence criterion and is recommended for funding if sufficient funds are available.
B: meets some but not all elements of the ERC's excellence criterion and will not be funded.
In addition, applicants will be told the ranking range of their proposal out of the proposals evaluated by the panel. 23

24. Evaluation Resubmission restrictions
StG, CoG and AdG funding schemes:
Those who receive B in Step 1 have to wait out one year to apply again to the StG, CoG or AdG calls
Those who receive a C will have to wait out two years to apply again to the StG, CoG or AdG calls
SyG funding scheme:
Those who receive B (Step 1 or Step 2) have to wait out one year to apply again to the SyG call
Those who receive a C will have to wait out two years to apply again to the SyG call, and one year to apply to the StG, CoG or AdG calls

25. ERC achievements

26. ERC achievements Narrowing the EU-USA gap
The first reported ERC publications began to appear in 2008 and since then publications acknowledging ERC funding have gone from contributing less than 0.1% of EU top 1% more cited publications in 2008 (2) to nearly 7% in 2014 (973). In 2014, for the first time authors based in the EU appeared on more top 1% more cited publications (14,172) than authors based in US (14,093) in absolute numbers.
1% most cited Publications
Elsevier Scopus abstract and citation database, accessed January 2016

27. ERC achievements Clarivate Analytics worldwide ranking of research funders 2007-16
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 Department of Energy (DOE)
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)
1,73
2,61%
28,37%
US National Science Foundation (NSF)
2,76%
36,36%
French National Research Agency
41.385
1,62
2,04%
47,65%
German Research Foundation (DFG)
1,55
1,92%
48,56%

28. ERC achievements Ex-post peer review evaluation

29. ERC achievements Priority to young scientists
PhD and post-doc researchers working in ERC teams.
Two-thirds of ERC grants to early-stage Principal Investigators.

30. Work Programme 2019

31. (cut-off dates for PoC)
Work Programme 2019 Indicative summary of WP 2019 calls
Starting
Grant
Consolidator
Advanced
Synergy
Proof of Concept
Call identifier
ERC-2019-StG
ERC-2019-CoG
ERC-2019-AdG
ERC-2019-SyG
ERC-2019-PoC
Call closes
(cut-off dates for PoC)
October 2018
February 2019
August 2019
November 2018
January 2019
April 2019
September 2019
Budget million EUR
(estimated number of grants)
580 (390)
602 (314)
390 (166)
400 (48)
25 (167)

32. Work Programme 2019 Main novelties
Synergy Grant: budget increase and possibility to include up to one Principal Investigator based in a third country
ERC Proof-of-Concept: lump sum pilot and budget increase
Adjustment for the extensions of eligibility windows in StG and CoG

33. Horizon Europe

34. Horizon Europe Objectives and structure
Specific objectives of the Programme
Foster all forms of innovation and strengthen market deployment
Strengthen the impact of R&I in supporting EU policies
Support the creation and diffusion of high-quality knowledge
Optimise the Programme’s delivery for impact in a strengthened ERA
Strengthening the European Research Area
Reforming and Enhancing the European R&I system
Sharing excellence
Pillar 1
Open Science
European Research Council
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
Research Infrastructures
Pillar 3
Open Innovation
European Innovation Council
European innovation ecosystems
European Institute of Innovation and Technology
Pillar 2
Global Challenges and Industrial Competitiveness
Health
Inclusive and Secure Society
Digital and Industry
Climate, Energy and Mobility
Food and natural resources
Joint Research Centre
Clusters

35. Horizon Europe Budget: €100 billion* (2021-2027)
* This envelope includes EUR 3.5 billion allocated under the InvestEU Fund.

36. Horizon Europe
Pillar 1, Open Science: reinforcing and extending the excellence of the Union's science base
European Research Council
Frontier research by the best researchers and their teams
Marie Skłodowska- Curie Actions
Equipping researches with new knowledge and skills through mobility and training
Research Infrastructures
Integrated and inter-connected world-class research infrastructures
€ 16.6 billion
€ 6.8 billion
€ 2.4 billion
* This envelope includes EUR 3.5 billion allocated under the InvestEU Fund.

37. ERC and Physics

38. ERC and Physics Funding allocated
Three of the 25 ERC evaluation panels contain Physics-related areas:
PE2 – Fundamental Constituents of Matter
PE3 – Condensed Matter Physics
PE9 – Universe Siences
Million €
FP7
H2020
TOTAL
EU+AC ES %
All panels
7.449
371
5,0%
8.797
474
5,4%
16.246
845
5,2%
Physics panels
1.018 50
1.212 63
2.230
113
5,1%
PE2
391 22
5,6%
437 20
4,5%
828 42
PE3
376
5,8%
426 31
7,2%
802 53
6,6%
PE9
251 7
2,7%
349 12
3,4%
600 19
3,1%

39. PE2 - Fundamental Constituents of Matter
ERC and Physics
PE2 - Fundamental Constituents of Matter
The 10 more relevant topics in PE2 (243 projects funded in H2020)
For each project, the major/minor qualifiers given to a specific topic are considered to calculate the normalised weight of the topic. Major is counted as 1 and minor as 0.5. For all projects selected by the query filters, the normalised weight is summed to obtain the list of the most relevant topics.

40. PE3 - Condense Matter Physics
ERC and Physics
PE3 - Condense Matter Physics
The 10 more relevant topics in PE3 (237 projects funded in H2020)

41. ERC and Physics PE9 - Universe Sciences
The 10 more relevant topics in PE9 (194 projects funded in H2020)

42. ERC and Physics
Geographical distribution

43. ERC and Spain

44. Spain at ERC ERC funded projects by country HI

45. Spain at ERC Top HIs in Spain

46. Spain at ERC Grantees at home and abroad
117 foreign grantees in ES from 29 countries
362 PIs with Spanish nationality in Spain
128 Spanish PIs abroad in UK(42), FR(26), DE(18), CH(14) ...

47. Spain at ERC ERC Proof of Concept 2011-18
Overall PoC share 12%

48. Spain at ERC Success rates by country of HI
Overall success rate 11,4%

49. Spain at ERC ERC grants versus GERD
Overall success rate 11,4%

50. Spain at ERC ERC panel member by country of HI and gender

51. Spain at ERC Evolution of the number of grants with Spanish HI
Total: 483 grants
2013: 14 StG and 20 CoG
2014: 22 StG and 32 CoG
2015: 12 StG and 18 CoG
2016: 23 StG and 23 CoG
2017: 22 StG and 13 CoG
2018: 17 StG and 17 C0G

52. Spain at ERC Evolution of the % of grants with Spanish HI
2013: 4,7% in StG and 6,4% in CoG
2014: 6,7% in StG and 8,6% in CoG
2015: 3,4% in StG and 6,0% in CoG
2016: 5,9% in StG and 7,3% in CoG
2017: 5,4% in StG and 4,0% in CoG
2018: 4,2% in StG and 5,8% in CoG

53. Spain at ERC Evolution of the % of applications with Spanish HI
2013: 10,7% in StG and 12,4% in CoG
2014: 8,6% in StG and 11,8% in CoG
2015: 6,9% in StG and 8,3% in CoG
2016: 7,7% in StG and 8,7% in CoG
2017: 7,4% in StG and 9,3% in CoG
2018: 6,9% in StG and 8,1% in CoG
2019: 7,6% in StG and 8,8% in CoG

54. Spain at ERC Evolution of the number of applications with Spanish HI
2013: 354 StG CoG
2014: 283 StG CoG
2015: 203 StG CoG
2016: 226 StG CoG
2017: 228 StG CoG
2018: 218 StG CoG
2019: 237 StG CoG

55. Some final messages For the researcher: For the institution:
Do not exclude your-self from participating in ERC calls.
If you have an idea that make a significant change in your field of research, or in some other field, consider writing it down an apply to ERC.
Take risks, explain the high scientific impact of your project if you reach your aims, and provide evidence that you can do it.
For the institution:
Provide support to researchers to work on the proposal.
Offer benefits to grantees.
Play strategically.

56. Thank you for your attention
ERC is dedicated to selecting and funding the excellent ideas that have not happened yet and the scientists that are dreaming them up.