The European Research Council Established by the European

The European Research Council Established by the European Commission Frontier Research in Europe with an ERC grant Theodore Papazoglou, Ph. D ERCEA/A 1: Support to the Scientific Council © Art & Build Architect / Montois Partners / credits: S. Brison Nanyang Technological University │1 30 November 2017

Established by the European Commission "…. to reinforce the excellence, dynamism and creativity of European research" research FP 7 & H 2020 Legal Basis

ERC in the H 2020 Structure Established by the European Commission Ø The HORIZON 2020 main components: Excellent Science World class science is foundation of technologies, jobs, well-being Europe needs to develop, attract, retain research talent Researchers need access to the best infrastructures Industrial leadership Societal challenges Ø Excellent Science: European Research Council (budget under H 2020: € 13 billion) Future and Emerging Technologies Marie Skłodoswka Curie Actions Research Infrastructures │3

What is the ERC? Established by the European Commission Strategy Ø Support for the individual scientists – no networks! Ø Global peer-review Ø No predetermined subjects (bottom-up) Ø Support of frontier research in all fields of science and humanities Legislation The ERC supports excellence in frontier research through a bottom-up, individual-based, pan-European competition Ø Scientific governance: independent Scientific Council with 22 members including the ERC President; full authority over funding strategy and evaluation Ø Support by the ERC Executive Agency (autonomous) Ø Scientific quality as the only criterion aiming for excellence │4 2

ERC: a Radical Step Forward for Europe Established by the European Commission To raise the level, dynamism and creativity of the whole European research system by: Ø Supporting the emergence of research leaders in Europe capable of opening new avenues in their disciplines and of training and inspiring others Ø Improving the career prospects of early stage researchers in Europe so as to reduce brain drain and promote institutional change Ø Providing a benchmark for all of Europe’s national research authorities and individual institutions encouraging further efforts, reforms and investments, thereby sustaining structural reforms across Europe. │5

Established by the European Commission Scientists in the Driver's Seat

Horizon 2020 Budget and ERC Established by the European Commission ERC Budget 20142020 13 billion € │7

ERC Grant Schemes Established by the European Commission Starting Grants Consolidator Grants starters (2 -7 years after Ph. D) up to € 1. 5 Mio for 5 years consolidators (7 -12 years after Ph. D) up to € 2 Mio for 5 years Proof-of-Concept bridging gap between research - earliest stage of marketable innovation up to € 150, 000 for ERC grant holders Advanced Grants track-record of significant research achievements in the last 10 years up to € 2. 5 Mio for 5 years Synergy Grants (re-launched 2018) 2 – 4 Principal Investigators up to € 10. 0 Mio for 6 years

Evaluation Panel Structure (WP 2018) Established by the European Commission Physical Sciences & Engineering Life Sciences LS 1 Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics LS 2 Genetics, ‘Omics’, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology LS 3 Cellular and Developmental Biology LS 4 Physiology, Pathophysiology and Endocrinology LS 5 Neurosciences and Neural Disorders LS 6 Immunity and Infection LS 7 Applied Medical Technologies, Diagnostics, Therapies and Public Health LS 8 Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology LS 9 Applied Life Sciences, Biotechnology and Molecular and Biosystems Engineering PE 1 Mathematics PE 2 Fundamental Constituents of Matter PE 3 Condensed Matter Physics PE 4 Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences PE 5 Synthetic Chemistry and Materials PE 6 Computer Science and Informatics PE 7 Systems and Communication Engineering PE 8 Products and Process Engineering PE 9 Universe Sciences PE 10 Earth System Science Social Sciences and Humanities SH 1 Individuals, Markets and Organisations SH 2 Institutions, Values, Environment and Space SH 3 The Social World, Diversity, Population SH 4 The Human Mind and Its Complexity SH 5 Cultures and Cultural Production SH 6 The Study of the Human Past │9

ERC Panel Members by Country of HI and Gender Established by the European Commission Averaged over 2007 -2017 29% of the ERC panel members were women * Number of instances that experts of a certain country of origin are contributing to the ERC peer review │ 10

Evaluation of proposals: Review procedure for St. G, Co. G, Ad. G Established by the European Commission STEP 1 STEP 2 Remote assessment by Panel members of section 1 – PI and synopsis (part B 1) Remote assessment by Panel members and reviewers of full proposal (B 1+B 2) Panel meeting + interview (St. G and Co. G) Score: B or C Ranked list of proposals: Score A Proposals retained for step 2: Score A Feedback to applicants

Top European Institutions Hosting ERC Grantees by Funding Schemes Established by the European Commission ERC calls 2007 -2016 and St. G 2017 Current signatories of the grant agreement Data as of 21/08/2017

ERC Funded Projects by Country of HI Established by the European Commission │ 13

Grantees at Home and Abroad Established by the European Commission │ 14

Priority to Young Scientists Established by the European Commission + 30 000 Ph. D and post -doc researchers working in ERC teams. Two-thirds of ERC grants to early-stage Principal Investigators. │ 15

'ERC-Open to the World' Established by the European Commission 16

Attracting Researchers to Europe Established by the European Commission Nationality of ERC project teams (PIs not included) Analysis of 1, 901 Starting and Advanced Grants EU: 71% Assoc. Countries: 10% non-ERA: 17% unknown: 2% In all ERC grants + 9, 000 non-ERA team members most from China, US, India, and Russia │ 17

After 10 Years, a Success Story Established by the European Commission 7, 500 50, 000 € 13 billion 90, 000 738 72 │ 18

2016 Nobel Prize Laureate Chemistry Prof Bernard L. Feringa Established by the European Commission The European Research Council awarded Professor Bernard Feringa, based at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, the prestigious ERC Advanced Grant in 2008 and 2015 for his projects exploring nanomachines and molecular motors. Photo: ERCEA / Kacper Pempel │ 19

Established by the European Commission INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPATION TO ERC │ 20

Attracting Researchers from Outside Europe Established by the European Commission Flexibility Additional “start-up” funding for scientists moving to Europe (EUR 500 000 for Starting, EUR 750 000 for Consolidator and EUR 1 Million for Advanced grantees) Grantee can keep affiliation with home institute outside Europe (“significant part” of work time in Europe, at least 50%) Team members can be based outside Europe Grantee can move within Europe with the grant Accompanying measures Several European countries/host institutions assist applicants and reward grantees with top-up funds

FP 7 ERC 2007 -2013 Evaluated Proposals from non-ERA Nationals Established by the European Commission

ERC Calls 2014 -2016 Evaluated Proposals from non-EU/AC Nationals Established by the European Commission │ 23

38 Non-EU/AC Nationalities Established by the European Commission Almost 8% of all ERC grants to principal investigators of non-EU/AC nationality

Implementing Arrangements Key Facts Established by the European Commission • Opportunity for non-European researchers supported by foreign agencies to visit ERC research teams (unilateral approach) • The foreign researchers are supposed to be excellent ("national version" of the ERC grantee) • The foreign scientist is the one taking the initiative in the "matchmaking" (it is not the ERC/the ERC PI/the foreign agency…) • The ERC does not intervene in the selection of the foreign visitors • In general terms, costs of the visit are mostly covered by the foreign agency Implementing arrangements signed with the following countries: Ø USA (2012) Ø Republic of Korea (2013) Ø Argentina (2015) Ø China (2015) Ø Japan (2015) Ø South Africa (2015) Ø Mexico (2015) Ø Brazil (2016) Ø Canada (2016) Ø India (2017) │ 25

Implementing Arrangements The Process Established by the European Commission Non-EU based scientist Non-EU based funding agency Principal Investigator Non-EU based scientist Non-EU based funding agency ERC Principal Investigator ERC launches a call for expression of interest expresses interest in hosting one or more scientists supported by a non-EU funding agency sends the list of interested PIs to the non-EU based funding agencies launches a call for proposals to their eligible scientists contacts the Principal Investigators to seek agreement on a possible research visit accepts or not the research visit; If accepted, the Principal Investigator and the Host Institution provide a letter of support evaluates the proposals and funds the successful ones plans an executes the research visit in agreement with the Principal Investigator │ 26

More Information Established by the European Commission ERC funding activities 2007 – 2013 Science Behind The Projects Ex-post evaluation of FP 7 https: //erc. europa. eu/sites/default/files/publication/files/ERC_funding_activities_2007_2013. pdf https: //erc. europa. eu/sites/default/files/publication/files/ERC_Science_behind_the_projects_FP 72007 -2013. pdf https: //ec. europa. eu/research/evaluations/index_en. cfm │ 27

The European Research Council Established by the European Commission • More information: erc. europa. eu • National Contact Point: erc. europa. eu/national-contactpoints • Sign up for news alerts: erc. europa. eu/keep-updated-erc • Follow us on www. facebook. com/European. Research. Council twitter. com/ERC_Research www. linkedin. com/company/european-research-council │ 28

Thank you for your attention Established by the European Commission 29