The European Research Council Established by the European
The European Research Council Established by the European Commission ERC and frontier research in Europe © Art & Build Architect / Montois Partners / credits: S. Brison Pavel Exner, October 20, 2016 │1
What is ERC? Established by the European Commission The ERC supports excellence in frontier research through a bottom-up, individual-based, pan-European competition Legislation ØScientific governance: independent Scientific Council with 22 members including the ERC President; full authority over funding strategy ØSupport by the ERC Executive Agency (autonomous) ØExcellence as the only criterion Strategy Budget: € 13 billion (2014 -2020) - 1. 9 billion €/year € 7. 5 billion (2007 -2013) - 1. 1 billion €/year ØSupport for the individual scientist – no networks! ØGlobal peer-review ØNo predetermined subjects (bottom-up) ØSupport of frontier research in all fields of science and humanities │2
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 Skłodowska Curie Actions Research Infrastructures │3
ERC H 2020 Budget Established by the European Commission ERC Budget € 13 billion │4
ERC Structure Established by the European Commission The ERC Scientific Council • Up to 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; 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 • • • Implements calls for proposals Organises peer review evaluation Establishes and manages grant agreements Administers scientific and financial aspects Carries out communications activities the Scientific Council 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 │5
What is special about the ERC? Established by the European Commission • All fields of science and scholarship are eligible • Investigator-driven, bottom-up • Scientific Quality is the only criterion • Individual team + research project • Irrespective of nationality, gender or age of researchers • Attractive grants • Significant, flexible grants, up to five years • Under full control of the Principal Investigator • Independent individual teams in Europe • All nationalities can apply • Host organisation to be located in EU or Associated Country
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 Advanced Grants track-record of significant research achievements in the last 10 years up to € 2. 5 Mio for 5 years Proof-of-Concept bridging gap between research - earliest stage of marketable innovation up to € 150, 000 for ERC grant holders │7
Evaluation Panel Structure (WP 2017) Established by the European Commission Physical Sciences & Engineering Life Sciences LS 1 Molecular and Structural Biology and Biochemistry LS 2 Genetics, Genomics, 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 Diagnostics, Therapies, Applied Medical Technology and Public Health LS 8 Evolutionary, Population and Environmental Biology LS 9 Applied Life Sciences and Non-Medical Biotechnology 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 │8
ERC Panel Members by Country of HI and Gender Established by the European Commission Averaged over the first 19 ERC calls 27% 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 │ 9
Creative Freedom to Individual Grantee Established by the European Commission ERC offers independence, recognition & visibility • to work on a research topic of own choice, with a team of own choice • to gain true financial autonomy for 5 years • to negotiate with the host institution the best conditions of work • to attract top team members (EU and non-EU) and collaborators • 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 quality label │ 10
After 9 Years, a Success Story Established by the European Commission │ 11
ERC Delivers Established by the European Commission Ø 71% of the first 200 completed ERC-funded projects made scientific breakthroughs and major advances in science Ø 7% of the ERC-acknowledging publications were among the top 1% most cited in their scientific field and publication year Ø 20% of completed LS and PE projects reported at least one patent (on average 2 patents reported per project) │ 12
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. │ 13
2014 Distinctions to ERC Grantees Established by the European Commission tee an 0 r G C 201 ER St. G tee an 9 r G 00 C 2 ER d. G A The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences 2014 was awarded to Jean Tirole "for his analysis of market power and regulation". Artur Avila Two of the Fields Medals 2014 awarded to researchers based in Europe: Artur Avila "for his work in dynamical systems” and to Martin Hairer “for his work on stochastic singularities”. Jean Tirole tee an 0 r G 01 C 2 ER d. G A May-Britt Moser tee an 8 r G 00 C 2 ER d. G A tee an 3 r G 01 C 2 ER d. G A tee an 4 r G 01 C 2 ER o. G C The Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine 2014 was awarded to May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser, together with John O'Keefe, "for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain”. The research leading to these discoveries was supported by FP 5. ("Spatial Representation in the Entorhinal Cortex” Science 2004) Edvard Moser Martin Hairer │ 14
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 │ 15
Top European Institutions Hosting ERC Grantees by Funding Schemes Established by the European Commission ERC calls 2007 -2015 + St. G 2016 Current signatories of the grant agreement Data as of 19/09/2016
Success Rate by Country of HI Established by the European Commission │ 17
Evaluated ERC Proposals by HI Country Established by the European Commission │ 18
ERC Funded Projects by Country of HI Established by the European Commission │ 19
ERC Funded Projects by Domain Established by the European Commission │ 20
ERC Funded Projects in Czech Republic Established by the European Commission │ 21
Grantees at Home and Abroad Established by the European Commission 5 foreign grantees in the Czech Republic 19 national grantees in the Czech Republic 22 Czech grantees abroad mainly in AT, CH, the UK │ 22
H 2020 ERC Proof of Concept Established by the European Commission Initiated to help ERC grant-holder to bridge the gap between their research and the earliest stage of a marketable innovation Supporting grant-holders during the pre-demonstration Up to 150. 000 Euro per grant One step evaluation 2016 deadlines: 16 Feb, 26 May, 4 Oct
ERC Proof of Concept 2011 -2016 Established by the European Commission │ 24
Widening European Participation Working Group Established by the European Commission v Contribute to a truly inclusive European culture of competitiveness in science ü Increase participation in ERC calls of researchers from the EU’s less research-performing regions ü Facilitate systematic debate and interactions among ERC grantees and young promising scientists from EU’s less research-performing regions ü NEW: ERC guidelines for fellowships to visit ERC projects │ 25
Fellowship to visit ERC grantee – ERC guidelines Established by the European Commission Scheme: Short term research visit (minimum of three months) in an ERC team: international exposure, grant application coaching Funding: by a national research-funding organization of a country in the European Research Area, no additional funding is provided by ERC. Eligibility: Open to all excellent researchers working in ERA, through public, open competitions through evaluation panels composed by researchers of high repute and based on excellence and potential for an ERC grant application. Condition: A letter of support signed by an ERC grantee and his/her Host Institution stating that in case the applicant is selected he/she will be hosted as member of the research team of the PI Successful applicants must sign a letter of commitment to apply for an ERC grant no later than one/two year(s) after the end of the visit. │ 26
Visiting Fellowship Programmes – first call in Sept 2016 Established by the European Commission Visiting Fellowship Programmes: to promote widening the participation in the ERC calls of less performing countries. • • • Czech Republic Hungary Estonia Poland Slovenia Belgium (Flanders region) All PIs (~2800) of the main grants who have at least 18 months until the end of the project are invited to express their interest. Duration of visits 3 -6 months. Visiting fellows are obliged to apply for an ERC grant in specified timeframe. Costs covered by sending institution. Positive response from 661 PIs (14. 09) │ 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
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