FP7 IDEAS Programme The European Research Council … current state of play

1. FP7 IDEAS ProgrammeThe European Research Council… current state of play Theodore Papazoglou, PhDUnit S1, Strategic matters and relations with the ERC Scientific CouncilDirectorate S, DG RTDEuropean Commission

2. ERC, “Ideas” and FP7Main issues • An “integrated structure” with a specific vocation • Independent scientific governanceScientific Council with 22 members • Dedicated Implementation StructureExecutive Agency with 389 employees by 2013 • Part of the “family” of FP7 and complementary to other FP7 supports to research • Bottom-up vs targeted research • Individual teams vs consortia • FP7 “Ideas” programme provides funding • Budget (2007-2013) : € 7.51 bn (around 15% of FP7 budget) • Average budget: € ~1 bn per year

3. ERC, “Ideas” and FP7 • A reasonably new “research funding structure” • Which is also part of the “family” of FP7: • Co-operation • Ideas • People • Capacities • Complementary to other FP7 support to targeted research (bottom-up vs. targeted research)

4. The Scientific CouncilOrganisation • 22 Members of the Scientific Council elected the Chair and Vice-Chairs • One Chair: Prof. Fotis Kafatos • Two Vice-Chairs: Prof. Helga Nowotnyand Dr Daniel Estève • Regular Plenary Meetings (every 1-2 months) • Secretariat of the ScC(Directorate S)

5. The Agency - ERCEA • Executes annual work programmeas established by the Scientific Council • Implements calls for proposalsand provides information and support to applicants • Organises peer review evaluation • Establishes and manages grant agreements • Administers scientific and financial aspectsand follow-up of grant agreements • Legally existing since 12/07, expected autonomy 07/09

6. Prof. Fotis Kafatos President of the ERC Prof. Helga Nowotny Dr Daniel Esteve Vice-Presidents of the ERC Prof. Ernst-Ludwig WinnackerERC Secretary-General Jack Metthey Director of ERC DIS The ERC Board

7. ERC Grant schemesStrategic 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 (Principal Investigator) • Independent individual teams in Europe • Nationality and Age of researchers is not relevant • Host organisation to be located in EU or AS

8. ERC Grant schemes3R and 2 schemes Aim:Retain – Repatriate – Recruit • Favour “brain gain” and “reverse brain drain” • improve career opportunities and independence - especiallyfor young researchers • increase competition, recognition and international visibility - for excellent individual scientists and scholars in Europe • Raise aspiration and achievement of basic research in Europe - comparability/benchmark for researchers and research systems Activities: Two complementary funding schemes • ERC Starting Grant (StG): attract & retain the next generation of independent research leaders - up to € 2.0 Mio for 5 years • ERC Advanced Grant (AdG): attract & reward established independent research leaders - up to € 3.5 Mio for 5 years

9. EU Member States Associated States ERC Grant schemesWho can apply? – General requirements • Principal Investigator Nationality, age or current placeof work not relevant • Host organisation To be located in MS or AS • Frontier Research Project All fields of science, engineeringand scholarship are eligible(investigator-driven, bottom-up) • Individual research team PI has freedom to choose National or trans-national character,if scientific added value proven

10. ERC Grant schemesOperational Principles • Application in response to calls for proposals • Principal Investigators applies in conjunction and on behalf of a research-performing host institution • Electronic Proposals Submission Service (EPSS) • Staged Evaluation Procedure • to manage a large number of applications • Panel-based international peer review process • Scientific Council selects panels and peer reviewers • Panels assess and select proposals

11. ERC Grant schemes Calls and Budget 2006 – 2011 (prospective schedule) │ 11

12. ERC Grant schemesAll fields, budget pre-allocation in 3 + 1 areas • ERC covers all fields of science, engineering and scholarship • For operational reasons the ScC agreed on 3 main research domains + 1 horizontal domain: • Physical Sciences & Engineering – 10 Panels • Life Sciences (incl. medical) – 9 Panels • Humanities & Social Sciences – 6 Panels • Interdisciplinary Research (cross-panel / cross-domain) – Panel Chairs • The call budget will be pre-allocated to these areas as follows: • 39% - 34% - 14% - 13%

13. ERC Grant SchemesEvaluation: Scientific Excellence is the sole criterion Evaluation of Excellence at three levels: • Quality of Principal Investigator • Quality of Research Project • Research Environment Referees and panels evaluate and score criteria under Heading 1 and Heading 2 numerically which will result in the ranking of the projects: • 1-4 per criterion • Threshold ≥ 2 per criterion Criteria under Heading 3 will be considered as "pass/fail" and commented but not scored

14. ERC Grant SchemesPeer Review Evaluation Panels • 25 Panels covering all fields of science, technology and scholarship • 3 sets of Panels: 1 StG Panels, 2 AdG Panels • Each Panel consists of the Panel Chairand 10-15 Panel Members • Panel Chair oversees evaluation process for the proposals assigned to his/her panel in collaboration with the ERC staff • The Panel Chair gives high level credibility stamp and visibility to the whole evaluation process

15. ERC Grant AgreementConcept • Agreement between ERC and Principal Investigator’s (PI’s) hosting organisation (beneficiary) • Rights/obligations on scientific, financial, ethical conduct and monitoring, eligible costs, IPR, modifications, grant portability • Supplementary Agreement between PI and its hosting organisation • Rights/obligations: administration, project execution, IPR • Single grant holder approach • PI and members from same organisation • But: multi-partner/multi-national teams are possible

16. ERC Grant AgreementGrant Portability • ERC Grants are portable: “Money follows researcher” • PI is entitled to transfer the grant to another institution, normally after a minimum 2 years at the sponsoring institution • Proper justification and ERC approval required

17. ERC Starting GrantProfile 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) • 3-8 years of experience after PhD - certain types of career breaks are accepted up to a maximum of 2 yearsread 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(9167 proposals received, 559 interviews conducted, 300 grants, 21 host countries, 32 nationalities, 170 host institutes) • Average Age: 35 years (spans from 28 to 44y) • Average experience: 6-7 years • Average grant size: €1.1 Mio. • Gender: 26% women (as low as 12% in LS2 up to 71% in SH4)

18. ERC Starting Grant: 2007 call Submitted proposals by domain

19. ERC Starting Grant: 2007 callSubmitted 9167 proposalsby host countries 5 477 236 92 11 5 132 172 17 1144 542 207 294 1038 6 84 728 40 153 201 183 40 130 20 1625 183 21 48 568 181 339 38 199 1 Source: All submissions (9167)

20. ERC Starting GrantPanel Members Non-European USA = 7 10 6 Australia = 1 1 8 7 1 5 26 1 29 10 8 8 5 1 25 4 4 9 1 20 6 11 5 1 4

21. 2007 Starting Grants:Selected proposals by host country 9167 submissions 300 grants hosted by 21 countries 7 1 10 2 4 59 27 32 11 1 38 4 14 6 26 2 25 1 4 2 24 Source: 300 proposals, 02.10.2008

22. 2007 Starting GrantGeographicaldistributionof principal investigatorsTop 300 proposals / 21 countries Physical Sciences& Engineering Social Sciences& Humanities Life Sciences

23. ERC Starting Grant: 2007 call Incoming & staying researcher Source: 300 top proposals (Nov. 2007)

24. ERC Starting Grant:2007 callSuccess rate of host countries Relation between submitted proposals (9167) and 300 selected proposals (Oct. 2008)

25. 2007 Starting Grants Repatriation and Recruitment to Europe (5%) (TOP 300, Nov. 07)

26. ERC Advanced GrantProfile 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) • Strong leadership profile (impact, recognition) • Excellent track record (in recent years, achievements not older than 10 years) read the Guide for Applicants! • First AdG call(2167 proposals received – 46% PE, 19% SH, 35% LS, 21 host countries, 32 nationalities, 170 host institutes) • Average Age: 52 years (spans from 30 to 79y, single cases: 23y, 87y) • Average experience: 23 years after PhD (spans mainly from 7 to 45y) • Average requested grant: PE-1.9 M€, LS-2.1 M€, SH-1.7M€ • Gender: 14% women (as low as 3% in PE7 up to 29% in SH5)

27. ERC Advanced Grant: 2008 call Submitted proposals by domain

28. ERC Advanced Grant: 2008 call Submitted proposals bypanel & gender [% of female applicants]Source: All submissions (2167) Source: ERC AdG 2008, Stage 1, submitted proposals, June 2008

29. ERC Advanced Grant: 2008 callSubmitted 2167 proposalsby host countries 5 70 29 4 65 2 16 33 2 299 107 179 71 63 1 29 4 206 42 96 28 15 4 32 301 17 2 135 22 2 1 43 92 7 141 Source: All submissions (2167)

30. ERC Advanced GrantPanel Members (A+B Cycle) Non-European USA = 62 7 6 Australia = 12 Japan = 7 1 23 9 Canada = 3 3 55 India = 1 52 19 10 15 5 4 55 12 17 12 2 33 4 16 8 8 1 10

31. 2008 Advanced Grants:Selected proposals by host country 2167 submissions 256 grants hosted by 23 countries 1 9 2 13 4 56 16 25 1 5 1 32 8 26 4 18 1 13 1 1 4 1 14 Source: 256 proposals (Oct 2008)

32. 2008 Advanced GrantGeographicaldistributionof principal investigators Top 256 proposals / 23 countries Social Sciences & Humanities Life Sciences Interdisciplinary Physical Sciences& Engineering Status 02.10.2008

33. ERC Advanced Grants: 2008 call Successful proposals by gender & ageSource: 256 selected candidates (Oct. 2008) Average age: 51.6 years

34. ERC Advanced Grant:2008 callIncoming & staying researcherSource: Top 256 proposals (Oct 2008)

35. ERC Advanced Grant:2008 callSuccess rate of host countries Relation between submitted proposals (2167) and 256 selected proposals (Oct 2008)

36. ERC Advanced Grant:2008 callRepatriation and Recruitment from Australia

37. The European Research Council Calls 2007 & 2008Comparison Status 01.09.2008

38. % Comparison - ERC Calls: StG 2007 & AdG 2008 proposals by countrySource: All submissions (StG: 9167 and AdG: 2167)

39. Comparison - ERC Calls: StG 2007 & AdG 2008 proposals by nationalitySource: All submissions (StG: 9167 and AdG: 2167)

40. Comparison - ERC Calls:StG 2007 & AdG 2008 proposals by ageSource: All submissions (StG: 9167 and AvG: 2167)

41. Comparison - ERC Calls: StG 2007 & AdG 2008 proposals by years after PhDSource: All submissions (StG: 9167 and AvG: 2167)

42. ERC-funded Grantees Information and case studies - available or coming soon • List with names of StG PIs and host institutions of 430 retained proposals, incl top 300 being funded http://erc.europa.eu/pdf/Listfinal.pdf • List with names of AdG PIs and host institutions of 256 retained proposals: http://erc.europa.eu/pdf/AdG_ListLS_13Oct08.pdf, http://erc.europa.eu/pdf/AdG_ListSH27Aug08.pdf, http://erc.europa.eu/pdf/AdG1_ListPE_2008-07-31final.pdf • ERC Starting Grant brochure with Case Studies http://erc.europa.eu/pdf/ERC_Starting_Grant_CS.pdf • Various brochures on Starting Grant case studies produced/published by national actors (such as in DE, AT, BE, FR) • ERC event, 7 October 2008, ParisVideo of presentations and two discussion roundtables with 10 Starting Grantees http://www.canalc2.tv/video.asp?idEvenement=423 • FP7 project database (FP IDEAS projects) http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/projects

43. Presentation Overview • Starting Grant GA Preparation Process – state of play • Issues, Measures & Lessons Learned • Advanced Grant GA Preparation Process

44. StG 1: State-of-play

45. StG: Grant Agreements production • 305 proposals have been invited to prepare the Grant Agreement in 13 batches, of which 5 proposals were withdrawn; • 294 Grant Agreements were sent out to Host Institutions for signature, out of which 285 Grant Agreements were returned signed by HI so far; • 276 projects approved through 9 Commission Selection Decisions; 17 other projects awaiting approval through 10th Selection Decision; • One proposal subject to approval by the Programme Committee (ethical issues); • 271 Grant Agreements signed by the ERC-DIS;

46. Advanced Grants: Introduction of lessons learnt • Enhanced procedure compared to Starting Grants: • Reduction of paper documentation • Process steps triggered by e-exchanges • Re-wording of the invitation letter • Practical tools for budget finalisation • Selected PIs invited in parallel to redress procedure • Trained staff and established methods allow to invite a higher number of selected PIs at the same time • Further simplification of internal ERC-DIS process: • Transfer of additional responsibilities to Admin.&Finance Unit • Lower number of actors on a same file.

47. Advanced Grants • 227 projects invited (105 PE, 44 SH, 78 LS) in three batches on 25/07 (PE), 18/08 (SH), 07/10 (LS) • 56 draft GAs sent out to Host Institutions • 6 GA signed by the ERC; 2 projects already started on 01/10 • Grant preparation time of AdG: 84 days on average; 21% used by ERC, 79% by HI/PI

48. AdvancedGrant production timeline Submission of documents Preparation of grant agreements Payment budget 2008 Submission of documents Preparation of grant agreements Payment budget 2009 Submission of documents Preparation of grant agreements

49. Work programme 2009: modifications and changes for the StG Theodore Papazoglou, PhDUnit S1, Strategic matters and relations with the ERC Scientific CouncilDirectorate S, DG RTDEuropean Commission

50. ERC Grant – EligibilityMandatory • Eligible Scientific Fields: any field* of research • Eligible Principal Investigator: researchers of any nationality who intend to establish and conduct their research activity in any EU Member State or Associated Country* • Eligible Host Institution: work must be substantially carried out in the EU Member State or Associated countries(commitment from HI needed*)