Jean-Pierre BOURGUIGNON The European Research Council ERC An Overview with Focus on the Czech Republic Jean-Pierre BOURGUIGNON ERC President © Art & Build Architect / Montois Partners / credits: S. Brison Prague, 30 October 2014

ERC after 7 Years 44, 39 y 17 Antes 40, 35, 15, 10 │ 2

ERC in European Funding of Research Investigator-driven progamme supporting frontier research through a bottom-up, pan-European competition in all fields of science and humanities Evaluation is based strictly on the quality of the research proposal and of the principal investigator Scientific governance is done by an independent Scientific Council of 22 members which has full authority over the funding strategy and the choice of the evaluators People have understood that frontier research – which is the kind of research the ERC funds – is what can change the course of scientific development, and in some cases lead to the birth of completely new economic rewards. Europe needs to strengthen its ability to exactly do that. Many of the commercially successful inventions we now take for granted and which have driven some of the recent economic growth, come from research conducted with no commercial purpose whatsoever. This has been finally recognized at the EU-level, and therefore funding frontier research is one of the key elements of Europe's strategy to overcome economic stagnation, and to shape its future as a global innovation hub. │ 2 3

ERC Funding Schemes Starting Grants Advanced Grants starters (2-7 years after PhD) up to € 2.0 Mio for 5 years Consolidator Grants consolidators (7-12 years after PhD) up to € 2.75 Mio for 5 years Advanced Grants track-record of significant research achievements in the last 10 years up to € 3.5 Mio for 5 years Proof-of-Concept bridging gap between research - earliest stage of marketable innovation up to €150,000 for ERC grant holders

ERC after 7 Years 4 500 researchers funded (65% are at an early-career stage); 64 nationalities represented (EU has 28!) Highly competitive (average success rate tending to 10%) Grants located in almost 600 different institutions in 30 countries 50% of grantees in 50 institutions Benchmarking effect: impact on national programmes and agencies; national funding for best "runners-up" Efficient and fast grant management Highly recognized by the research community beyond Europe 30,000 publications acknowledging ERC support by September 2014 │ 5

Two-thirds of ERC grants to early-stage Principal Investigators. Priority to Young Scientists Two-thirds of ERC grants to early-stage Principal Investigators.

Developing a New Generation On average each ERC project team has six members. 2/3 of team members are in the initial phase of their career. + 15 000 PhD and post-doc researchers working in ERC teams.

ERC Grants and Countries of HI ERC calls 2007-2013 Over 4,300 projects have been selected, one fifth corresponding to women PIs. │ 8 *) Host institution refers to the organisation with which the first grant agreement was signed

European Institutions Hosting at least 30 ERC Grantees by Funding Top European Institutions Hosting at least 30 ERC Grantees by Funding Schemes StG/CoG 2007-2013 AdG 2008-2013 First legal signatories of the grant agreement Data as of 21/08/2014

Horizon 2020 Horizon 2020 is the European Union's funding programme for research and innovation for 2014 – 2020 "supporting activities covering the whole spectrum from idea to market". Three principal pillars: Excellent science Industrial leadership Societal challenges │ 10

Horizon 2020 Excellent Science Pillar European Research Council Frontier research Future and Emerging Technologies Collaborative research to open new fields of research and innovation Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions Opportunities for training and career development 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 Research Infrastructures (including e-infrastructures) Ensuring access to world-class facilities │ 11

Horizon 2020 Budget H2020 budget € 77 billion ERC budget € 13 billion FP7 budget € 50.5 billion ERC budget € 7.5 billion

ERC Delivers 30 000 publications acknowledging ERC support by September 2014 7% of these publications were in the top 1% most cited in their scientific field and year of publication 20% of completed LS and PE projects reported at least one patent (on average 2 patents reported per project)

Czech Republic at ERC 44, 39 y 17 Antes 40, 35, 15, 10 │ 14

Proposals Based in the Czech Republic 344 proposals evaluated from researchers based at Czech HIs

Evaluated Proposals from CR Total AdG proposals: 91 Total StG/CoG proposals: 173 (without StG2007)

10 ERC Grants Based in the CR Current host institutions; data as of 21/08/2014

ERC Host Institutions in the CR Current host institutions; data as of 21/08/2014

ERC Grants versus Top Publications │ 19 *) Host institution refers to the organisation with which the first grant agreement was signed

ERC Grants versus Global R&D Effort

Mobility of Researchers 75 Czech researchers applied with a HI abroad (in 16 different countries) 12 Czech researchers hold an ERC grant abroad: AT (3), CH (3), UK (3), DE (2), FR (1) 3 foreign researchers holding an ERC grant in the Czech Republic Current host institutions; data as of 21/08/2014

Success Rates per Country of HI *) First legal signatories of the first grant agreement taken into account

Success Rates versus Applications

EU13 Countries at ERC 44, 39 y 17 Antes 40, 35, 15, 10 │ 24

Top HIs in EU13 Countries Current host institutions; data as of 21.8.2014

ERC Grants Based in EU13 Countries 88% of grantees in EU13 countries are nationals of the host country (70% for EU15) 85% of grantees in EU13 countries were resident in the host country at the time of application (90% for EU15)

ERC Grants and Top Publications │ 27 *) Host institution refers to the organisation with which the first grant agreement was signed

Success Rates by Area of HI Share of EU13 public researchers in EU & AC = 16% Share of EU13 research investment (GERD) in EU & AC = 3%

Evaluation Outcome Success rate step1 EU13: 7%

Successful EU13 Nationals in Calls 55% of EU13 nationals with a grant are based abroad Current host institutions; data as of 21/08/2014

International Participation to ERC Panels Averaged over the first 13 ERC calls 26% of the ERC panel members were women │ 31 * Number of instances that experts of a certain country of origin are contributing to the ERC peer review

Widening European Participation WG Contribute to a truly inclusive European culture of competitiveness in science Increase participation in ERC calls of researchers from the EU’s less research-performing regions Facilitate systematic debate and interactions among ERC grantees and young promising scientists from EU’s less research-performing regions

Conclusions ERC grants correlate very closely with national research investment and scientific output Low application rates in general from most of EU13 countries and some evidence best researchers from EU13 not applying (Reputational risk? Sufficient national funding? ERC grants disrupt local systems?) EU13 nationals applying from outside EU13 countries have same success rate as EU15 nationals Proposals from EU13 countries have same success rate as proposals from EU15 countries at step 2 – the issue is not with interview or remote reviews │ 2 33

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CoIME (Conflict of Interest & Research integrity) ERC Scientific Council Working Groups & Standing Committees Gender balance Key Performance Indicators Widening Participation Internationalisation CoIME (Conflict of Interest & Research integrity) Innovation and relations with industry Committee on Panels Open Access