January 2007 The “Ideas” Programme-frontier research Theodore Papazoglou, PhD Strategic matters and relations with the ERC Scientific Council FP7 launching Conference Poznań, 15 th January 2007

January 2007 First Specific Programme s Maastricht Treaty Amsterdam Treaty ECSC Treaty ECSC Research JRC Creation Treaties fusion Single Act … 13 FP1 FP6 FP5 FP4 EuropeanResearch Area (ERA) FP2 FP3 Euratom Treaty FP7 ERC Research in the European Integration Process

January 2007 Boost European excellence in frontier research  By investing in the best researchers and ideas  Through competition at European level  On the basis of excellence as the sole criterion  Raising incentives towards quality and aspirations of individual researchers  Providing benchmarks and leverage towards broader (structural) improvements in European research Strategic Aim

January 2007  Traditional terminology ( “basic” / “applied” research; “science” vs “technology”) is no longer appropriate:  Research at the frontiers is characterised by an absence of disciplinary boundaries  New discoveries are often triggered by real world problems (and vice-versa)  Progress in understanding phenomena and techniques for investigation go hand in hand Why “Frontier Research”?

January 2007 Europe’s most respected researchers – reflecting the full scope of European research, 22 members appointed by the Commission after an independent identification procedure  Establishes overall strategy  Establishes work programme (incl. calls for proposals, evaluation criteria);  Defines peer review methodology, control quality of scientific operations  Ensures communication with the scientific community The Scientific Council The Scientific Council

January 2007  Execute annual work programme (established by the Scientific Council)  Implement calls for proposals and provide information and support to applicants  Organise peer review evaluation  Establish and manage grant agreements  Administer scientific and financial aspects and follow-up of grant agreements The Agency The Agency

January 2007  Provide 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 European Union The European Union (represented by the Commission)

January 2007 Scientific Council Commission (Directorate S): the “interim” structure responsible for the implementation and management of ERC operations in the period until the ERC Executive Agency is established. Unit S.1 Strategic matters and relations with the Scientific Council Provides secretariat of the ERC Scientific Council Prepares ERC strategy and work programme under guidance of the ScC Communicates and reports on ERC activities and achievements Unit S.2 Management of the “Ideas” Programme Manages ERC operations related to proposal submission and evaluation Establishes peer review evaluation panels under guidance of the ScC Provides scientific support to grant preparation and follow-up Unit S.3 Logistical support for the ERC Prepares legislation for the establishment of the ERC Executive Agency (ERC EA) Develops ERC EA internal operational processes Manages ERC resources, incl, staff recruitment, logistics ERC Board Unit S.4 Administration and finance Manages financial circuits and budgetary operations Prepares and administers ERC grant agreements Ensures accountability to Court of Auditors ERC Management Structure Secretary General

January 2007 The ERC Board Prof. Fotis Kafatos ERC President and Chair of the ScC Prof. Helga Nowotny, Dr Daniel Esteve ERC Vice-Presidents and Vice-Chairs of ERC ScC Prof. Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker ERC Secretary-General Jack Metthey Director of ERC DIS (Directorate S)

January 2007 The first home for the ERC Madou Plaza – Tour Madou Brussels 2 dedicated floors (5 th /6 th ) 140 work places 5 meeting rooms 1 auditorium (192 seats)

January 2007  Support for individual teams  Host organisation to be located in the European Union (or AS)  All fields of science and scholarship are eligible  investigator-driven, bottom-up  Excellence is the only criterion  Principal investigator/team + research project  Investment in research talent  Flexible grants, under the control of the Principal Investigator Activities and Principles

January 2007 ERC Budget Evolution

January 2007  ERC covers all fields of science and scholarship  For operational reasons the ScC agreed on 3 main scientific domains:  Physical Sciences & Engineering  Life Sciences  Social Sciences and Humanities  The first Call indicative budget for ERC Starting Grants has been pre-allocated to these areas as follows: 45% - 40% - 15% (and 20% reserve) Budget Allocation

January 2007  Team leader + team members (if needed)  The Team Leader (“Principal Investigator”) has the  power to assemble his/her research group (team);  freedom to choose the research topic. Who can apply ? Individual Teams

January 2007  Ideas (ERC specific programme) encourages participation of researchers from European and non-European countries  Level of participation varies with regard to roles and funding  Roles:  Principal Investigator Can be of any nationality But: PI’s host organisation needs to be established in EU Member States or Associated Countries, or be a international European Interest Organisations (such as CERN, EMBL, etc.) or the JRC  Team Members Can be of any nationality and established in almost any country International Cooperation Partner Countries (ICPC) Industrialised Countries, e.g. Australia, Canada, Japan, USA Who can apply? European and International Teams

January 2007 ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grant  The only programme funded in 2007  Ca. 200 new investigators/year in any field; funded ca. 1.5 M€ up to 5 yrs  Sole selection criterion: Excellence of person & proposal  Eligibility: (a) 2-8 years since PhD (at submission deadline) (b) Newly established in research or educational position (or offer of position), within EU or associated States (c) No nationality criterion: The 3 Rs: Recruit, Repatriate, Retain TOP TALENT (ca 1200 positions in 7 years)

January 2007 ERC Advanced Investigator Grant (ERC Advanced Grant)  Start up expected in 2nd year  Annual budget minus ERC Starting Grants  From ca. 250 M to > 1 billion €/year (ca. 3M€ / proposal) → ca. 200 grants committed / each year  Sole selection criterion: Excellence of proposal & track record  Eligibility: investigators at all career stages; no age limit; 3 Rs

January 2007  Total (FP7 Ideas budget): € ≈7.5 bn  ≈ 15 % of FP7 budget  ≈1/3 Starting Grants, ≈ 2/3 Advanced Grants  Less than 5% for operational ERC management  1 st Call  StG only, Jan 2007, € 300 Mio. (45% - 40% - 15%)  2 nd Call  AdG only, August 2007, € 550 Mio.  3 rd call onwards:  StG + AdG ≈ € 1.0 bn per year

January 2007  Two-step application procedure (risk of oversubscription)  1st stage – Outline Proposal: max 8 Pages (3+4+1)  2nd stage – Full Proposal: max 16 Pages (4+10+2)  Proposal Components a)CV + self-evaluation of the PI’s research achievements + funding ID b)Brief Description of scientific and technical aspects of the project c)Description of the scientific environment and resources  Electronic Submission only (via EPSS)  Pre-registration (via EPSS) – indication of number /area of proposals ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grant

January 2007  Eligibility  PI  2-8 years since completion of PhD: Special circumstances will be taken into account, such as maternity/paternity leave, military/civil service (+3 years max.)  PI and contributing investigators (team members)  Any nationality  One ERC Grant per investigator only may be active at any one time  Hosting institution  Located in a EU member state or associated country  Intra-European grant portability allowed ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grant

January Potential of applicant 2.Quality of project 3.Research Environment Referees and panels evaluate and score under Heading 1 and Heading 2 numerically which will result in the ranking of the projects Heading 3 will be considered as "pass/fail" and commented but not scored in stage 2 ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grant

January Principal Investigator: Potential to become a world class research leader a. Quality of research output  Has the Principal Investigator published in high quality peer reviewed journals or the equivalent?  To what extent are these publications ground-breaking and demonstrative of independent creative thinking and capacity to go significantly beyond the state of the art? b. Intellectual capacity and creativity  To what extent does the Principal Investigator's record of research, collaborations, project conception, supervision of students and publications demonstrate that he/she is able to confront major research challenges in the field, and to initiate new productive lines of thinking? ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grant

January Quality of the research proposal a. Ground-breaking nature of the research b. Potential impact c. Methodology  Stage 1: Is the outlined scientific approach (including the activities to be undertaken by the individual team members) feasible?  Stage 2: Is the proposed research methodology (including when pertinent the use of instrumentation, other type of infrastructures etc.) comprehensive and appropriate for to the project? Will it enable the goals of the project convincingly to be achieved within the timescales and resources proposed and the level of risk associated with a challenging research project? ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grant

January Research Environment (stage 2) a. Transition to independence  Will the proposed project enable the Principal Investigator to make or consolidate the transition to independence? b. Host institution  Is it in a position to provide an appropriate intellectual environment and infrastructural support and to assist in achieving the ambitions for the project and the Principal Investigator? c. Participation of other legal entities  If it is proposed that other legal entities participate in the project, in addition to the applicant legal entity, is their participation fully justified by the scientific added value they bring to the project? ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grant

January 2007 Stage 1 Submission and reception of proposal Allocation to relevant Panel(s) Assignment of best-matched Panel members by Panel Chair(s) Stage 1 panel meeting (evaluation of Headings 1 & 2) Outcome: Proposal rejected or retained for Stage 2 ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grant

January 2007 Stage 2 Submission of complete and updated proposal Panels may be assisted by: –Referees (remote Evaluation using “Rivet”) –Interviews with applicants Stage 2 Panel meeting (evaluation of Headings 1, 2 & 3) Outcome: Consolidated ranking list of retained proposals ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grant

January 2007  Approx. 20 high level panels (~10 members+chair), based on:  Coherence across all broad research domains and fields  A forward-looking approach  Encouragement to interdisciplinarity  Funding allocations independent of the panel structure  Flexibility and inclusiveness  Multidisciplinary projects appraised by all appropriate panels  ScC members monitoring quality of the process ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grant

January PHYSICAL SCIENCES, ENGINEERING SCIENCES, UNIVERSE AND EARTH SCIENCES (8 panels) 2.BIOLOGICAL AND LIFE SCIENCES (7 panels) 3.SOCIAL AND HUMAN SCIENCES (5 panels) -Each panel consists of one Panel Chair and approximately 10 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 stamp of credibility and visibility to the whole evaluation process ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grant

January 2007 Deadlines:  1 st stage submission deadline (StG): 25 April 2007  2 nd stage submission deadline (StG):17 Sept 2007 (only those who passed 1 st stage evaluation to be invited)  1 st publication of AdG: Aug-Sept 2007 (deadline ca. end of 2007) Further Information