Dr. Christian Krassnig European Commission ERC-DIS Unit S2 The European Research Council Helmholtz – NachwuchsgruppenleiterInnen, 11 Oct 2007

European Research Council │ 2 1.Background & EvolutionBackground & Evolution 2.Aim & StrategyAim & Strategy 3.Funding Schemes & ActivitiesFunding Schemes & Activities 4.Organisation & ManagementOrganisation & ManagementOverview

European Research Council │ 3 Basic / Frontier research in Europe  National activities: ─Research councils (DFG-1920, CNR-1923, CNRS-1939, SNF-1952), academies, etc.  Intergovernmental activities: ─CERN (1953), ESO (1962), ESA (1962/1975), EMBO (1963), ILL (1967), COST (1971), ESF (1974), EMBL (1978), Eureka (1985), ITER (1988), ESRF (1988), INTAS (1993)  EU activities (“supranational”): ─ECSC – Euratom – EC (1957), JRC (1959), JET (1973), FP1 (1984) … FP7 ( ) ─European Research Area – ERA (2000) Ideas/ERC ─FP7 ( ): Ideas/ERC, Marie Curie fellowships, research infrastructures, themes

European Research Council │ 4 “Ideas”, ERC and FP7  A new programme (and a new “institution”?)  Which is also part of the “family” of FP7:  Co-operation  Ideas  Ideas (~ € 7.5 bn or 15% of FP7 budget)  People  Capacities  “Ideas” creates ERC and is complementary to other FP7 programmes (bottom-up vs. targeted)

European Research Council │ 5 1.Background & Evolution 2.Aim & Strategy 3.Funding Schemes & Activities 4.Organisation & Management Overview

European Research Council │ 6 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  providing benchmarks and leverage towards broader (structural) improvements in European research Strategic Aims

European Research Council │ 7 Strategy & Activities ERC Scientific Council  Improve career opportunities and independence - especially for young researchers  ERC Starting Grant: attract & retain the next generation of independent research leaders  Increase competition, recognition and international visibility for excellent individual scientists and scholars in Europe  ERC Advanced Grant: attract & reward established independent research leaders

European Research Council │ 8 1.Background & Evolution 2.Aim & Strategy 3.Funding Schemes & Activities 4.Organisation & Management Overview

European Research Council │ 9  Individual Research Teams:  headed by a single “Principal Investigator” (team leader)  of any nationality  with a host in the EU or Associated State  if necessary, including additional team members.  The PI has the freedom to choose the research topic and the power to assemble his/her research team meeting the needs of the project.  Teams can be of national or trans-national character. ERC Grants Who can apply ?

European Research Council │ 10 ERC Grant Schemes Two grant schemes are available: 1.ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grant scheme (ERC Starting Grant)  1 st call for proposals closed 25 April ERC Advanced Investigator Researcher Grant scheme (ERC Advanced Grant)  1 st call for proposals published later in 2007

European Research Council │ 11 ERC planning 1st Call StG only, Jan 2007~ € 300 Mio. 2nd Call AdG only, November 2007~ € 550 Mio. 3rd call onwards: StG (1/3) + AdG (2/3) at least € 1.0 bn per year

European Research Council │ 12 ERC Starting Grant (ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grant )  support researchers at the start of their independent research career and establishing or consolidating their own independent research team (or research programme)  provide a structure for transition from working under a supervisor to an independent research leader  ~100’000 – 400’000 Euro per grant per year  for up to 5 years, i.e. ~500’000-2’000’000 Euro per Grant

European Research Council │ 13 ERC Starting Grant Evaluation Criteria 1.Investigator (2-9 years after PhD)0 to 5 points track record and past achievements intellectual capacity and creativity 2.Research project0 to 5 points novel or “more of the same”? methodology comprehensive and appropriate scientifically sound and feasible 3.Research environment (only stage 2)pass/fail appropriate and supportive

European Research Council │ 14 Allocation to Panels Reading and Assessment Panel meetings Proposals retained for stage 2 Proposals submitted Reading by Remote Referees Proposals resubmitted Interviews of applicants Panel meetings Panel chairs meetings Proposals selected ERC Starting Grant Panel Structure - 20 interdisciplinary Panels in 3 Domains

European Research Council │ 15 ERC Starting Grant ERC Starting Grant 1 st call for proposals closed 25 April 2007 Massive response to first call (9.167 proposals) Domain1st stage proposals2 nd stage proposals Life Sciences3,396 (37,0%)207 (36,9%) Physical Sciences & Engineering 4,408 (48,1%)251 (45,0%) Social Sciences & Humanities 1,363 (14,9%)101 (18,1%) Total9,167559

European Research Council │ 16 ERC Advanced Grant (ERC Advanced Investigator Researcher Grant)  Complement the ERC Starting Grant scheme by targeting researchers who have already established their independence as team leaders  Up to ~500’000 Euro per grant per year  for up to 5 years, i.e. up to ~2’500’000 Euro per grant

European Research Council │ 17  Support individual teams led by already established Principal Investigators covering all fields of science, engineering and scholarship  Finance ground-breaking, high-risk research that opens new opportunities and directions including those of a multi- and inter-disciplinary nature ERC Advanced Grant Objectives

European Research Council │ 18 ERC Advanced Grant Panel structure  25 panels in 3 domains  Provisionally, each panel consists of the panel chair and 11 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

European Research Council │ 19 ERC Advanced Grant Submission of Proposals  One-stage electronic submission  Only via EPSS (Electronic Proposal Submission System)  Full Proposal, incl. elements that will be evaluated during the first step  5 call deadlines (linked to the different panels) to ensure smooth submission and evaluation

European Research Council │ 20 ERC Advanced Grant Two-step evaluation  1st step:  Evaluation of CV with special emphasis on excellent track record (papers published in journals of high impact, highly cited publications, monographs etc.) & “extended synopsis”  Top proposals (above threshold) proceed to second step:  List will contain proposals with a cumulative budget of ~ 2-3x the call budget  2nd step:  Evaluation of full proposals of above threshold list

European Research Council │ 21 Advanced Grant Evaluation criteria (solely based on excellence) 1.Quality of Principal Investigator 2.Quality of research project 3.Research environment

European Research Council │ 22 1.Background & Evolution 2.Aim & Strategy 3.Funding Schemes & Activities 4.Organisation & Management Overview

European Research Council │ 23 ERC Actors The Scientific Council Independent scientific governance The Agency (Commission Directorate for the time being) Practical implementation and management of operations The European Union Providing the financial means

European Research Council │ 24 The ERC Board Prof. Fotis Kafatos President of the ERC Prof. Helga Nowotny Dr Daniel Esteve Vice-Presidents of the ERC Prof. Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker ERC Secretary-General Jack Metthey Director of ERC DIS (EC RTD Directorate S)

European Research Council │ 25 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)

European Research Council │ 26 erc.europa.eu