1. 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

2. ERC after 7 Years
44, 39 y 17
Antes 40, 35, 15, 10
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3. 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.
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4. 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

5. 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
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6. Two-thirds of ERC grants to early-stage Principal Investigators.
Priority to Young Scientists
Two-thirds of ERC grants to early-stage Principal Investigators.

7. 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.
PhD and post-doc researchers working in ERC teams.

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

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

10. 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
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11. 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
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12. Horizon 2020 Budget H2020 budget € 77 billion ERC budget € 13 billion
FP7 budget € 50.5 billion ERC budget € 7.5 billion

13. ERC Delivers
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)

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

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

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

17. 10 ERC Grants Based in the CR
Current host institutions; data as of 21/08/2014

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

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

20. ERC Grants versus Global R&D Effort

21. 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

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

23. Success Rates versus Applications

24. EU13 Countries at ERC
44, 39 y 17
Antes 40, 35, 15, 10
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25. Top HIs in EU13 Countries
Current host institutions; data as of

26. 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)

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

28. 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%

29. Evaluation Outcome Success rate step1 EU13: 7%

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

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

32. 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

33. 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
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34. The European Research Council
More information on
erc.europa.eu
National Contact Point in your country
erc.europa.eu/national-contact-points
Follow us on
EuropeanResearchCouncil
ERC_Research

35. 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