1. Claudia Jesus-Rydin Research Programme Officer Starting Grant Unit Dublin, 09 September 2009 The European Research Council ERC STARTING GRANT INFORMATION SESSION - Ireland

2. │ 2 What is the ERC The first European funding body set up to support investigator-driven frontier research. Supporting and encouraging the very best, truly creative scientists, scholars and engineers to be adventurous and take risks in their research. Encouraged to go beyond established frontiers of knowledge and the boundaries of disciplines.

3. ERC, “Ideas” and FP7 ERC, “Ideas” and FP7 Main issues  An “integrated structure” with a specific vocation  Independent scientific governance Scientific Council with 22 members  Dedicated Implementation Structure Executive 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

4. ERC Grant schemes ERC Grant schemes Strategic 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

5. ERC Grant schemes ERC Grant schemes 3R and 2 schemes Aim: Retain – Repatriate – Recruit  Favour “brain gain” and “reverse brain drain”  improve career opportunities and independence - especially for 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

6. ERC Grant schemes ERC Grant schemes Who can apply? – General requirements 1.Principal Investigator Nationality, age or current place of work not relevant 2.Host organisation To be located in MS or AS 2.Frontier Research Project All fields of science, engineering and scholarship are eligible (investigator-driven, bottom-up) 4.Individual research team PI has freedom to choose National or trans-national character, if scientific added value proven

7. European Research Council │ 7  Individual Research Teams  headed by a single “Principal Investigator” (team leader)  if necessary, including additional team members  The “Principal Investigator” has the freedom to choose the research topic and the power to assemble their research team according to the needs of the project  Teams can be of national or trans-national character Who can apply to ERC grants?

8. European Research Council │ 8 Requirements Principal Investigator (PI) any nationality one ERC Grant managed by a PI at any time re-submission rules may apply Hosting institution located in an EU Member State or Associated Country intra-European grant portability

9. European Research Council │ 9 Profile of StG  Any nationality or age  Any current place of work but: working or moving to work in Europe  2-10 years of experience after PhD  Potential for independence and evidence of maturity one publication without PhD supervisor  Track-record of early research achievements appropriate to their research field and career stage  Starters vs Consolidators

10. European Research Council │ 10 Host institution Applicant legal entity: institution that engages and hosts the PI for the duration of the project Any type of legal entity: universities, research centres, business research units … as long as it is in EU or AC Commitment of HI: to ensure that the PI may - apply for funding independently - manage research and funding for the project - publish independently as senior author - have access to reasonable space and facilities

11. European Research Council │ 11 Profile of StG applicant European Research Council at least one publication without participation of PhD supervisor promising track-record of early achievements - significant publications - invited presentations in conferences - funding, patents, awards, prizes specific stage of research career at time of application - starters - consolidators

12. European Research Council │ 12 First PhD awarded 2-10 years before call publication date (30 July 2009) - starters (PhD award: 2-6 years) - consolidators (PhD award: 7-10 years) - responsability of applicant to justify change in stage (exceptionally) - final decision by the panel extension may be requested: - up to 14.5 years - maternity (up 18 months/child) / paternity leave (up 12 months/child), long-term illness, military service, statutory reasons (clinical qualification) - applies to starter / consolidator stage also - must be supported by official documents StG applicant: PhD requirement

13. European Research Council │ 13 Size of a StG Eligible costs:  Support the project (personnel, equipment, consumables, travel, publi., admin.)  Non-eligible (taxes, provisions, debts, related to another project)  No double-funding Possible requested amount :  max € 1,500,000 for 5 years + € 500,000 if new research activity in EU by moving from TC Assessment:  Requested budget reviewed by panel > total amount granted  Freedom of budget breakdown

14. European Research Council │ 14 Eligibility & Re-submissions Ineligibility - submission after the deadline - incomplete proposals including annexes - no commitment letter from HI - research activity or HI outside EU or AC - PhD award date - missing supporting official documents Re-application - only one active ERC grant at any time - only one application per PI within a calendar year - if 2009 ► 2010: only if > threshold step 2 - if 2010 ► 2011: only if > threshold step 1

15. European Research Council ERC Grant schemes ERC Grant schemes Proposal content and submission (preliminary) ERC Grant proposal PART A – online forms A1 Proposal and PI info A2 Host institution info A3 Budget PART B1 – submitted as.pdf Section 1 Track Record of PI Scientific Leadership Potential2 p. CV (including “funding ID”) 2 p. Early achievements track record2 p. Extended synopsis5 p. PART B2 – submitted as.pdf Section 2 Scientific proposal15 p. Section 3 Research Environment2 p. Annexes – submitted as.pdf - Statement of support by host - If applicable: explanatory information on ethical issues - StG only: PhD certificate (incl. documents proving eligibility career breaks)

16. European Research Council ERC Grant schemes ERC Grant schemes Proposal evaluation Step 2 Evaluation - Indiv. assessments - Interdisciplinary flag - Interviews (StG only) - PANEL MEETINGS - Ranking Section 1 Section 2 Section 3 Step 1 Evaluation - Indiv. Assessments - PANEL MEETINGS - Ranking Section 1 Section 2 Section 3 Submission + Annexes Eligibility Check Section 1 Section 2 Section 3 Proposal - B Proposal – B1+B2 Proposal – B1 Consolidation (only reserve list) Section 1 Section 2 Section 3 Proposal – B1+B2 ESR & IARs Evaluation -PANEL MEETINGS -Ranking

17. European Research Council │ 17 The principal investigator will need to devote, in the case of a Starting Grant at least 50% of her/his working time to the ERC-funded project.Recommendation: Honest Funding ID, clear motivations and Let panel make the decision StG PI’s dedication & availability

18. European Research Council │ 18 Submission deadlines for 2010 calls Date of publication StG 2010: July 30, 2009 Call closure deadline for submission : Physical sciences & engineering….. October 28, 2009 Life Sciences….. November 18, 2009 Social sciences & humanities….. December 9, 2009 Call budget : 530 M Date of publication AdG 2010: October 29, 2009 Call budget : 590 M

19. European Research Council Source: StG-09: 2503, 17.12.2008 StG 2009 Submitted proposals by country of host institution (2503 ) 29 227 42 434 90 43 80 7 26 95 134 30 49 34 4 2 2 28 4 1 6 19 52 61 47 9 86 256 228 1 347

20. European Research Council ERA 4 56 1 5 ERC Starting Grant 2009 ERC Starting Grant 2009 Submissions from researchers with a residence outside of ERA 3 1 1 1 1 1 1

21. European Research Council Armenia 2 Argentinia 2 Australia 7 Bangladesh 1 Canada 3 Cuba 1 Chile 1 Brasil 7 Algeria 1 Belarus 1 Egypt 1 India 14 Japan 6 Lebano 1 Korea 3 Sri Lanka 2 Mexico 2 Malaysia 2 New Zealand 2 Peru 1 Russia 30 Singapore 1 Taiwan 2 Iran 1 USA 31 Ukraine 8 Uruguay 1 Viet Nam 1 South Africa 2 ERC Starting Grant 2009 Submissions from nationals of third countries China 14 Source: StG-09: 2503 submitted proposals Moldova 2 Kazakhistan 1

22. European Research Council │ 22 StG IRISH participation evaluation Panel members LS1 PE1 SH0 Total:2

23. European Research Council │ 23 PROPOSAL_ Host Inst. Ireland LSPESHSub-total Grand Total Main List 111 3 Ineligible 44 Satisfactory Step 1 15 Unsatisfactory Step 1 77 Grand Total 1112629 StG 2009 IRISH results

24. European Research Council │ 24 StG 2009 – General Results Life Sciences Physical Sciences & Engineering Social Sciences & Humanities 927 (37%) 1112 (44.4%) 464 (18.6%) 69 (31.5%) 93 (42.5%) 41 (18.7%) Submitted proposalsMain list final ∑ = 219 8,7% of submitted 16 (7.3%) Interdisciplinary Domain ∑ =2503

25. European Research Council │ 25 Submitted proposalsMain list proposals NationalityFMTotalNationalityFMTotal Irish41519Irish022 Success%10.5 Submitted proposalsMain list proposals Host Inst.FMTotalHost Inst.FMTotal Ireland101929Ireland033 Success%10.3 StG 2009 – Ireland Results Ireland success rate > General success rate 10.3% 8.7%

26. European Research Council │ 26 Thank you ! Claudia.JESUS-RYDIN@ec.europa.eu