european research council - dipartimento di ingegneria€¦ · the european research council ......

Established by the European Commission

The European Research Council

© Art & Build Architect / Montois Partners / credits: S. Brison │ 1

La ricerca di eccellenza nella strategia europea

Il ruolo dell'ERC

Fabio Zwirner (Unipd & INFN) Componente del Consiglio

Scientifico dell'ERC

CNR, 23 Novembre 2016


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The ERC supports excellence in frontier research through a bottom-up, individual-based, pan-European competition

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What is the ERC?

Support for individual scientists International peer-review No predetermined subjects (bottom-up) Support for frontier research in all fields of science and humanities Look for high gain/high risk ambitious projects

Stra

tegy

Scientific governance: independent Scientific Council (22 members), with full authority over funding and evaluation Support by the ERC Executive Agency (autonomous) Only criterion: quality of research aiming for excellence


ERC in the context of Horizon 2020

The HORIZON 2020 three main pillars: Excellent Science

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

Industrial leadership Societal challenges

Excellent Science: European Research Council (H2020 budget: € 13 billion) Future and Emerging Technologies Marie Skłodoswka Curie Actions Research Infrastructures

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ERC Budget

ERC 2014-2020 budget € 13 billion

(1.9 billion/year)

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ERC 2007-2013 budget € 7.5 billion

(1.1 billion/year)

H2020 2014-2020: budget € 77 billion


Starting Grants

starters (2-7 years after PhD)

up to € 1.5 Mio for 5 years

Advanced Grants track-record of

significant research achievements in the

last 10 years up to € 2.5 Mio

for 5 years

Synergy Grants (2 exploratory calls) 2 – 4 Principal Investigators up to € 15.0 Mio for 6 years

Proof-of-Concept bridging gap between research - earliest

stage of marketable innovation up to €150,000 for ERC grant holders

ERC Grant Schemes

Consolidator Grants

consolidators (7-12 years after PhD)

up to € 2 Mio for 5 years


Post-docs

Senior Professor

Students

Post Graduates

Junior Professor/ Junior Researcher

Associate Professor

Full Professor

Erasmus

Marie Skłodowska Curie

ERC Advanced

ERC StG - Starters

ERC StG – Consolidators

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PoC

PoC

PoC

ERC funding schemes & seniority

SyG

SyG


Initiated to help ERC grant-holder to bridge the gap between

their research and the earliest stage of a marketable innovation

Supporting grant-holders during pre-demonstration phase Up to 150.000 Euro per grant One step evaluation Steady increase in number of applications each year Already more than 400 projects and 180 concluded More needs to be done to make the transfer to the market

sustainable

Proof of Concept Grants: ERC funds first steps to innovation

Proof of Concept is a small-scale example of how important it is to invest in curiosity-driven research to create innovation.


Synergy Grants: ERC speeds up the discovery process 2012 and 2013 work programme on a pilot basis 2 – 4 Principal Investigators; complementary skills,

knowledge & resources; to jointly address frontier research problems

Up to €15m for up to six years

Based on ERC principles (no consortia, no networks): • bottom-up and risk-taking • driven by scientific demand • PIs expected to spend significant “core time” together • only one Host Institution, but groups not required to be

physically located in the same place

710 submissions to the first SyG Call; 1.6% success rate 449 submissions to the second SyG Call; 3% success rate


Synergy Assessment Report Synergy grant scheme would be a valuable addition to the current ERC frontier schemes

– High international recognition - putting European research on the global map, often in leading position

– Highly ambitious research goals – that cannot be achieved by a single PI – Complementarity of PIs/teams essential – Cross-fertilization of disciplines and signs of new fields emerging – Close collaboration goes much beyond any regular EU framework

collaborative project

H2020 ERC Synergy Grants

The success rate of SyG in 2013 with €150m budget was 3%. To achieve a 15% success rate the budget would therefore need to be multiplied by five. Collaborative proposals could also be supported by the main grant schemes. €450 – 750m per year


Physical Sciences & Engineering PE1 Mathematics PE2 Fundamental Constituents of Matter PE3 Condensed Matter Physics PE4 Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences PE5 Synthetic Chemistry and Materials PE6 Computer Science and Informatics PE7 Systems and Communication Engineering PE8 Products and Process Engineering PE9 Universe Sciences PE10 Earth System Science

Life Sciences LS1 Molecular and Structural Biology and

Biochemistry LS2 Genetics, Genomics, Bioinformatics and

Systems Biology LS3 Cellular and Developmental Biology LS4 Physiology, Pathophysiology and

Endocrinology LS5 Neurosciences and Neural Disorders LS6 Immunity and Infection LS7 Diagnostics, Therapies, Applied Medical

Technology and Public Health LS8 Evolutionary, Population and

Environmental Biology LS9 Applied Life Sciences and Non-Medical

Biotechnology

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Social Sciences and Humanities SH1 Individuals, Markets and Organisations SH2 Institutions, Values, Environment and Space SH3 The Social World, Diversity, Population SH4 The Human Mind and Its Complexity SH5 Cultures and Cultural Production SH6 The Study of the Human Past

3 domains and 25 panels

support for & emphasis on interdisciplinary proposals

Evaluation Panel Structure (WP2017)


ERC offers independence, recognition & visibility

• to work on a research topic of own choice, with a team of own choice • to gain true financial autonomy for 5 years

• to negotiate with the host institution the best conditions of work

• to attract top team members (EU and non-EU) and collaborators • to move with the grant to any place in Europe if necessary (portability

of grants)

• to attract additional funding and gain recognition: ERC is a quality label

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What ERC offers: Creative Freedom to Individual Grantee


6,500

40,000

21% 71%

> 3,900

64% 15

6 5 2

After 9 years a success story


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Priority to Young Scientists

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

+ 30 000 PhD and post-doc researchers working in ERC teams.

The 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded jointly to Jean-Pierre SAUVAGE, Sir J. Fraser STODDART and Bernard L. FERINGA "for the design and synthesis of molecular machines".

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Nobel Prizes to ERC grantees

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2014 was awarded to May-Britt MOSER and Edvard MOSER, together with John O'KEEFE, "for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain".

Edvard Moser

Nobel 2014

2 ERC grantees received the Nobel prize in 2010 and 2012. Other 6 ERC grantees were already Nobel laureates at the moment they received the ERC grant.

The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences 2014 was awarded to Jean TIROLE "for his analysis of market power and regulation". Jean TIROLE

Nobel 2014

Konstantin NOVOSELOV Nobel 2010

Serge HAROCHE

Nobel 2012

May-Britt MOSER

Nobel 2014

Bernard FERINGA

Nobel 2016


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7341 evaluated proposals With Host Institution in Italy

Italy in the ERC Calls 2007 - 2016 Evaluated Proposals by Country of HI


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ERC Funded Projects by Country of HI

363 ERC grants in Italy


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FP7 – H2020 ERC Calls Top Host Institutions in Italy


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Success Rate by Country of HI


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ERC Grants versus Top Publications

Host countries as of 19/09/2016


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ERC Grants versus GERD



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Grantees at Home and Abroad

271 Italian grantees abroad

28 foreign grantees in Italy

335 Italian grantees in Italy


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Towards FP9 in Italy and in the EU

Simplified procedures for PI employment and hiring of fixed-term team members Support PI beyond duration of the grant

National/local support for unfunded A’s Former grant holders in local support teams Concentrate excellence & infrastructures Explain the need for bottom-up frontier

research, as a powerful driver of innovation


ERC Funds Research in Nanotechnology

Projects funded by ERC under FP7 2007 – 2013 from Science Behind the Projects


ERC Funds Health Research


22 out of the 25 ERC panels fund projects related to major health challenges. Projects cover a wide range of tools and methodologies with genomics and systems biology approaches prominent as well as novel treatment and prevention strategies, including for example, gene therapy, cell-based therapies, vaccines and stem cell-oriented studies.


ERC Funds Research on Migration



ERC Funds Energy Research



• More information: erc.europa.eu

• National Contact Point: erc.europa.eu/national-contact-points

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twitter.com/ERC_Research

www.linkedin.com/company/european-research-council

The European Research Council


SPARE SLIDES

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ERC Mission: "to reinforce excellence, dynamism and creativity in European research".


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ERC Structure

The European Commission • Provides 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 ERC Executive Agency • Executes annual work programme as established by the Scientific Council • Implements calls for proposals and provides information and support to applicants • Organises peer review evaluation • Establishes and manages grant agreements • Administers scientific and financial aspects and follow-up of grant agreements • Carries out communications activities and ensures information dissemination to ERC stakeholders

The ERC Scientific Council • 22 prominent researchers proposed by an independent identification committee • Appointed by the Commission (4 years, renewable once) • Establishes overall scientific strategy; annual work programmes (incl. calls for proposals, evaluation criteria); peer review methodology; selection and accreditation of experts • Controls quality of operations and management • Ensures communication with the scientific community

Established by the European Commission Jean-Pierre BOURGUIGNON

Klaus BOCK

Mart SAARMA

Núria SEBASTIAN GALLES

Margaret BUCKINGHAM

Christopher CLARK

Athene DONALD

Barbara ENSOLI

Tomas JUNGWIRTH

Matthias KLEINER

Eva KONDOROSI

Michael KRAMER

Kurt MEHLHORN

Barbara ROMANOWICZ

Nils Christian STENSETH

Martin STOKHOF

Nektarios TAVERNARAKIS

Janet THORNTON

Isabelle VERNOS

Reinhilde VEUGELERS

Michel WIEVIORKA

Fabio ZWIRNER

President Vice-President Vice-President Vice-President Governance by the Scientific

Council

The designation of members is under the responsibility of the European Commission which is helped in this task by an Identification Committee.

Members have a first mandate of 4 years with the possibility of being renewed for another mandate, typically of 2 years.


Objective “… to support excellent Principal Investigators

at the stage at which they are starting their own independent research team or programme.”

Profile Potential for research independence At least one publication without PhD supervisor Significant publications Invited presentations in conferences Funding, patents, awards, prizes

Starting Grants European Research Council

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Upper bound on requested amount €1.5M for 5 years

extra €0.5M "start-up" costs PI moving from outside

EU+AC

purchase of major equipment

access to large facilities 100% total eligible direct costs (salaries, equipment, etc.)

Starting Grants European Research Council

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Objective “…to support excellent Principal Investigators at the career

stage at which they may still be consolidating their own independent research team or programme.”

Profile Research independence (very often already working with own group) Several publications without PhD supervisor Promising track-record of early achievements Significant publications Invited presentations in conferences Funding, patents, awards, prizes

Consolidator Grants European Research Council

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Upper bound on requested amount €2M for 5 years

extra €0.75M "start-up" costs PI moving from outside

EU+AC

purchase of major equipment

access to large facilities 100% eligible direct costs (salaries, equipment, etc.)

Consolidator Grants European Research Council

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Objective “… Advanced Grants are intended to promote substantial

advances in the frontiers of knowledge, and to encourage new productive lines of enquiry and new methods and techniques, including unconventional approaches and

investigations at the interface between established disciplines.” Profile

Active researchers (any age, nationality, and current place of work) Exceptional leaders in terms of the originality and significance of their

research contribution

Advanced Grants European Research Council

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Profile (continued)

Track-record of significant research achievements (last 10 years, extension in case of career breaks possible)

10 publications as senior author in major scientific journals Exceptional leaders in term of mentorship Granted patents Invited presentations at international conferences Scientific Organisation of International Conferences International prizes/awards

Advanced Grants European Research Council

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ERC Proof of Concept 2011-2016


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Distribution of ERC Grants by Panel


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Change of Success Rates in H2020 Calls Compared to FP7 Calls


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ERC Funded Projects by Domain


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ERC Grants versus GDP



A Lot is Expected of the ERC

“The ERC could become a Champions' League for research and we have to accept that research needs autonomy and freedom.” Angela MERKEL, Chancellor of Germany (2007)

In order to have the desired impact, the ERC should during the first 3-5 years reach a grant volume of at least 2 billion a year. The purpose of the ERC will only be realized when the effects of its work are visible and evident in the member states. Mayor Report (2003)

The ERC must have a funding capacity that exceeds at least 5% of existing (sub)national funding, at a minimum of 4bn € per year. LERU input to the independent review of the ERC (2009)

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european research council - dipartimento di ingegneria€¦ · the european research council ......

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