FP7 IDEAS Programme
The European Research Council
2007 – 2012: An overview with focus on Italy
Established by the European Commission
The early European Research Area
For Excellence, the best framework conditions
are needed
Established by the European Commission
Raphael:
The School of Athens
(1510-1511)
Consiglio europeo della Ricerca (ERC)
Established by the European Commission
Come
• Budget 2013: 1,741 miliardi €
• Sovvenzioni: max 2,5 milioni € per progetto
• Beneficiari: ricercatori di ogni nazionalita',disciplina e
eta' (almeno 2 anni post-doc), per progetti da svolgere
in un paese UE o in uno dei paesi associati all VII PQ
•
•
•
•
Sostegno a singoli ricercatori (no networks/consorzi)
Criteri di selezione: eccellenza scientifica
Panels di selezione internazionali (peer review)
Nessuna priorita' tematica
│3
ERC Structure
Established by the European Commission
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 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
The ERC Executive Agency
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•
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•
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
ERC Scientific Council Members
Established by the European Commission
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•
•
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•
•
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Prof. Klaus BOCK (Chemistry)
Prof. Nicholas CANNY (History)
Prof. Don Dingwell
Prof. Sierd A.P.L. CLOETINGH (Earth Sciences)
ERC Secretary General
Prof. Tomasz DIETL (Physics)
Prof. Daniel DOLEV (Computer Sciences)
Prof. Athene DONALD (Biological Physics)
Prof. Carlos M. DUARTE (Biology)
Dr. Barbara ENSOLI (Medicine)
Prof. Daniel ESTEVE (Physics)
Prof. Pavel EXNER (Applied Mathematics & Mathematical Physics), ERC Vice President
Prof. Reinhard GENZEL(Astrophysics)
Prof. Carl-Henrik HELDIN (Molecular Cell Biology), ERC Vice President
Prof. Timothy HUNT (Biology)
Prof. Matthias KLEINER (Engineering)
Prof. Eva KONDOROSI (Biology)
Prof. Nuria SEBASTIAN GALLES (Psychology)
Prof. Helga NOWOTNY (Science and Technology Studies), ERC President
Prof. Alain PEYRAUBE (Linguistics)
Prof. Mart SAARMA (Biology)
Prof. Anna TRAMONTANO (Biochemistry)
Prof. Isabelle VERNOS (Molecular and Cell Biology)
Prof. Reinhilde VEUGELERS (Economics)
FP7 budget € 50.5 billion
ERC budget € 7.5 billion; Increase by € 250 M/year
Established by the European Commission
People
(9 %)
Ideas
(15 %)
Co-operation
(65 %)
1800
23.4%
21.6%
1500
1200
17.8%
900
15.1%
600
10.8%
7.3%
300
4%
0
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Million Euro
JRC nonnuclear (3 %)
Capacities
(8 %)
ERC: tre tipi di sovvenzioni
Established by the European Commission
Starting e Consolidators Grants
•
Advanced Grants
Attirare/trattenere in Europa le prossime
generazioni di leaders scientifici
Favorire l’indipendenza dei giovani talenti
Stabilire team e programmi di ricerca
indipendenti
Max 2 Milioni € per 5 anni
•
•
•
•
•
•
StG 2010
60
AdG 2010
50
Number of grantees
Attirare/trattenere in Europa i migliori
scienziati
Stimolare importanti scoperte scientifiche
Max. € 2.5 Milioni per 5 anni
40
30
20
10
0
27
29
31
33
35
37
39
41
43
45
47
49
51
53
Age of the grantees
55
57
59
61
63
65
67
69
71
73
ERC Grant schemes
Established by the European Commission
Starting Grants
Consolidator Grants
starters
(2-7 years after PhD)
up to € 2.0 Mio
for 5 years
consolidators
(7-12 years after PhD)
up to € 2.75 Mio
for 5 years
Synergy Grants
2 – 4 Principal Investigators
up to € 15.0 Mio for 6 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
Creative freedom of the individual grantee
Established by the European Commission
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
│9
Top applicants - countries of host institutions
ERC Starting and Consolidator Grant calls 2007-2013
ERC Advanced Grant calls 2008-2013
Established by the European Commission
│ 10
ERC Competitions 2007-2012
Total number
of applications
of which
Evaluated*
Funded
success rates**
Established by the European Commission
Starting Grant 2007
9,167
8,787
299
3.4
Starting Grant 2009
2,503
2,392
245
10.2
Starting Grant 2010
2,873
2,767
436
15.8
Starting Grant 2011
4,080
4,005
486
12.1
Starting Grant 2012
4,741
4,652
566
12.2
23,364
22,603
2,032
10.7
Advanced Grant 2008
2,167
2,034
282
13.9
Advanced Grant 2009
1,584
1,526
245
16.1
Advanced Grant 2010
2,009
1,967
271
13.8
Advanced Grant 2011
2,284
2,245
301
13.4
Advanced Grant 2012
2,304
2,269
321
14.1
10,348
10,041
1,420
14.3
Proof of Concept 2011 - 1&2
151
139
51
36.7
Proof of Concept 2012 - 1&2
143
120
60
50.0
Proof of Concept
294
259
111
43.3
Synergy Grant 2012
710
697
11
1.6
Starting Grant
Advanced Grant
* withdrawn and ineligible proposals not taken into account
** percentage of funded proposals in relation to evaluated proposals
Data as of 08/04/2013│ 11
Over 3400 grants awarded after 10 StG and AdG calls
(one fifth to women PIs)
Established by the European Commission
Highly competitive: Average success rate 12%
Established by the European Commission
│ 13
ERC grant distribution to countries of HI
ERC Starting and Advanced grant calls 2007-2012
Established by the European Commission
*) Host institution refers to the organisation with which the first grant agreement was signed│ 14
Country
Higher-Education Institution
No
StG
AdG
Total
LS
PE
SH
UK University of Cambridge
1
54
40
94
31
49
14
UK University of Oxford
2
47
43
90
26
43
21
UK University College London
3
42
27
69
28
14
27
CH Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL)
4
38
30
68
19
48
1
CH Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich)
5
22
41
63
21
40
2
IL Hebrew University of Jerusalem
6
33
24
57
25
21
11
IL Weizmann Institute
7
31
21
52
30
21
1
UK Imperial College
8
28
23
51
20
31
BE University of Leuven
9
25
10
35
10
17
8
DE University of Munich
10
12
21
33
15
12
6
UK University of Edinburgh
11
17
15
32
8
13
11
UK University of Bristol
12
13
17
30
6
19
5
NL University of Amsterdam
13
15
14
29
3
8
18
NL Leiden University
13
15
14
29
1
15
13
FI University of Helsinki
14
16
12
28
19
7
2
IL Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
15
21
6
27
9
18
DK University of Copenhagen
16
15
11
26
9
11
6
CH University of Zurich
17
12
13
25
15
5
5
NL Radboud University Nijmegen
17
17
8
25
8
8
9
SE Karolinska Institute
17
15
10
25
24
No
StG
AdG
Total
LS
PE
SH
FR National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS)
1
121
57
178
47
103
28
DE Max Planck Society
2
54
37
91
49
36
6
FR National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm)
3
28
13
41
41
FR French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission
4
30
7
37
6
30
1
ES Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
5
19
11
30
13
12
5
FR National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automatic Control (INRIA)
6
17
12
29
Country
Research Organisation
1
29
Top
European
Institutions
hosting
at least 25
ERC
Grantees
by funding
Schemes
Established by the European Commission
StG 2007-2012
AdG 2008-2012
First legal
signatories
of the grant
agreement
Data as of 08/04/2013
Success rates per country of Host Institution
ERC Starting and Advanced Grant calls 2007-2012
Established by the European Commission
*) First legal signatories of the first grant agreement taken into account
Nationals at home and abroad
ERC Starting and Advanced Grant calls 2007-2012
Established by the European Commission
│ 17
Mobility of researchers
ERC Starting and Advanced Grant calls 2007-2012
Established by the European Commission
│ 18
Current host institutions; data as of 08/04/2013
Evaluated Proposals from hosts in Italy
ERC Starting Grant calls 2007-2013
ERC Advanced Grant calls 2008-2013
Established by the European Commission
Ineligible and withdrawn proposals not taken into account; *) all submitted for 2013 calls │ 19
Granted proposals at HI in Italy
ERC Starting Grant calls 2007-2012
ERC Advanced Grant calls 2008-2012
Established by the European Commission
* current host institutions; data as of 08/04/2013
│ 20
Top Host institution in Italy
ERC Starting & Advanced grant calls 2007 – 2012
Established by the European Commission
* current host institutions; data as of 08/04/2013
Frontier research and innovation:
ERC Proof of Concept
Established by the European Commission
 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 the pre-demonstration
2011
2012
 Up to 150.000 Euro per grant
Total applications
151 143
 One step evaluation
Evaluated*
139 120
Funded
51
60
* withdrawn and ineligible proposals not
taken into account
 First call in Autumn 2011 with 2 deadlines
 Second call in 2012 with 2 deadlines
 Third call in 2013 (deadlines 24 April and 3 October)
ERC Proof of Concept – areas of application
Established by the European Commission
PoC scheme was introduced in 2011 to allow researchers who are already
ERC grant holders to bridge the gap between their research and the earliest
stage of an innovation
│ 23
Speeding up the discovery process:
ERC Synergy grant
Established by the European Commission
 2012 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 year
 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
Developing a new generation of excellent scientists
2/3 of staff are people in the training phase of their career
(Analysis of 636 on-going projects)
Established by the European Commission
│ 25
Attracting excellent researchers
Composition of ERC teams (PIs not included)
Established by the European Commission
EU: 69%
Assoc. Countries: 11%
non-ERA: 17%
unknown: 3%
Most non-ERA from
China, US, India,
and Russia
Breakdown by nationality (97)
(sample of 636 Starting and Advanced projects)
50% of non-ERA
team members
''attracted'' to
Europe with the ERC
grant
│ 26
The ERC attracts
high calibre scientists
"Despite being a new, and thus untried instrument,
the ERC has manifestly succeeded in attracting and
funding world-class research and is playing an
important role in anchoring research talent." .
The independent interim evaluation of FP7
Established by the European Commission
Fields Medals
2010
Nobel prize
in physics
2010
Andre Geim
Uni of
Manchester
(Graphene)
Konstantin
Novoselov
Uni of
Manchester
(Graphene)
L’OréalUNESCO
Stanislav
Smirnov
Geneva Uni.
Cédric Villani
Institut Henri
Poincaré
Ngô Bảo
Châu
Université
Paris-Sud
Elon
Lindenstrauss
Hebrew Univ.
Wolf Prize
2010*
Award for Women
in Science
Anne L’Huillier
Lund University
Physical Sciences
David
Baulcombe
Cambridge Univ.
(Agriculture)
Axel Ullrich
Max Planck
(Medecine)
Alain Aspect
Inst. d’Optique,
Palaiseau
(Physics)
Anton Zeillinger
Vienna Univ.
(Physics)
│ 27
*4 European winners in “Science” categories”
ERC prospects for the future
Rising applications
Established by the European Commission
HORIZON 2020
Established by the European Commission
 HORIZON 2020 structure:
 Excellence Science
 Industrial leadership
 Societal challenges
 EIT
 JRC
 Excellent Science: reinforcing and extending the excellence of the
EU’s science base and consolidating ERA to make EU’s R&I system
more competitive on a global scale




European Research Council (budget proposal under H2020: € 15 billion)
Future and Emerging Technologies
Marie Curie
Research Infrastructures
│ 29
Established by the European Commission
More information on
http://erc.europa.eu
To subscribe to ERC newsletter and newsalerts
http://erc.europa.eu/keep-updated-erc
Follow us on
https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanResearchCouncil
https://twitter.com/ERC_Research
Horizon 2020
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
under
Horizon 2020
Horizon 2020 - New actions 2014-20
• MC will continue as the Marie
Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
• Funding levels ~maintained
• Broad Schemes ~maintained
• Simplification in Implementation ~
• Bi-Annual Work programmes
Horizon 2020
• Excellent Science - Priority I




European Research Council
Future and Emerging Technologies
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
Research Infrastructures
• Industrial leadership - Priority II
 Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies
 Access to risk finance
 Innovation in SMEs
• Societal challenges - Priority III



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

•
•
Health, demographic change and wellbeing
Food security, sustainable agriculture, marine and maritime research, bio-economy
Secure, clean and efficient energy
Smart, green and integrated transport
Climate action, resource efficiency and raw materials
Inclusive, innovative and secure societies
EIT
JRC non-nuclear action
Horizon 2020
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
under Horizon 2020
Proposed Budget (2014-2020): € 5.75 billion
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Fostering new skills through excellent initial
training of researchers
Nurturing excellence through cross-border and
cross-sector mobility
Stimulating innovation through crossfertilisation of knowledge
Increasing structural impact by co-funding the
activities
Specific support and policy action
Horizon 2020
ITN
IEF
ITN
Early-Stage
Researchers
Innovative networks supporting early-stage training
(Including Industrial doctorates & Joint doctorates)
IOF
IIF
CIG
IAPP
IRSES
COFUND
IF
Individual fellowship supporting experienced
Experienced
researchers undertaking mobility
Researchers
RISE
Exchange
of Staff
International and inter-sector cooperation through
research and innovation staff exchange
COFUND
Co-funding
Co-funding of regional, national and international
programmes funding doctoral and postdoctoral
researchers
Innovative Training
Networks (ITN)
MSCA - main EU programme for structured doctoral training

Dedicated to early-stage researchers (no ER recruitment)

Involving wide partnership of institutions from academic and nonacademic sectors

Based on FP7 ITNs experience + support to joint doctorates

Addressing triple 'i' dimension of mobility

Combining scientific excellence with innovation-oriented approach

Developing entrepreneurship and skills matching research labour
market needs

Enhancing employability of researchers
Individual Fellowships
(IF)

Opportunities for international and inter-sector
mobility of ER to facilitate career moves

Enhance competences and creative potential of best
researchers, European and non-European willing to
work in the EU

Encompass intra-European, incoming, outgoing
mobility and re-integration

Possibility of inter-sector secondments
Research and Innovation
Staff Exchange (RISE)

New type of exchange of staff action to stimulate transfer of knowledge

Flexible inter-sector (within Europe) and international (with 3rd countries)
exchanges of highly skilled research and innovation staff

No recruitment foreseen

Single eligibility rule for partnership consortia

Based on a common research project
COFUND

Stimulating regional, national and international programmes to
foster excellence

Spreading best practices of MSCA in terms of international mobility,
research training, career development

Extended to doctoral training

Building on experience from FP7 COFUND – evaluation results
available:
•
•
•
COFUND is enhancing the international dimension of a number of national and
regionally-based fellowship programmes in ways that are not open to Individual
Fellowships
Modest positive impact on operational and administrative procedures of host
institutions (COFUND)
Contributing to a gradual ‘levelling up’ in employment conditions for researchers
Inter-institutional
discussions
Council
Framework Programme Regulation:
 Partial General Approach (PGA) reached on 31 May 2012
Rules for Participation and Dissemination:
 PGA reached on 10 October
Specific Programme:
 PGA reached on 11 December 2012
MSCA:
 Impact across the programme on the innovativeness of the private sector
 Importance of industrial doctorates
 Mobility for European brain gain – importance of (re)integration
 Extension of co-funding, involve private sector
 Synergies with Erasmus for All, Structural Funds, KICs
Inter-institutional
discussions
European Parliament
ITRE Committee vote on 28 November 2012
 Importance of widening participation
 Building synergies between Horizon 2020 and Structural Funds
 Establishing bridges with national and regional initiatives
 20% of budget for SMEs
 Open access to publications and scientific data
MSCA:
 Increase of budget (from 7.2% to 8.3% of H2020)
 Importance of joint and industrial doctorates
 Promoting excellence in less innovation performing regions
 Measures to remove obstacles to the mobility of female researchers
 Support for outgoing mobility followed by return to Europe
 "Seal of excellence" on positively evaluated projects (not funded)