Funding for excellent IDEAS!
Andreja Zulim de Swarte, EG-Liaison
ERC starting Grant information day1 Sep 2010, VU Amsterdam
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ERC STARTING grants
2-12 years post-doc
Calls in summer (july)
deadlines in autumn
1/2 annual budget
50% of time on project
ERC ADVANCED grants
research leaders
Calls in autumn(oct)
deadlines in spring
1/2 annual budget
30% of time on project
EU (FP7) funding for excellent ‘frontier research’
•centered around an excellent Principal Investigator- investigator-driven
•no need for transnational partners
ERCEA( European Research Council Executive Agency) funding agency
•Scientific Council designes the strategy
•Agency implements the programme
IDEAS programme
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Scientific excellence is the sole selection criterion
Projects in all fields of research are eligible for funding
Individual research teams led by a single PI are supported• Any nationality or age
Significant funding is provided to attract exceptional research leaders
• up to StG- 1,5 (2,0) or AdG-2,5 (3,5) M€ per project/5 years
Grants are awarded to the host institution that engages the PI
The host institution guarantees the PI’s independence and provides the research environment
Guiding principles of the ERC Grant
PI
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Who is a Starting Grant PI?
• Future research leader • shows the potential for research independence and evidence of
maturity with:
independently produced at least one important publication without the participation of their PhD supervisor
promising track-record of early achievements appropriate to the field and career stage• Significant publications (as main author) in major
international peer-reviewed multi/disciplinary scientific journals
• invited presentations in well-established international conferences
• granted patents, awards, prizes etc.
• 50% of his/her time spend on ERC funded activity
STARTING grant
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2 streams: starter or consolidator?
"starters" (award of PhD 2 - 7 years prior to the Starting Grant call publication)
"consolidators" (award of PhD over 7 - 12 years prior to the Starting Grant call publication)
Extensions to eligibility window:
Maternity leave: 18 months per child; Paternity leave: accumulation of actual time taken off
Long-term illness, unavoidable statutory leave, obligatory national service
Extensions possible only up to a max. of 16.5 yrs after PhD award
STARTING grant
before/after PhD
after PhD
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Who is an Advanced Grant PI?•30% of her/his working time spends on ERC funded activity
Track record CV of the last 10 years (active scientists!) *:
•10 publications as senior author in major international peer-reviewed multidisciplinaryjournals and/or in the leading international peer-reviewed journals of their respective field
•3 major research monographs, of which at least 1 translated into another language (ifrelevant for the field)
•5 patents
•10 invited presentations in well-established internationally organised conferences andadvanced schools
•3 research expeditions led by the applicant
•3 well-established international conferences or congresses where the applicant wasinvolved in their organisation as a member of the steering and/or organising committee
•International recognition through scientific prizes/awards or membership in well-regardedAcademies
•*) not necessarily all is required. Depends on the research field
ADVANCED GRANT
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Leadership profile of the PI
A list of career achievements
• content and impact of the major scientific/scholarly contributions to the researchfields and, if applicable, their wider societal impact
• the international recognition and diffusion that these major contributions havereceived from others
publications, citations, funding, students, international prizes, institution-building…
• evidence of efforts and ability to inspire younger researchers towards high qualityresearch
research mentoring record, information on the careers of supervised graduate andpostdoctoral students
proven ability to productively change research fields, to establish newinterdisciplinary approaches
ADVANCED GRANT
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Only FRONTIER RESEARCHprojects are funded…..in other words…
…the pursuit of questions at or beyond the FRONTIERS of knowledge, withoutregard for established disciplinary boundaries…
... proposals of an INTERDISCIPLINARY nature which cross the boundaries betweendifferent fields of research…
……PIONEERING proposals addressing NEW and emerging fields ….… and…introducing unconventional, innovative approaches and scientific inventions isencouraged…
…expected IMPACT on science, scholarship or engineering is significant..
…HIGH-GAIN/HIGH-RISK profile (the payoffs will be very significant)
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MONEYHOW MUCH AND WHAT
StG-1,5 M€ (2) or AdG- 2,5 (3,5)Purchase of equipmentStart up costs when moving from third countryCo-Investigator (AdG ONLY)
GRANT: 100% direct costs+ 20% indirect costs
level of the grant = need of the project
peer reviewers make a final decision on the level (may apply budget cut)
Personnel Costs;
Equipment Costs;
Consumables;
Travel and Subsistence Costs;
Publication Costs (page charges and related fees for publication of results)
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Funding rules
• 100% of direct eligible costs, up to the maximum granted per project
• Plus 20% flat-rate for general costs (overheads)
• N.B.
• equipment: depreciation rules apply
• personnel costs: include increase in pay level
• subcontractors: no 20% overheads
• portability
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CALL for proposals ERC-2011-StG – 20 Jul 2010
CALL
3 deadlines, 3 domains, 660 M€
PE: Physical Sciences and Engineering 14 Oct 2010
• LS: Life Sciences 9 Nov 2010
• SH: Social Sciences and Humanities 24 Nov 2010
• Single submission – two-step evaluation
• Electronic submission only! (cordis.europa.eu)
RESUBMISSIONEligible applicant to previous call may apply to this call if proposal has met the quality threshold at the end of step 1 of evaluation
STARTING GRANT
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CALL for proposals ERC-2011-AdG – 2 Nov 2010*
CALL
3 deadlines, 3 domains, ~660 M€
• PE: Physical Sciences and Engineering 9 Feb 2011*
• LS: Life Sciences 10 Mar 2011*
• SH: Social Sciences and Humanities 6 Apr 2011*
• Single submission – two-step evaluation
• Electronic submission only! (cordis.europa.eu)
RESUBMISSIONEligible applicant to previous call may apply to this call if proposal has met the quality threshold at the end of step 1 of evaluation
* expected
ADVANCED GRANT
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Info pack:
Work programme
Guide for Applicants
EPSS
Pick a panel
Cordis.europa.eu
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3 domains - 25 panels
Physical Sciences and Engineering 40%
Life Sciences 35%
Social Sciences and Humanities 15%
Cross-panel proposals 10%
Budget division within domains based on No. of applications received per panel within domain
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Examples of (interdisciplinary) PANEL
PE10: Earth system science
Physical geography, geology, geophysiscs, atmospheric sciences, oceanography, climatology, ecology, global environmental change, biogeochemical cycles, natural resources management
LS8: Evolutionary, population and environmental biology:
evolution, ecology, animal behaviour, population biology, biodiversiy, biogeography, marine biology, ecotoxicology, prokaryotic biology
SH4: the human mind and its complexity:cognition, psychology, linguistics, philosophy and education
Choose the right panel details in the Guide for Applicants
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EVALUATION – what is evaluated
EXCELLENCE is the only criterionPeer review2 step evaluation
4: outstanding
3: excellent
2: very good
1: non-fundable
*
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Evaluating the PROPOSAL
PART Aweb forms
A1-A3 forms
PART B1 –as .pdf
Section 1 Track Record of PI
1.Scientific Leadership Potential
2.CV (including “funding ID”)
3.Early achievements track record
4.Extended synopsis 5 p.
PART B2 –as .pdf
Section 2Scientific proposal15 p
+ Ethical issues table and description
ANNEXES –as .pdf
Letter of support by host institution!!
PhD certificate(StG ONLY)
(+ supporting documents –extension) (StG)
Eligibility check step 1 step 2 interview grant
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Allocation to Panels (25)
Reading and Assessment by Panel members (12-15)
Panel meetings
Proposals retained for step 2
Proposals submitted
Reading by Remote Referees
Step 2 evaluation
Interviews of applicants
Panel meetings
Panel chairs meetings
Proposals selected
The evaluationPROCESS
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THE PROCESS-from proposal to project
Remote+Panel evaluation
Ranking
Preparing the grant agreement
Proposal writing
3X
9 -12 months
Interview (StG)
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Overview funded
projects
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Collaborating with others?
• ‘additional participant’ – receives and spends share of the budget. Justify scientific need and limit number.
• ‘team member’ – may be located at different organisation. HI can cover research expenses and in certain situations salary expenses (‘secondment’). Check HI internal rules.
• ‘subcontractor’ – only for well defined and limited share of the work. Not expected to co-author publications.
• Non-remunerated collaborations
• N.B. ‘participant’ refers to organisation not to individual
HI = host institution
‘traditional networks or research consortia should not be submitted to ERC’
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RESULTS
2nd CALL290M€
Submitted Funded Success rate
All 2503 244 10%
NL 134 19 14%
share 5.4% 7.8%
1st CALL290M€
Submitted Funded Success rate
All 9167 299 3%
NL 542 27 5%
share 5.9% 9%StG
3rd CALL530M€
Submitted Funded Success rate
All 2873 ? 12-15%??
NL ?
share ?
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RESULTS
2nd CALL490M€
Submitted Funded Success rate
All 1584 243 15%
NL 80 17 21%
share 5% 7%
1st CALL517M€
Submitted Funded Success rate
All 2167 282 13%
NL 108 20 18%
share 5% 7%AdG
3rd CALL590M€
Submitted Funded Success rate
All 2009 ?
NL ? ?
share
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More INFORMATION..
CORDIS website http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/home_en.html
ERC website: http://erc.europa.eu
ERC News Alert: http://erc.europa.eu/?fuseaction=reg.edit#01
ERC helpdesk (link HELP on ERC website)
EPSS helpdesktechnical support on electronic proposal submission [email protected]
ERC National Contact Point www.egl.nl
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Don’t know how to do it? ASK NCPEG-Liaison /Agentschap NL
Information
Advice (technical, legal, financial)
Training session and courses
Andreja Zulim de Swarte
088 602 5070
www.egl.nl@: [email protected]
Daphne van de Sande088 602 5959