European Research Council

1
The European Research Council and its funding
schemes.
Ben Turner Policy Analyst European Research
Council
2

• HOW IS THE ERC DIFFERENT?
• WHAT DOES IT HOPE TO ACHIEVE?
• WHY IT MATTERS TO NATIONAL FUNDERS AND POTENTIAL
  HOST INSTITUTIONS?

2
3
How is the ERC different?

• Run by independent Scientific Council
• All fields of science and scholarship are
  eligible
• Investigator-driven, bottom-up
• Excellence is the only criterion
• Individual team research project
• International peer review
• 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

3
4
ERC Annual Budget Evolution 2007 2013 Total
7.51 BN
5
What does the ERC hope to achieve?

• Direct, structural and derived impacts
• Signalling excellence
• Creating new centres of excellence
• National reforms
• Socio-economic benefits

5
6
ERC StG 2007Principal Investigators by domain
299 selected proposals
7
ERC Advanced Grant 2008 callGeographical
distributionof principal investigators Top 275
proposals
Physical Sciences Engineering
Status 11.11.2008
8
ERC StG 2007 ERC AdG 2008 Selected projects
Nationality of grantees
8
StG-07299 AdG-08275
9
ERC StG 2007 ERC AdG 2008 Low national RD
funding in some countries
10
ERC StG 2007 ERC AdG 2008 Mobility of grantees
10
11
ERC StG 2007 ERC AdG 2008 Nationality and host
country
12
ERC Advanced Grant 2008 call Successful
proposals by researcher population Source Top
275 proposals
13
ERC StG 2007 ERC AdG 2008 Selected projects
Repatriation and Recruitment
13
Argentina
Japan
Australia
14
Summary

• ERC has succeeded in gaining European worldwide
  recognition as a world-class research-funding
  agency
• Wide variations exist within EU/AC in research,
  research support institutional reputation
• Individual excellence requires excellent
  "infrastructures and framework conditions"
  provided by the organisation which hosts the
  individual researcher.

15
Why The ERC Matters To National Funders And
Potential Host Institutions?

• ERC responsible for building up excellence across
  Europe without regard to nationality
• National institutions responsible for building up
  excellence in the national research community
• National support for researchers who passed the
  ERC quality threshold but who will not get ERC
  funding (Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, France,
  Italy, Spain, Hungary, Region of Flanders).
• Incentive scheme for PIs Gent University offers
  tenure track and ETH Zurich offers dual career
  programmes for successful grantees

16

• HOW IS THE ERC DIFFERENT?
• Competition not collaboration
• WHAT DOES IT HOPE TO ACHIEVE?
• Restructuring of European research system
• WHY IT MATTERS TO NATIONAL FUNDERS AND POTENTIAL
  HOST INSTITUTIONS?
• Real competition is between host institutions and
  national systems

16
17
ERC Grant Schemes ERC Calls Indicative Schedule
(2009-2010)
ERC Starting Grant Calls


ERC Advanced Grant Calls