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HORIZON 2020 – ERC funding opportunities Focus on the ERC Advanced Grant call 2014

Mirjam Witschke Unit B2 – Call and Project

Follow-Up Coordination

Scientific Management

Department

Research Foundation

Flanders, Brussels

28 May 2014

Outline

The ERC: What do we offer

Structure, Funding schemes, Key principles

Submission and Evaluation Procedure

How to prepare and submit a grant

ERC Participation of Belgium

Support for the individual scientist – no networks!

Global peer-review

No predetermined topics

Support in all fields of science and the humanities

The ERC supports excellence in frontier research through

a bottom-up, individual-based, pan-European competition

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What is the ERC?

Le

gis

lati

on

S

tra

teg

y

Scientific governance: independent Scientific Council

with 22 members including the ERC President; full

authority over funding strategy

Support by the ERC Executive Agency (autonomous)

Quality as the only criterion

ERC in the H2020 structure

The HORIZON 2020 main components:

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

Future and Emerging Technologies

Marie Sklodoswka Curie Actions

Research Infrastructures

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Horizon 2020 budget € 77 billion ERC budget € 13 billion

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• Boost European excellence in frontier research

• High risk, high gain

• Basic and applied science

• Going beyond disciplinary boundaries

• Make Europe more attractive for global

scientific talent

• Favour “brain gain” and reverse “brain drain”

• Improve career opportunities and independence

• Increase competition/recognition/visibility

ERC Objectives

Starting Grants

starters

(2-7 years after PhD)

up to € 2.0 Mio

for 5 years

Advanced Grants track-record of

significant research

achievements in the

last 10 years

up to € 3.5 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 € 2.75 Mio

for 5 years

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Evolution of submission numbers

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ERC Competitions

Data as of 11/02/2014

Evaluated* Funded success rates**

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

Starting Grant 2013 3,329 3,255 300 9.2

Consolidator Grant 2013 3,673 3,604 311 8.6

Starting and Consolidator Grant 30,366 29,462 2,643 10.2

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 2,269 319 14.1

Advanced Grant 2013 2,408 2,363 290 12.3

Advanced Grant 12,756 12,404 1,708 13.9

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 2013 - 1&2 292 279 67 24.0

Proof of Concept 586 538 178 36.9

Synergy Grant 2012 710 697 11 1.6

Synergy Grant 2013 449 427 13 3.0 * withdrawn and ineligible proposals not taken into account

** percentage of funded proposals in relation to evaluated proposals

Total number

of applications

of which

25 panels for all areas of science

Physical Mathematics

Sciences Fundamental Constituents of Matter

& Condensed Matter Physics

Engineering Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences

Synthetic Chemistry and Materials

10 panels Computer Science and Informatics

Systems and Communication Engineering

Products and Processes Engineering

Universe Sciences

Earth System Science

Life Molecular and Structural Biology and Biochemistry

Sciences Genetics, Genomics, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology

Cellular and Developmental Biology

9 panels Physiology, Pathophysiology and Endocrinology

Neurosciences and Neural Disorders

Immunity and Infection

Diagnostic Tools, Therapies and Public Health

Evolutionary, Population and Environmental Biology

Applied Life Sciences and Non-Medical Biotechnology

Social Sciences & Humanities

6 panels

Markets, Individuals and Institutions

The Social World, Diversity and

Common Ground

Environment, Space and Population

The Human Mind and Its Complexity

Cultures and Cultural Production

The Study of the Human Past

Outline

The ERC: What do we offer

Structure, Funding schemes, Key principles

Submission and Evaluation Procedure

How to prepare and submit a grant

ERC Participation of Belgium

Eligibility check

(PI, HI, submission restrictions)

Step 1 (remote) evaluation on

the basis of section of

proposal* by panel members

Proposals

passing to step 2

Individual assessment of full

proposals by panel members &

referees

Consolidation of 3 main domains

rank lists

Submission of

full proposals (strict deadline!)

Proposals

selected for funding based on

call budget

Submission, evaluation and selection Starting, Consolidator and Advanced Grants

*) Profile of PI, project extended synopsis (Part B1)

1st Panel meeting

StG, CoG:

2nd Panel

meeting incl.

interviews of

applicants

AdG:

2nd Panel

meeting

Evaluation of excellence at two levels:

• Excellence of the Research Project

Ground breaking nature and potential impact (important

challenges, developments across disciplines, high risk- high gain)

Scientific Approach (novel concepts/methodology)

Excellence of the Principal Investigator

Intellectual capacity (achievements beyond the state of the art)

Creativity (evidence of creative independent thinking,

for AdG additionally: Demonstrated leadership in training and

advancement of young scientists)

Commitment (commitment of working –time to the project: minimum

30% for AdG and min. 50% in an EU Member State or Associated

country)

Excellence is the sole evaluation criterion

Excellent investigators…

• Promising track-record of recent achievements (at least one or more of

the following benchmarks for AdG)

Significant peer-reviewed publications in high impact

journals/conference proceedings (10)

major research monographs (3)

International recognition through awards, prizes, Academy

memberships, Editorial Boards

Invited presentations to established international conferences

(10)

Member of Organisational/Steering Committee of international

conferences in the field (3)

Depending on the field: Patents (5), research expeditions (3)

Funding record and Mentoring (ability to inspire young

researchers)

When to submit?

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Increasing number applications causes low success rates

and high panel workload

2014 Resubmission restrictions

• 2013 applicants : if "C" at step 1, cannot resubmit in 2014

• 2014 applicants, tighter resubmission rules :

o If B (Step 1 or Step 2) : will have to wait out one year

o If C (Step1) : will have to wait out two years

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ERC calls Budget Call Publication Submission Deadlines

Starting Grants ERC-2014-StG

485 M€

11 December 2013

25 March 2014

Consolidator Grants ERC-2014-CoG

713 M€

11 December 2013

20 May 2014

Advanced Grants ERC-2014-AdG

450 M€

17 June 2014

21 October 2014

Proof of Concept ERC-2014-PoC

15 M€ 11 December

2013 DL1: 1 April 2014

DL2: 1 Oct. 2014

2014 : Indicative planning

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PART A – online forms

Proposal and PI info

Host Institution info

Partner Institutions (of any)

Budget

PART B1 – submitted as .pdf

Extended Synopsis 5 p

CV 2 p.

Track Record 2 p.

.

Annexes – submitted as .pdf

• Statement of support of HI

If applicable:

• explanatory information on ethical

issues

PART B2 – submitted as .pdf

Scientific Proposal 15 p.

(incl. budget breakdown)

Proposal preparation Application structure

Some new elements in 2014

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Possibility to provide a Researcher ID (e.g. ORCHID) in

A- and B-forms

Interdisciplinary projects : justification paragraph in

Abstract (Part B1)

Changes in the panel descriptors in particular for all SH

panels (please see the WP and the GfA)

Proposal preparation: Part B1

Pay particular attention to the ground-breaking nature of

the research project – no incremental research!

Know your competitors – what is the state of play and why

is your idea and scientific approach outstanding?

Remember that only the extended synopsis is read at Step

1 that gives first impression – concise and clear

presentation is crucial (evaluators are not necessarily all

experts in the fields!)

Also in Part B1 outline of the methodological approach

(feasibility!)

Proposal preparation: Part B2

Do not waste the second part (Part B2) – provide

sufficient detail on methodology, work plan, selection of

case studies etc. (15 pages)

(in particular important for the AdG as the full proposal is the

only basis for the selection)

Check coherency of figures, justify requested resources

and involvement of team members

New financial rules under H2020 (e.g. 25% rate of indirect

costs to be applied)

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Submission of proposals: Preparation process

register early, get familiar with the system and templates

and start filling in the forms on the Participant Portal

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/page/home

make use of the help tools and call documents (FAQ,

GfA, WP) to prepare your proposal

submit your proposal and relevant annexes well in

advance before the deadline to avoid last minute errors

! A submitted proposal can be revised until the call deadline

by submitting a new version and overwriting the previous

one (only what is in the system at the time of the deadline will be

evaluated)

• Any doubts about your eligibility or any

other questions, contact your NCP or the

ERCEA via the applicant mailbox for the

relevant call

• http://cordis.europa.eu/national_service/ho

me_en.html

• subscribe to the ERC newsletter

http://erc.europa.eu/keep-updated-erc

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Additional sources of information

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Menu allows to search ERC projects by

Funding Scheme, Call year, Country of

Host Institution and keywords

http://erc.europa.eu/erc-funded-projects

Additional sources of information

Check already

funded projects

Outline

The ERC: What do we offer

Structure, Funding schemes, Key principles

Submission and Evaluation Procedure

How to prepare and submit a grant

ERC Participation of Belgium

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Evaluated proposals from hosts in Belgium

Ineligible and withdrawn proposals not taken into account

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ERC-funded projects at host institutions in Belgium

* current host institutions; data as of 11/02/2014

Success rates per country of Host Institution ERC Starting and Consolidator grant calls 2007-2013

ERC Advanced grant calls 2008-2013

*) First legal signatories of the first grant agreement taken into account

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Mobility of researchers ERC Starting and Consolidator grant calls 2007-2013

ERC Advanced grant calls 2008-2013

Current host institutions; data as of 11/02/2014

22 foreign PIs in Belgium of 12 nationalities

54 Belgian PIs abroad (14 in NL, 11 in UK, 10 in FR, 8 in CH,

the rest in other 7 countries)

Top

European

Institutions

hosting

at least 30

ERC

Grantees

by funding

Schemes

StG/CoG 2007-2013

AdG 2008-2013

First legal

signatories

of the grant

agreement

Data as of 11/02/2014

Country Higher-Education Institution No StG/CoG AdG Total LS PE SH

UK University of Oxford 1 63 58 121 37 51 33

UK University of Cambridge 2 69 49 118 40 57 21

UK University College London 3 55 30 85 34 18 33

CH Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) 4 35 46 81 25 53 3

CH Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) 5 44 36 80 23 55 2

IL Weizmann Institute 6 51 28 79 45 33 1

IL Hebrew University of Jerusalem 7 43 30 73 33 26 14

UK Imperial College 8 34 27 61 23 38

UK University of Edinburgh 9 24 21 45 10 21 14

BE University of Leuven 9 30 15 45 12 23 10

UK University of Bristol 10 18 21 39 8 25 6

DE University of Munich (LMU) 11 14 24 38 16 16 6

NL University of Amsterdam 11 21 17 38 3 11 24

NL Radboud University Nijmegen 12 25 12 37 14 11 12

NL Leiden University 13 21 15 36 1 17 18

NL Utrecht University 14 20 13 33 8 17 8

IL Technion - Israel Institute of Technology 14 25 8 33 9 23 1

CH University of Zurich 14 18 15 33 21 5 7

UK King's College London 15 22 9 31 12 5 14

IL Tel Aviv University 15 17 14 31 11 17 3

CH University of Geneva 15 14 17 31 19 9 3

FI University of Helsinki 16 16 14 30 21 7 2

SE Karolinska Institute 16 18 12 30 28 2

Country Research Organisation No StG AdG Total LS PE SH

FR National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) 1 143 66 209 59 119 31

DE Max Planck Society 2 65 45 110 58 45 7

FR National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) 3 39 18 57 54 1 2

FR French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission 4 34 9 43 7 35 1

ES Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) 5 25 15 40 15 20 5

FR National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automatic Control (INRIA) 6 19 12 31 31

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Host institutions in Belgium ERC Starting and Consolidator grant 2007-2013

ERC Advanced grant 2008 – 2013

Current host institutions; data as of 11/02/2014

ERC grants currently in Belgium (2007-

2013)

Name of HI AdG StG/CoG Total LS PE SH

University of Leuven (KU Leuven) 15 29 44 12 22 10

Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) 6 16 22 22

Ghent University 2 19 21 3 11 7

ULB - Free University of Brussels 4 11 15 3 7 5

University of Louvain (UCL) 2 11 13 4 6 3

University of Antwerp 3 6 9 2 4 3

VUB - Free University of Brussels 1 7 8 2 5 1

University of Liège 1 6 7 1 5 1

University of Namur 2 2 4 1 1 2

Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre

(IMEC) 1 1 2 2

Prince Leopold Institute of Tropical Medicine 2 2 2

Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics 1 1 1

Hasselt University 1 1 1

University of Mons 1 1 1

Orpheus Institute 1 1 1

Total 37 114 151 53 65 33

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

Up to 150.000 Euro per grant

One step evaluation

Calls in 2011, 2012 and 2013 (each with 2 deadlines)

Fourth call in 2014 (deadlines 1 April and 1 October)

Frontier research and innovation: ERC Proof of Concept

2011 2012 2013

Total applications 151 143 292

Evaluated* 139 120 279

Funded 51 60 67

* withdrawn and ineligible proposals not taken into account

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PoC grants by country of host institution ERC PoC calls 2011, 2012 and 2013: 178 grants

PoC grants in Belgium

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