Transcript Slide 1

European Research Council (ERC)
Advanced Investigator Grant 2013: Scheme Outline
Deadline: 22nd November, 2012 at 16.00 GMT
Dr Barry Dixon – Research Facilitator (EU & Overseas)
School of Arts & Humanities, School of Humanities & Social Sciences
What?
Who?
ERC
Advanced
Grant
How?
Assessment
What is the European Research Council (ERC)?
• The ERC was established in 2007 by the European Commission and is
currently funded through the EU’s 7th Framework Programme (‘Ideas’)
• It’s goal is to support investigator-initiated ‘frontier’ research across all
disciplinary fields
• Four types of grants are available:
- ERC Starting Grants
- ERC Consolidator Grants
- ERC Advanced Grants
- ERC Synergy Grants
What is the ERC Advanced Grant?
• ERC Advanced Grants are designed to support established research leaders who have
made original and significant contributions to research. As per the call guidelines,
“the grants are intended to promote substantial advances at 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.”
• The aim is to fund projects carried out by individual teams which are headed by a single
Principal Investigator (PI) and, as necessary, include additional team-members. The
constitution of the research team is flexible
• Advanced Grants can be up to a maximum of €2,500,000 for a period of 5 years (pro rata
for projects of shorter duration). However, in exceptional cases, an additional amount of
up to €1,000,000 funding can be made available
• The deadline is 22nd November, 2012 at 16.00 GMT
• Note: The University Research Office will need 5 working days in order to check the
application and provide the necessary supporting statement
What is the ERC Advanced Grant?
• Scientific Excellence of both the project and of the applicant is the
only criterion meaning…
THEMES
INTERNATIONAL
COOPERATION
EUROPEAN
ADDED VALUE
What?
Who?
ERC
Advanced
Grant
How?
Assessment
Who can apply?
• Applicants can be of any nationality, of any age and can
reside in any country at the time of application
• The PI does not necessarily need to be employed by the
host institution at the time of submission. If not already
employed, though, the PI must be engaged by the host
institution for at least the duration of the grant
• Applicants must spend at least 30% of their time on their
project, while spending at least 50% of their time in Europe
Who can apply?
A competitive Advanced Grant Principal Investigator must be able to demonstrate
a significant record of achievement in research in the last 10 years
The benchmarks most relevant to the arts, humanities and social sciences include:
•
10 publications as senior author in major international peer-reviewed journals
•
3 major research monographs of which at least one is translated into another language
Other, alternative benchmarks include:
5 granted patents
International prizes/awards
10 invited presentations at
international conferences
Major contributions to launching
the careers of early-career
researchers
3 research expeditions
Recognised leadership in
industrial innovation
The organisation of 3
international conferences
What?
Who?
ERC
Advanced
Grant
How?
Assessment
How to apply?
• A proposal consists of administrative forms (Part A), a
research proposal (Parts B1 and B2) and supporting
documentation
• Submission is accepted only via the web-based Electronic
Proposal Submission Service (EPSS). The application
procedure consists of a single submission stage
• Strict rules apply for restrictions on submission of proposals
(i.e. re-submissions, etc.) that must be checked before
applying for a grant
How to Apply?
Part A (1-3) of the Application Form: Administrative Information
• Part A1: General Information on the Proposal and the Principal
Investigator
• Part A2: General information on the Host Organisation
• Part A3: Budget (grants cover up to 100% of eligible costs and 20% of
indirect costs)
- Note: VAT is NOT an eligible cost
How to Apply?
Part B (1-2) of the Application Form: the Research Proposal
• Part B1
- Extended synopsis of the proposal (max 5 pages)
- CV (max 2 pages)
- 10-year track-record (max 2 pages)
• Part B2: The Scientific Proposal (max 15 pages)
- State of the art and objectives
- Methodology
- Resources
- Ethical and security sensitive issues
What?
Who?
ERC
Advanced
Grant
How?
Assessment
Assessment
A single submission of an ERC Advanced Grant proposal will be followed
by a two-step peer review evaluation
• At the first step, Part A and Part B1 ONLY are assessed by peer review
evaluation panels (ERC panels), which may be supported by additional
remote reviewers
• Part B2 is only evaluated for the selected applications that make it
through to the second round. This means that all relevant information
relating to the project should be contained in Part B1
• At the second step, the full application (Parts A, B1 and B2) is then
assessed by the evaluation panels
Assessment
These are the review panels for Humanities and Social Sciences:
• SH1: Individuals, Institutions and Markets
• SH2: Institutions, Values, Beliefs and Behaviour
• SH3: Environment, Space and Population
• SH4: The Human Mind and its Complexity
• SH5: Cultures and Cultural Production
• SH6: The Study of the Human Past
Assessment
As per the scheme guidelines: “In general, projects wholly or largely consisting in the collation and compilation of
existing material in new databases, editions or collections are unlikely to constitute ground-breaking or "frontier"
research in themselves, however useful such resources might be to subsequent original research. Such projects
are therefore unlikely to be recommended for funding by the ERC's panels”
The detailed elements applying to the excellence of the research project and the Principal Investigator(s) are:
1. Research Project:
Ground-breaking nature and potential impact of the research project
•
To what extent does the proposed research address important challenges?
•
To what extent are the objectives ambitious and beyond the state of the art (e.g. novel concepts and approaches or development across
disciplines)?
•
How much is the proposed research high risk/high gain?
Scientific Approach
•
To what extent is the outlined scientific approach feasible (based on Extended Synopsis)?
•
To what extent is the proposed research methodology appropriate to achieve the goals of the project (based on Scientific Proposal)?
•
To what extent does the proposal involve the development of novel methodology (based on Scientific Proposal)?
•
To what extent are the proposed timescales and resources necessary and properly justified (based on Scientific Proposal)?
Assessment
2. Principal Investigator(s): Intellectual capacity, creativity and commitment
• Is the track record of the PI characterized by ground-breaking research and has his/her
achievements typically gone beyond the state-of-the-art?
• Does the track record of the PI contain abundant evidence of creative, independent
thinking?
• Has the PI demonstrated sound leadership in the training and advancement of young
scientists?
• Does the PI demonstrate the level of commitment to the project necessary for its
execution and demonstrate the willingness to devote a significant amount of time to the
project?
Assessment
Call
Applications
Received
Of Which
Evaluated
Funded
Success Rate
Cambridge
Specific
Advanced
Grant 2008
2,167
2,034
282
13.9%
32%
Advanced
Grant 2009
1,583
1,526
245
16.1
24%
Advanced
Grant 2010
2,009
1,967
271
13.8
26%
Advanced
Grant 2011
2,284
2,245
294
13.1
27%
Advanced
Grant Total
8043
7,772
1,092
Going Forward
• All info available here: http://erc.europa.eu/advanced-grants
• Ask questions or discuss your proposal with me: [email protected]
• General questions can also be addressed to the UK’s National Contact
Point for the ERC at: [email protected]
Questions