Transcript Slide 1

European Research Council (ERC)
Starting Investigator Grant 2013: Scheme Outline
Deadline: 17th October, 2012 at 16.00 GMT
Dr Barry Dixon – Research Facilitator (EU & Overseas)
School of Arts & Humanities, School of Humanities & Social Sciences
What?
Who?
ERC Starting
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 Starting Grant?
• ERC Starting Grants are designed to support outstanding early-career researchers in
all disciplines who are beginning to create their own independent research team or
programme
• 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
• Starting Grants can be up to a maximum of €1,500,000 for a period of 5 years (pro rata
for projects of shorter duration). However, in exceptional cases, an additional amount of
up to €500,000 funding can be made available
• All projects should start within 6 months from the award of the grant
• The deadline is 17 October, 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 Starting 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 Starting
Grant
How?
Assessment
Who can apply?
• Applicants must have been awarded their first PhD at least
2 and up to 7 years prior to the 10th July, 2012 (the
publication date of the call)
• Applicants can be of any nationality, of any age and can
reside in any country at the time of application
• The applicant need not necessarily be employed by the
host institution at the time they submit
• Applicants must spend at least 50% of their time on their
project
Who can apply?
• A competitive Starting Grant Principal Investigator must have already shown
the potential for research independence
• For example, it is expected that applicants will have produced at least one
important publication without the participation of their PhD supervisor
• Applicants should also be able to demonstrate a promising track-record of
early achievements appropriate to their research field and career stage,
including significant publications (as main author) in major international peerreviewed multidisciplinary scientific journals, or in the leading international peerreviewed journals of their respective field
• They may also demonstrate a record of invited presentations in well-established
international conferences, granted patents, awards, prizes etc.
ERC Consolidator Grant
• The ERC Consolidator Grant Scheme is new this year. Like the Starting Grant, it is for
researchers of any nationality with 7-12 years of experience since completion of PhD (or
equivalent degree) and scientific track record showing great promise
• ERC Consolidator Grants are designed to support researchers at the stage at which they
are consolidating their own independent research team or programme
• Funding is available of up to €2 million per grant (in some circumstances up to €2.75
million), for up to 5 years
• A competitive Consolidator Grant Principal Investigator must have already shown
research independence and evidence of maturity. For example, it is expected that
applicants will have produced several important publications without the participation of
their PhD supervisor as well as an excellent track-record of early achievements
• The scheme is due to be launched on 07th November, 2012 with a deadline on 21st
February, 2013
What?
Who?
ERC Starting
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)
- Early achievements 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 Starting
Grant
How?
Assessment
Assessment
A single submission of an ERC Starting 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, applications will be sent for external peer-review.
On the basis of these reports, selected applicants will be invited for
interview in Brussels
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, ambition and feasibility
•
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
• Has the PI demonstrated the ability to propose and conduct ground-breaking research
and has his/her achievements typically gone beyond the state-of-the-art?
• Has the PI provided abundant evidence of creative independent thinking?
• Would the ERC Grant contribute significantly to the establishment and/or further
consolidation of the PI's independence?
• Is the PI strongly committed to the project and demonstrates their willingness to devote a
significant amount of time to the project (based on Scientific Proposal)?
Assessment
Call
Applications
Received
Of Which
Evaluated
Funded
Success Rate
Cambridge
Specific
Starting Grant
2007
9,167
8,787
299
3.4%
10%
Starting Grant
2009
2,503
2,392
245
10.2%
14%
Starting Grant
2010
2,873
2,767
436
15.8%
32%
Starting Grant
2011
4,080
4,005
485
12.1%
37%
Starting
Grants total
18,623
17,951
1,465
Going Forward
• All info available here: http://erc.europa.eu/starting-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