European Commission Research DG Philippe Stalins

1. FP7 IDEAS The European Research Council European Commission Research DG Philippe Stalins

2. Cooperation Ideas People Capacities 7th Framework Programme

3. Creates European Research Council Provides funding Budget (2007-2013) : € 7.51 bn(around 15% of FP7 budget) Average budget: € ~1 bn per year Sets overall objectives for researchand operating principles FP7 Ideas Programme

4. European Research Council • Establishes overall scientific strategyEstablishes work programme (incl. calls for proposals, evaluation criteria); Defines peer review methodology; ensures selection and accreditation of experts • Controls quality of scientific operations and management • Ensures communication with the scientific community • Executes annual work programme(as established by the Scientific Council) • Implements calls for proposalsand provide information and support to applicants • Organises peer review evaluation • Establishes and manages grant agreements • Administers scientific and financial aspectsand follow-up of grant agreements • Role • to ensure the integrated operation of ERC • to monitor the implementation of the ScC’s strategy and position as executed by the dedicated implementation structure • to participate in the ERC board Scientific Council Prof. Fotis Kafatos Chair Prof. Estève Prof. Elga Nowotny Dedicated Implementation Structure Commission Executive Agency • The European Union • (represented by the European Commission) • Provides financing through the EU • framework programmes • Guarantees autonomy of the ERC • Assures the integrity and accountability • of the ERC • Adopts annual work programmes as • established by the Scientific Council

5. Cooperation Ideas People Capacities 7th Framework Programme • Funding schemes • Support for ‘frontier’ research • Coordination and Support Actions

6. Two streams of activity: ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grant scheme (ERC Starting Grant) 1st call for proposals published, deadline 25 April 2007 ERC Advanced Investigator Researcher Grant scheme (ERC Advanced Grant) 1st call for proposals published later in 2007 Requirements Evaluated on the sole criterion of excellence. Principal Investigator Support for ‘frontier’ research

7. The objective : Is to support researchers at the start of their independent research career and help them establishing or consolidating their own independent research team(or research programme); To provide a structure to researchers for transition from working under a supervisor to becoming an independent research leader; Up to 5 years; €100,000 to €400,000 per year. 1. ERC Starting Grant

8. The objective : Is to support excellent investigator-initiated research projects carried out by established independent research leaders; To complement the ERC Starting Grant scheme by attracting researchers who have already established their independence as team leaders; Up to 5 years; €100,000 to €500,000 per year. 2. ERC Advanced Grant

9. Excellence is the sole criterion of evaluation: It will be applied to the evaluation of both the researcher and the research project. The evaluation will also assess the extent to which the research environment enables the excellence of the project to be achieved. Evaluation criterion

10. EU Member States Associated States ERC Requirements • Principal Investigator: Nationality of researchersis not relevant. • Host organisation:To be located in MSor AS. • Frontier ResearchProjects:All fields of scienceand scholarship are eligible(investigator-driven, bottom-up).

11. Supplementary Agreement Beneficiary Beneficiary Principal Investigator Beneficiary Accession forms Principal Investigator Amendment Amendment Beneficiary "Host institution" Individual Team Executive Agency Commission Beneficiary ERC Grant Agreement ERC Grant Agreement Supplementary Agreement Beneficiary Principal Investigator Principal Principal Beneficiary

12. For activities supported by frontier research actions, the Community contribution may reach a maximum of 100% of the total eligible costs. • The indirect costs may be reimbursed bya flat-rate of 20% of the total direct eligible costs, excluding the direct eligible costs for subcontracting and the costs of resources made available by third parties which are not used on the premises of the beneficiary. Annex IV Financial statement form Annex III ERC Accession form for other beneficiaries. Annex V Terms of reference for the certification of costs and on the methodology. • Core grant • Article 2: Principal Investigator (PI) • Reference to supplementary agreement between the PI and the • beneficiary hosting and engaging him / her; • Supplementary agreement lists the main points establishing the • relations between the PI and the beneficiary. • Article 4: Reporting • Parallel streams for the scientific reporting and the financial • management reporting. Annex II Article II.2 Specific performance obligations of the beneficiary Article II.3 Specific performance obligations of the principal investigator Article II.4 Reports Article II.15 Identification of direct and indirect costs Article II.16 Upper funding limits Article II.34 Approval of amendments & termination Annex I Description of work (including financial information): based on the proposal text taking up the results of the evaluation. ERC Grant Agreement Structure

13. Two stage submission process (to avoid oversubscription) 1st stage – Outline Proposal: max 8 Pages (deadline stage 1 submission: April 25, 2007) 2nd stage – Full Proposal: max 16 Pages (on invitation only if stage 1 proposal evaluated positively) Proposal Components: CV + self-evaluation + funding ID (3/4 pages) Description of research project (4/10 pages) Description of scientific environment + resources (1/2 pages) Electronic Submission only, via EPSS (no paper submission) Pre-registration (via EPSS) Providing ERC with indication on number & area of proposals What?Any field of science, engineering and scholarship Who?Principal Investigator (Individual Team) + Hosting Organisation How? Consult « ERC Guide for Applicants » on http://erc.europa.eu Evaluated on the sole criterion of scientific excellence 1st Call in Brief ERC Starting Grants only

14. For operational reasons the ScC agreed on 3 main research domains: Physical Sciences & Engineering Biological & Life Sciences Social Sciences and Humanities The first call budget for ERC Starting Grants(€300 Mio) has been pre-allocated to these areas as follows: 45% - 40% - 15% ERC covers all fieldsof science, engineering and scholarship

15. PI 2-9 years since completion of PhD: Special circumstances will be taken into account, such as maternity/paternity leave, military/civil service (+3 years max.) PI and team members Any nationality One ERC Grant per investigator only may be active at any one time Hosting institution Located in a EU member state or associated country ERC Starting Grant Requirements

16. Referees and panels evaluate and score criteria under Heading 1 and Heading 2 numerically which will result in the ranking of the proposals: 0-5 points, in increments of 0.5 Threshold 8 / 10 Criteria under Heading 3 will be considered as "pass/fail" and commented but not scored Evaluation CriteriaScientific Excellence is the sole Criterion • Potential of Principal Investigator • Quality of research project • Research Environment and Resources

17. Quality of research output Has the Principal Investigator published in high quality peer reviewed journals or the equivalent? To what extent are these publications ground-breaking and demonstrative of independent creative thinking and capacity to go significantly beyond the state of the art? Intellectual capacity and creativity To what extent does the Principal Investigator's record of research, collaborations, project conception, supervision of students and publications demonstrate that he/she is able to confront major research challenges in the field, and to initiate new productive lines of thinking? ERC Starting GrantPotential of Principal Investigator

18. Ground-breaking nature of the research Does the proposed research address important challenges in the field(s) addressed? Does it have suitably ambitious objectives, which go substantially beyond the current state of the art (e.g. including trans-disciplinary developments and novel or unconventional approaches)? Potential impact Does the research open new and important, scientific, technological or scholarly horizons? Methodology Stage 1: Is the outlined scientific approach (including the activities to be undertaken by the individual team members) feasible? Stage 2: Is the proposed research methodology (including when pertinent the use of instrumentation, other type of infrastructures etc.) comprehensive and appropriate for to the project? Will it enable the goals of the project convincingly to be achieved within the timescales and resources proposed and the level of risk associated with a challenging research project? ERC Starting GrantQuality of research project

19. Transition to independence Will the proposed project enable the Principal Investigator to make or consolidate the transition to independence? Host institution [normally applicant legal entity] Does the institution hosting the project have most of the infrastructure necessary for the research to be carried out? Is it in a position to provide an appropriate intellectual environment and infrastructural support and to assist in achieving the ambitions for the project and the Principal Investigator? Participation of other legal entities If it is proposed that other legal entities participate in the project, in addition to the applicant legal entity, is their participation fully justified by the scientific added value they bring to the project? ERC Starting GrantResearch Environment and Resources