erc funding opportunities - white rose brussels€¦ · starting grants established by the european...

Established by the European Commission

Dr Agnes Kulcsar Unit B2, Call and project follow-up coordination

ERC Scientific Management Department

Leeds, 14 June 2017

ERC Funding opportunities


│ 2

Outline

Grant schemes

Submission of proposals

Evaluation process – StG/CoG/AdG

Preparing an application - hints and tips


H2020 budget €77 billion

ERC budget €13 billion

ERC in H2020 Budget Horizon 2020


Starting Grants

starters (2-7 years after PhD)

up to €1.5 Mio for 5 years + €500,000

Advanced Grants

track-record of significant research achievements in the

last 10 years up to €2.5 Mio

for 5 years + €1 Mio

Synergy Grants 2 – 4 Principal Investigators up to €10 Mio for 6 years

+ €4 Mio

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 Mio for 5 years + €750,000


Starting Grants

≥50% time in Europe (MS + AC) ≥50% working time on ERC project - show potential for research independence and evidence of maturity. - at least one important publication as main author or without the PhD supervisor.

Advanced Grants

≥50% time in Europe (MS + AC) ≥30% working time on ERC project - exceptional leaders in terms of originality and significance of their research contributions.

Synergy Grants: each PI

≥50% time in Europe (MS + AC) ≥30% working time on ERC project

ERC Grant Schemes

Consolidator Grants

≥50% time in Europe (MS + AC) ≥40% working time on ERC project - show research independence and evidence of maturity; -several important publications as main author or without their PhD supervisor.


Starting Grants

≥2 years ≤ PhD date ≤ 7 years • 1 January 2011 to 1

January 2016 • Counted from 1

January 2018 (call year)

Advanced Grants

• Researchers of any age • Track record of

significant research achievements in the last 10 years

Synergy Grants • Researchers of any age • Each PI: to present a track record

according to their career stage

ERC Grant Schemes

Consolidator Grants

7 years ≤ PhD date ≤ 12 years • 1 January 2006 to 31

December 2010 • Counted from 1

January 2018 (call year)

StG/CoG: Extensions of eligibility window possible for documented cases of: Maternity – 18 months per child (before or after PhD) Paternity – actual time taken off Military service Medical speciality training Caring for seriously ill family members No limit to the total extension


│ 7

ERC calls Budget Call Opening Submission Deadline(s)

Advanced Grants

ERC-2017-AdG

567 M€ (245 grants)

16 May 2017

31 August 2017

Proof of Concept

ERC-2017-PoC 20 M€ 2 August 2016

19 January 2017

25 April 2017

5 September 2017

Starting Grants

ERC-2018-StG 583 M€

(391 grants)

18 July 2017

17 October 2017

Synergy Grants

ERC-2018-SyG 250 M€

(30 grants) 19 July 2017 14 November 2017

Consolidator Grants

ERC-2018-CoG

553 M€ (287 grants)

24 October 2017

15 February 2018

Advanced Grants

ERC-2018-AdG 452 M€

(194 grants)

17 May 2018

30 August 2018

Proposal submission ERC Work Programme 2017 calendar and tentative

dates for 2018 Work Programme


│ 8

Part B1 (submitted as pdf) Evaluated in Step 1 & Step 2

Text box - Cross-domain nature explanation

a – Extended synopsis 5 pages

b – Curriculum vitae 2 pages

Appendix – Funding ID

c - Track-record 2 pages

Proposal Submission (on Participant Portal)

Proposal structure

Administrative forms (Part A)

1 – General information

2 – Administrative data of

participating organisations

3 – Budget

4 – Ethics

5 – Call specific questions

Part B2 (submitted as pdf)

NOT evaluated in Step 1 (Step 2 only)

Scientific proposal 15 pages

a – State-of-the-art and objectives

b – Methodology

c – Resources

Annexes Commitment of the host institution,

PhD certificates, etc

Guidelines and Recommendations in the 2018 Information for Applicants


Have a bright, original and exciting idea

Design a research project to implement your idea

Get a letter of support from a Host Institution where the project is to be carried out (in EU or any of the H2020 associated countries)

Write your research proposal

Get feedback from your peers

Submit your research proposal before the deadline -> fully electronic/web based submission system

How to prepare an ERC research proposal?


Social Sciences and Humanities SH1 Individuals, Markets and Organisations

SH2 Institutions, Values, Environment and Space

SH3 The Social World, Diversity, Population

SH4 The Human Mind and Its Complexity

SH5 Cultures and Cultural Production

SH6 The Study of the Human Past

Life Sciences LS1 Molecular and Structural Biology and

Biochemistry

LS2 Genetics, Genomics, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology

LS3 Cellular and Developmental Biology

LS4 Physiology, Pathophysiology and Endocrinology

LS5 Neurosciences and Neural Disorders

LS6 Immunity and Infection

LS7 Diagnostic Tools, Therapies , Applied Medical Technology & Public Health

LS8 Evolutionary, Population and Environmental Biology

LS9 Applied Life Sciences & Non-Medical Biotechnology

Physical Sciences & Engineering PE1 Mathematics

PE2 Fundamental Constituents of Matter

PE3 Condensed Matter Physics

PE4 Physical & Analytical Chemical Sciences

PE5 Synthetic Chemistry and Materials

PE6 Computer Science & Informatics

PE7 Systems & Communication Engineering

PE8 Products & Process Engineering

PE9 Universe Sciences

PE10 Earth System Science

Each panel: Panel Chair and 10-16 Panel Members

StG/CoG/AdG panel structure: 25 panels in 3 domains

PI applies to a panel

SyG: corresponding PI chooses keywords from 25 panels, but no panel

is selected


│ 11

Submission to Panels StG/CoG/AdG

• Proposals are submitted to a Targeted Panel (of PI's choice)

Can flag one 'Secondary Review Panel'

• Applicant chooses his/her panel, this panel is 'responsible' and takes ownership for the evaluation of the particular proposal

• Switching proposals between panels not possible unless clear mistake on part of applicant, or due to the necessary expertise being available in a different panel

• But: In case of cross-panel or cross-domain proposals, evaluation by members of other panels possible


Remote assessment by Panel members

of section 1, part B1: synopsis and PI

Panel meeting

Proposals retained

for step 2 (score A)

STEP 1

Remote assessment by Panel

members and reviewers of full

proposals: part B1+ B2

Panel meeting + interview

(StG+ CoG)

Ranked list of proposals

(scores A & B)

STEP 2

Feedback to

applicants

Evaluation procedure – StG/CoG/AdG Single submission, but a two-step evaluation

Redress

Proposals rejected

(score B & C)


Scoring scheme – StG/CoG/AdG

• Score 'A': Fully meets the ERC excellence criterion and is recommended for funding if sufficient funds are available.

• Score 'B': Meets some but not all of the ERC’s excellence

criterion and will not be funded. If score B is awarded in step 1, PI may not submit a proposal to any call in the following year!

• Score 'C': Proposal is not of sufficient quality to pass to

Step 2 of the evaluation. The applicant may also be subject to resubmission limitations in the next call. PI may not submit a proposal to any call in the following two years!

│ 13


Evaluation of excellence at two levels:

• Excellence of the Research Project

Ground breaking nature

Potential impact

Scientific Approach

Synergy grants: synergetic aspects in addition

• Excellence of the Principal Investigator

Intellectual capacity

Creativity

Commitment

What are the evaluation criteria? Excellence is the sole evaluation criterion


│ 15

Questions to ask yourself as an

applicant

• Am I internationally competitive as a researcher at my career stage and in my discipline?

• Am I able to work independently, and to manage a 5-year project with a substantial budget?

• Why is my proposed project important?

• Does it promise to go substantially beyond the state of the art?

• Why am I the best/only person to carry it out?

• Is it timely? (Why wasn't it done in the past? Is it feasible now?)

• What's the risk? Is it justified by a substantial potential gain? Do I have a plan for managing the risk?


In Step 1: Panel members (act as generalists) they see only Part B1 of your proposal: Prepare it accordingly!

Pay particular attention to the ground-breaking nature of the research project – no incremental research. State-of-the-art is not enough. Think big!

Know your competitors – what is the state of play and why is your idea and scientific approach outstanding?

Only the extended Synopsis is read at Step 1: concise and clear presentation is crucial (evaluators are not necessarily all experts in the field)

Outline of the methodological approach – feasibility is assessed

Show your scientific independence in your CV (model CV provided in the part B1 template)

Funding ID to be filled in

│ 16

Preparing an application - hints and tips Differences in Part B1 and Part B2


Preparing an application - hints and tips Differences in Part B1 and Part B2

In Step 2: Both Part B1 and B2 are sent to specialists around the world (specialised external referees)

Do not just repeat the synopsis

Provide sufficient detail on methodology, work plan, selection of case

studies etc. (15 pages)

Check coherency of figures, justify requested resources

Explain involvement of team members

Provide alternative strategies to mitigate risk

│ 17


Explain your budget properly!

• Budget analysis carried out in Step 2 evaluation. • Panels have responsibility to ensure that resources requested are

reasonable and well justified. • Budget cuts need to be justified on a proposal-by-proposal basis (no

across-the-board cuts). Not explained costs are often cut!

• Panels recommend a final maximum budget based on the resources allocated/removed.

• Panels do not 'micro-manage' project finances. • Awards made on a 'take-it-or-leave-it' basis: no negotiations.

Ask for funding for Open Access in case needed– this is obligatory in Horizon2020!

Rumour : Ask for more money, the reviewers will anyhow cut it down. NOT true: however, unexplained or non-motivated requests can be cut, so if you artificially inflate your budget, it will be reduced.


When writing your CV

Remember that the CV/Track Record are as important as your project!

Explain what has been your own contribution to your key publications.

Explain publishing habits in your field and country if needed.

If you know that you have gaps or other issues in your CV (e.g. co-authored publications), explain them.

Describe activities which can indicate scientific maturity.

Use the template provided by the ERC in the submission system

Rumour : One needs publications in Nature/Science/High Impact Factor journals to succeed.

NOT true: in addition note: publishing with senior scientists (former supervisors) raises doubts about maturity/scientific independence.

│


Preparing an application Hints and tips (Generalities)

Register early, get familiar with the system and templates and start filling in the forms

A submitted proposal can be revised until the call deadline by submitting a new version and overwriting the previous one

Follow the formatting rules and page limits.

Download and proof-read the proposal before submitting.

Make use of the help tools and call documents (Information for Applicants, Work Programme, Frequently asked questions) to prepare your proposal

Talk to the National Contact Points and your Institution's grant office

│ 20


│ 21 Data as of 26/05/2014

Typical reasons for rejection

Principal investigator

Insufficient track-record

Insufficient (potential for) independence

Insufficient experience in leading projects (AdG)

Proposed project

• Scope: Too narrow too broad/unfocussed

• Incremental research

• Work plan not detailed enough/unclear

• Insufficient risk management


Preparing your application Information sources

Check the ERC website for latest funding opportunities: https://erc.europa.eu/

Register early, get familiar with the European Commission's Participant Portal system,

download the templates and start filling in the forms

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/home.html

View the step-by-step video Introduction to application process, including tips & tricks for the interview: https://vimeo.com/94179654

Use the help tools and call documents (Information for Applicants, Work Programme,

Frequently Asked Questions) to prepare your proposal

Read the guidelines carefully!

Find out about the formatting rules and page limits to respect!

Check statistics on ERC website

Talk to your Institution's grant office and other ERC grantees

Contact your National Contact Point if you have questions

https://erc.europa.eu/

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/home.html

https://vimeo.com/94179654


│ 23

Thank you!


ERC offers selective and generous grants,

independence, recognition & visibility

Work on any research topic: completely

bottom-up

Gain financial autonomy for 5 years

Negotiate the best work conditions with the

host institution

Attract top team members and collaborators

(EU and non-EU)

Portability of grants

Attract additional funding and gain

recognition: ERC is a quality label

What does the ERC offer? Creative Freedom of the Individual Grantee


6,000

40,000

€ 13 billion

90,000

677

67

After 9 Years, a Success Story


StG 2015 Funded proposals by gender

Success rates by years past PhD

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Years past PhD

# f

un

ded

pro

po

sals

STG 2015 funded PIs by years past PhD

M (252)

F (99)

SR Female PIs (10 %)

SR Male PIs (13.4 %)


CoG 2015 funded by proposals gender

Success rates by years past PhD

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19S

uccess r

ate

# f

un

ded

pro

po

sals

CoG 2015 funded PIs by years past PhD

M (208)

F (94)

SR Female PIs (16 %)

SR Male PIs (14.5 %)


Scoring Scheme

│ 28

Proposals for immediate funding.

One or more reserve list proposals

may be funded. Unfunded applicants

can resubmit next year.

Proposals rejected (Step 1 or 2). No

resubmission next year if B awarded

in step 1

A score: within

panel budget

B score:

not funded

A score:

outside panel

budget

C score:

non fundable Proposals rejected (Step 1). No

resubmission next 2 years


Average success rate 12%

│ 29

ERC schemes are highly competitive!

13.9%

16.1%

13.8% 13.4%

14.1%

12.3%

8.5%

14.4%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Advanced Grant

3.4%

10.2%

15.8%

12.1% 12.2%

9.2%

11.7% 12.2%

11.3%

8.7%

15.0% 14.9%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

2007 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Starting/Consolidator Grant

StG

CoG


│ 30

ERC Starting and Consolidator Grants 2018 The applicant’s profile

Potential for research independence

Evidence of scientific maturity

At least one (StG) /several (CoG) publications without participation of PhD

supervisor

Condition StG: PhD at least 2 and up to 7 years before 1 January 2018

Condition CoG: PhD over 7 and up to 12 years before 1 January 2018

“Am I competitive enough?”

Promising track-record of early achievements

• Significant publications

• Invited presentations in conferences

• Funding, patents, awards, prizes All these need to be shown in your proposal that will include your CV

and an early achievements track record.


│ 31

ERC Advanced Grants The applicant’s profile

Exceptional leader in terms of originality and significance of your

research

Excellent track record and achievements during the last 10 years (this

time window can be extended in case of eligible career breaks)

“Am I competitive enough?”

Substantial track-record of significant research achievements

• as appropriate for the field

• publications in peer-reviewed journals, monographs, invited

presentations, funding, patents, awards, prizes

• Organisation of international conferences

• Major contributions to the early careers of excellent researchers

• Bibliometry may be one of the proxies used (where appropriate)

among many others


Beware of Open Access!

• The ERC supports the principle of open access to

the published output of research, including in particular peer-reviewed

articles and monographs

research data and data related products such as computer code.

• Under Horizon 2020, beneficiaries of ERC grants must ensure open

access to all peer-reviewed scientific publications relating to their

results as set out in Article 29.2 of the ERC Model Grant Agreement.

• In 2017, for the first time under Horizon 2020, beneficiaries of ERC

grants will automatically be covered by the provisions on research

data sharing as set out in Article 29.3 of the ERC Model Grant

Agreement unless they specifically decide to opt-out.

Beneficiaries that do not opt-out should also ensure appropriate management

(including preservation and curation) of the research data they generate in order

to ensure its sustainability.

│ 32


ERC panel members by country of HI and

gender ERC Starting, Consolidator and Advanced grant calls 2007 - 2014

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

UK

DE

FR IT NL

ES

SE

BE

AT

DK FI

PL

HU

PT

CZ

EL IE SI

BG

RO

HR

SK

CY

LT

EE

LU

LV

MT

CH IL

NO

TR

RS IS

MK

US

CA

AU JP

RU

HK IN AR

SA

SG

BR

CL

CN

KR

MX

TW UA

CU IR ZA

EU Associatecountries

International

# p

an

el m

em

bers

/pan

el

ch

air

s

ERC STG COG ADG panel members 2007-2014 by host institution country

M (71 %)

F (29 %)


│ 34

Shall I apply now or wait another

year?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74

Su

cc

es

s r

ate

# g

ran

tees

age of grantee

STG COG ADG 2015 Age of grantees on 1 Jan 2015 with success rate

ADG

COG

STG

Success rate

erc funding opportunities - white rose brussels€¦ · starting grants established by the european...

Documents