European Research Council

1. 1 European Research Council Starter Grant Competition 2008 Info Session IUA Marie Curie, TCD Science Gallery, 15-05-08

2. 2 What is ERC/IDEAS? ERC is the body / IDEAS is the FP7 programme �7.5b part of the �50b FP-7 programme (2007-2013) Whereas COPERATION targets top down research in thematic areas such as Space, Security , ICT , Health etc, IDEAS is bottom-up i.e. pure, PI-driven, academic research! This is NOT your typical consortium project with partners in multiple countries! An ERC/IDEAS grant is typically owned by one PI, conducting research in 1 location Covers ALL areas of research: science, engineering, humanities and social sciences AdG1 has budget of �517m. Will fund approx 300 grants (at average of �1.7m)

3. 3 What grant schemes does the ERC operate? Starter Grant (StG) Aimed at �young� early stage researchers who are attempting the transition to independence or are consolidating a recently established independent group��. Grant sizes up to ~�1.5m for up to 5 years ? 200-300 grants Advanced Grant (AdG) Aimed at established research leaders Grant sizes typically up to �2.5m for up to 5 years ? ~300 grants

4. 4 Who is eligible for the Starter Grant competition? 3-8 years post PhD In theory anyone can apply��..as long as your host institution supports you (signs off) BUT�..you will need to be the VERY BEST in the 3-8 year post PhD cohort!! The success rate in the first Starter Grant competition was 3% (9000 applicants). However the recent Advanced competition is likely to be more in the range of 15% All disciplines, any nationality�as long as work is carried out in EU members states or associated states

5. 5 Evaluation criteria (I)Scientific Excellence is the sole Criterion Potential of applicant Quality of proposal Research environment  Referees and panels evaluate and score criteria under Heading 1 and Heading 2 numerically which will result in the ranking of the projects Criteria under Heading 3 will be considered as "pass/fail" and commented but not scored

6. 6 Evaluation criteria (II)ERC Starting Grant Principal Investigator: Potential to become a world class research leader a. 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? b. 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?

7. 7 Evaluation criteria (III)ERC Starting Grant Quality of the research proposal a. 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)? b. Potential impact Does the research open new and important, scientific, technological or scholarly horizons? c. Methodology 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?

8. 8 Evaluation criteria (III)ERC Starting Grant Research Environment a. Transition to independence Will the proposed project enable the Principal Investigator to make or consolidate the transition to independence? b. 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? c. 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?

9. 9 What is the proposal structure? A. Admin forms in EPSS (online early pre registration) B. 28 page (?; uploaded PDF) application submitted via EPSS Section 1 Emerging leadership profile: 2 pages Curriculum Vitae: 2 pages Early achievement record: 2 pages Extended Synopsis: 5 pages Section 2 Scientific Proposal: 15 pages Section 3 Research Environment: 2 pages

10. 10 What is the process for evaluation?

11. 11 Who will evaluate my proposal? 3 research domains (�300m) Physical Sciences & Engineering (39%?): 10 panels Life Sciences (34%?): 9 panels Humanities & Social Sciences (14%?): 6 panels Applicant selects panel the s/he wishes to evaluate his/her proposal Each panel is 10-15 peer reviewers, with panel chair (supported by remote referees) Interdisciplinary panel (NOT chosen by applicant; panel chairs will bring forward special cases; ~10% of budget held for this scenario)

12. 12 The Evaluation Panels

13. 13 What are the key dates? The starter grant competition will probably open in July 08 The submission deadline depends upon the domain you select Physical & Earth Sciences: end Oct 08 Humanities and Social Sciences : mid Nov 08 Life Sciences: mid Dec 08 Evaluation through late 2008/early 2009�with results�.maybe by Q2/3 2009

14. 14 What supports are there to help me? The ERC work programme The ERC User Guide : the detailed information you will need to write your proposal Monitor the ERC website and sign up for alerts http://erc.europa.eu/ Your NCPs

15. 15 Key Contacts in Ireland for the ERC