Established by the European Commission The European Research Council: Funding Opportunities in...

Established by the European Commission

The European Research Council: Funding Opportunities in Europe for Creative Minds from Anywhere in the World

© Art & Build Architect / Montois Partners / credits: S. Brison

Veronica Beneitez PineroERCEA, PoC Call coordinator


After 8 Years of Existence…

50,000 proposals have been evaluated

Over 4 300 top researchers funded during FP7 (2007-2013)

5000th ERC grant agreement signed this month

65% are at an early-career stage

65 nationalities represented

Highly competitive (overall success rate 10%)

Working in almost 600 different institutions in 32 countries

Benchmarking effect: impact on national programmes and agencies

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Advanced Grants track-record of

significant researchachievements in the

last 10 yearsup to € 3.5 Mio

for 5 years

Proof-of-Concept bridging gap between research - earliest

stage of marketable innovation up to €150,000 for ERC grant holders

ERC Grant Schemes

Starting Grants

starters (2-7 years after PhD)

up to € 2.0 Mio for 5 years

Consolidator Grants

consolidators (7-12 years after PhD)

up to € 2.75 Mio for 5 years

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ERC Funding SchemesWho can apply?

• Any nationality, any age or any current place of work

• In conjunction with a Host Institution

based in EU or associated countries

At least 50% of the time spent in EU or AC


Maternity leave: 1.5 years per child before or after PhD

Paternity leave: for documented paternity leave taken

before or after the PhD

National service: documented time after PhD

long-term illness: documented time after PhD

Clinical training: MD date plus 2 years (+ proof of doctoral

equivalency)

StG/CoG: Eligibility extensions


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• The date of the first degree that makes the

applicant eligible that takes precedence.

To try and ensure that those with comparable

research experience are evaluated in the same

group.

StG/CoG Applicants: MD versus PhD


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StG/CoG Applicants with MDs

For applicants holding both an MD and a PhD :

• MD takes precedence over PhD only when the applicant has held an appointment that requires a doctoral equivalency (e.g. post-doctoral fellowship, professorship appointment) before the PhD award date.

• Proof of completion of clinical training: does not make an MD applicant eligible.

• Clinical training: counts as reason for extension of the eligibility window.


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Submission to PanelsPanel structure: 3 domains and 25 panels

Proposals are submitted to a Panel of PI's choice Can flag one “Secondary Review Panel” PI should explain the interdisciplinary nature of the proposal

Transfer of proposals between panels may occur if clear mistake on part of applicant necessary expertise is available in a different panel

But: In case of proposals spanning more than one panel or domain, evaluation by members of other panels possible


Remote assessment by Panel members of section 1 – PI and synopsis

Panel meeting

Proposals retained for step 2:Score A

STEP 1

Remote assessment by Panel members and reviewers of full proposals

Panel meeting + interview (StG and CoG)

Ranked list of proposals:Score A

STEP 2

Feedback toapplicants

Evaluation of proposals: review procedure

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Score:B or C Score:

B


Remote assessment by Panel members of section 1 – PI and synopsis

Panel meeting

Proposals retained for step 2:Score A

STEP 1

Remote assessment by Panel members and reviewers of full proposals

Panel meeting + interview (StG and CoG)

Ranked list of proposals:Score A

STEP 2

Feedback toapplicants

Evaluation of proposals: review procedure

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Score:B or C Score:

B


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• Part B1 and Part B2 : References no longer count

towards the page limits.

• Part B2 : Budget table - applicants are asked to indicate

the % of working time that they will spend in an EU

Member State or Associated Country during the period of

the grant.

2016 Calls : New Features

Changes in the Proposal Templates


2016 Calls : New FeaturesRestrictions of reapplications

Increasing number of applications results in low success rates and high panel workload

• Applicants with a B at Step 1 will have to wait out one year

• Applicants with a C will have to wait out two years

!


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Questions to ask yourself as an applicant

Am I internationally competitive?

Does my proposal promise to go substantially beyond the state of the

art? (Are your competitors doing the same/similar research?)

Is it high risk/high gain? Think BIG!

Do I have a plan B (when necessary)?

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

Do I have preliminary results? Is it feasible?

Is it timely? (Why wasn't it done already?)


Ambitious / risky / innovative project

Innovative aspects clearly presented

Two level of readings: generalists and experts

Methodology (how?, when?...)

Intermediate steps/ alternatives in case of failure

Points to emphasize

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In Step 1: Panel members see only Part B1 of your proposal and are expected to act as generalists:

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) Show your scientific leadership in your CV (model CV provided in the

part B1 template)

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Submission of Proposals

Differences in Part B1 and Part B2


Submission of Proposals

Differences in Part B1 and Part B2

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

Do not just repeat the synopsis

Provide details on methodology, work plan, selection of case

studies etc. (15 pages)

Check coherency of figures, justify requested resources

Explain involvement/profile of team members

Provide alternative strategies to mitigate risk

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ERC applications – Budget Tips

Additional funding: 500 k€ for StG and 750 k€ for CoG

Budget and cost items: need to be justified and

reasonable in light of the proposal requirements (keep in

mind 25% overhead)

Check consistency between online budget forms and

part B2 budget table


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Typical reasons for rejection

Principal investigator

Insufficient/non-competitive track-record

Insufficient/non-competitive leadership profile

Proposed project

Scope: Too narrow too broad/unfocused

Incremental research/continuation of previous work

Work plan/team composition not detailed enough/unclear

Insufficient risk management


Preparing an application

Register early via the Participants Portal, get familiar with the

submission 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 limit.

Download and proof-read the proposal before submitting

Show to colleagues and friends to check for clarity

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Projects funded by the ERChttp://erc.europa.eu/erc-funded-projects

Search by: • Call• Year• HI country

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http://erc.europa.eu/erc-funded-projects

http://erc.europa.eu/erc-funded-projects


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Objective: The ERC Proof of Concept Grants aim to maximise the value of the excellent research that the ERC funds, by funding further work to verify the innovation potential of ideas arising from ERC funded projects.

What kind of activities that can be financed: • establishing viability, technical issues and overall direction• market research • clarifying IPR strategy • investigating business opportunities• Initial expenses for start-up

PoC : Principles Objective and activities


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The financial contribution will be up to a maximum of EUR 150 000 for a period of 18 months.

"The ERC expects that normally, proof of concept projects should be completed within 12 months. However, to allow for those projects that require more preparation time, projects will be signed for 18 months. Given this initial flexibility, extensions of the duration of proof of concept projects may be granted only exceptionally."

The ERC contribution will take the form of the reimbursement of up to 100% of the total eligible and of flat-rate financing of indirect costs of a maximum of 25% of the total eligible direct costs

PoC : Principles Financial contribution and duration


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RECEPTION OF PROPOSALS BY THE ERC

ELIGIBITY CHECK

REMOTE EVALUATION

EVALUATION RESULTS

PANEL MEETING

COMMUNICATION TO APPLICANTS

PoC : Evaluation Process

RE

DR

ES

S


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• Experts are not researchers!!!!• 5 reviews/proposal• No discussions between reviewers • Remote• PASS/FAIL mark on each criterion• Succinct explanatory comment for each mark

PoC : Evaluation ProcessRemote Evaluation


PoC : Evaluation ProcessRemote Evaluation

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• Not a scientific evaluation of the idea !• Activities should NOT be

“aimed at extending the original research or […] overcoming technical obstacles”.

• Activities should be “at the very early stage of turning research outputs into

a commercial or socially valuable proposition”.


• Only the material that is presented within this limit will be evaluated !!

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PoC : Evaluation ProcessRemote evaluation

How to write a good PoC proposal

• Read carefully the reference documents:• Work programme• Information for applicants

• (everything can be found on the participant portal)

• Talk to existing PoC grantees in your institution:• Did they get external help?• Why did they failed?

• Look at the list of PoC Grantees published on ERC website. Talk to them!


PoC : How to write Part BCriterium 1 Excellence-Tips

Try to answer the following questions:

• State the expected output of you project. Why is your proposal innovative?

• If you are going to improve a product,method, process…. how will you do it?

• Shortly mention how is it done today and how will your project will do it better.

• Do you know the state of the art in the industry sector?! Find out!

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PoC : How to write Part BCriterium 2 Impact -Tips

• Answer the first three questions (Compulsory):• Impact: who will benefit form your idea? Why? Name your

final users• Generation of financial of social profit: We don't expect you

to know how much profit you will made, but at least a process should be indicated….prove that you have been thinking about it!

• Market research: PoC will provide funding for further market research, but an idea on how this will be carried on, is important. Know your competitors!

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• Present the plan having in mind the technical and the commercial needs. ( Do not mess it up)

• Write a management plan! Do not forget to mention the risk and contingency!

• Don't waste too much space in people's CVs. Make it short.

• Justify the budget items. Subcontracting in PoC is allowed. Give names of subcontractors ( they will be deleted later but are important for the evaluation).

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PoC : How to write Part BCriterium 3 PoC plan -Tips


• Invest some time on your idea. If you have a good idea with good innovation potential, the plan can be modified!

• Take a look at the market, try to identify beforehand the competitors and who will benefit from it.

• Experts also expect external help, you are researchers no business people!

• Submit your proposal, you will get feedback from experts• Restriction One proposal a year.

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PoC : How to write Part BGeneral Tips


Success Rates/Country of Host Institution in FP7 (2007-2013)

*) First legal signatories of the first grant agreement taken into account│ 32


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H2020 StG 2014Funded Projects by Country of HI

StG 2014 success rate: 11.7 %


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CoG 2014 success rate: 15%

H2020 CoG 2014Funded Projects by Country of HI


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H2020 StG 2014 and CoG 2014First submissions vs Resubmissions

Starting Grant 2014 Consolidator Grant 2014

Eligible submissions

Success rate

First submissions 2407 9.6%

Re-submissions 802 17.8%

Total 3209 11.7%

Eligible submissions

Success rate

First submissions 1034 9.9%

Re-submissions 1454 18.6%

Total 2488 15.0%


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H2020 StG 2013 – 2014Funded proposals by years past PhD

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 110%

10%

20%

30%

40%

STG 2013 (300) STG 2014 (375)

years past PhD on call publication date

% i

n c

ateg

ory


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H2020 StG 2013 – 2014Success rates by years passed PhD

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2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

-5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%STG 2013 STG 2014

years past Phd on call publication date

succ

ess

rate


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CoG 2014Funded proposals by age and gender

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 160

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

COG 2014 # funded proposals and success rates by years past PhD and gender

M (268)F (104)F success rate (15.2 %)

# years past PhD

# fu

nd

ed p

rop

osa

ls


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*) full-year budget

ERC calls Budget Call Publication Submission Deadline(s)

Starting GrantsERC-2016-StG M€ 4 August 2015 17 November 2015

Consolidator GrantsERC-2016-CoG

M€ Mid October 2015 2 February 2016

Advanced GrantsERC-2016-AdG M€ May 2016 1 September 2016

Proof of ConceptERC-2016-PoC

20 M€* 7 August 2015DL1: 5 Feb. 2015DL2: 28 May 2015DL3: 1 Oct. 2015

Forthcoming ERC Calls


Apply via the Participants Portal at (for StG 2016)http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/h2020/calls/erc-2016-stg.html

Read the Information for Applicants and the Work Programme erc.europa.eu

To find the National Contact Points in Denmark (NCP) erc.europa.eu/national-contact-points

Follow us on

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EuropeanResearchCouncil

ERC_Research

More information:


THANK YOUANY QUESTIONS?

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Part B1 template


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Part B2 template


Initiated to help ERC grant-holder to bridge the gap between their research and the earliest stage of a marketable innovation

Supporting grant-holders during the pre-demonstration Up to 150.000 Euro per grant

FP7 ERC Proof of ConceptFrontier Research and Innovation

2011 2012 2013 TOTAL in FP7

Submitted 151 143 292 586

Evaluated* 139 120 279 538

Funded 51 60 67 178

* withdrawn and ineligible proposals not taken into account

Established by the European Commission The European Research Council: Funding Opportunities in...

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