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UNIVERSITY STRATEGY AND THE UNIVERSITY STRATEGY AND THE EUROPEAN RESEARCH COUNCILEUROPEAN RESEARCH COUNCIL

Mathias Dewatripont

June 2007

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ERC and FP7ERC and FP7

Original focus: For the first time, broader interpretation of research as a source of European competitiveness:

1. ‘Frontier research’,

2. ‘Bottom-up’ / ‘investigator-driven’.

3. Centered solely on scientific quality.

4. Not bureaucratic, flexible.

5. High-quality evaluation, organized by the scientific community.

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ERC and FP7ERC and FP7

• ERC = around 15% of the budget of FP7, that is, around one billion Euros a year (NSF: 4 billion Euros a year).

• Natural complementarity: ‘bottom-up’ versus ‘targeted’ research.

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Objectives of funding Objectives of funding schemesschemes

Keep (young) researchers in Europe

Favour “brain gain” and “reverse brain drain” Improve career opportunities and independence -

especially for young researchers: ERC Starting Grant attract & retain the next generation

Increase competition, recognition and international visibility for excellent individual scientists and scholars in Europe: ERC Advanced Grant attractive & prestigious grants for established leaders

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Key ideas: RRetain, R Repatriate, R Recruit

Support researchers at the start of their independent research career and establishment of their first research team

Provide a structure for transition from working under a supervisor to independent research

Supply grants to support the creation of excellent new teams of which bring energy and new ideas to their disciplines

ERC Starting GrantERC Starting Grant(ERC Starting Independent Researcher (ERC Starting Independent Researcher

GrantGrant))

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~ €300M initially (approximately ⅓ of ERC annual budget)

€100k – 400k per year (increments of € 50k)

2000+ Starting Grants over 7 years of FP7

ERC Starting GrantERC Starting Grant(ERC Starting Independent Researcher (ERC Starting Independent Researcher

Grant)Grant)

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Designed to support excellent investigator-initiated research projects by established investigators

Should complement the ERC Starting Grant scheme by targeting researchers who have already established their independence as team leaders

€100k-500k per year

max € 2-3 million per grant

ERC Advanced GrantERC Advanced Grant (ERC Advanced Investigator Researcher (ERC Advanced Investigator Researcher

Grant)Grant)

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Total (FP7 Ideas budget): € ≈7.5 bn ≈1/3 Starting Grants, ≈ 2/3 Advanced Grants

Less than 5% for operational ERC management

1st Call

StG only, € 300 Mio.

2nd Call

AdG only, late 2007, € 550 Mio.

3rd call onwards:

1/3 StG + 2/3 AdG (up to € 1.7 bn in 2013).

ERC budget 2007-2013ERC budget 2007-2013

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The Team Leader (“Principal Investigator”) has the

power to assemble his/her research group;

freedom to choose the research topic.

Individual teams should consist of a grouping of researchers which meets the needs of the project, without “artificial” administrative constraints; thus members may be drawn from one or several legal entities, from either within or across national boundaries, including third countries

Who can apply ? Who can apply ? Individual TeamsIndividual Teams

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Ideas (ERC specific programme) encourages participation of researchers from European and non-European countries

Level of participation varies with regard to roles and funding Roles:

Principal Investigator• Can be of any nationality• But: PI’s host organisation needs to be established in EU Member States

or Associated Countries, or be a international European Interest Organisations (such as CERN, EMBL, etc.) or the JRC

Team Members• Can be of any nationality and established in almost any country• International Cooperation Partner Countries (ICPC) • Industrialised Countries, e.g. Australia, Canada, Japan, USA

Who can apply? Who can apply? European and International TeamsEuropean and International Teams

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ERC Grant Agreement ERC Grant Agreement

Key Principles

Financially Attractive

• 100% direct costs plus 20% flat rate for indirect costs

• Up to 5 year duration

Flexible in application

• Easy to adjust during execution

• Portability

Administration simple and transparent

• Preparation of grant agreements without “negotiations”

• Short annual reports plus detailed final report

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Some general Some general considerationsconsiderations

• How ‘elitist’?• Success rate low: around 3% this time.• ‘Champions’ League’, not Structural Fund.• Still, no desire to favor ‘top universities’: key is quality of PI +

project.• Desire to help PI: flexibility of use of budget, max 20% for

institution, portability.• On the other hand, freedom of contracting; moreover, grant can

be used to pay wage of PI.• Questions: (i) Do these schemes ‘help’ European universities

compete internationally? (ii) : How can ERC do more to help?

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Website of the ERC: http://erc.europa.eu

Further InformationFurther Information