The European Research Council awards its first grants

Transcription

1 MEMO/07/586 Brussels, 14 December 2007 The European Research Council awards its first grants The ERC is a major innovation within the European research system, and is established under the European Union s seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7). With a budget of 7.5 bn Euros over 7 years, its mission is to promote investigator-driven research in Europe in all fields, at the frontier of knowledge and with excellence as the sole criterion for funding. The ERC consists of an autonomous Scientific Council of 22 distinguished scientists, supported by a "Dedicated Implementation Structure" which will become an Executive Agency (see European Commission press release 14/12/2007 (IP/07/1930)). The ERC Scientific Council has worked intensively over two years to develop a forward-looking strategy and two specific grant programmes consistent with its mission. It has established a high-quality peer review panel system for evaluating Starting Grants proposals, based on experts from throughout the world. A parallel system for evaluating Advanced Grant proposals by leading established investigators will be launched in early It is planned that dedicated calls for Starting Grants and Advanced Grant panels will be issued annually. ERC Starting Grants Requirements: Excellent, ground-breaking research idea 2-9 years after completion of PhD Proven potential to establish an independent research career Research team to be established or consolidated Host institution based in an EU Member State, Associated Country, or international European Interest Organisation Details: Funding and time: Application: Evaluation criterion: up to per grant up to 5 years online, 2-stage submission process scientific excellence 1

2 Indicative statistics Statistics based on the 300 top ranking ERC Starting Grants Distribution by panel and experience after PhD Percentage of PIs by panel and years after PhD 1 9% 8% 7% 6% 5% 4% 3% 2% 1% LS PE SH 6-9 years 2-5 years LS1 LS2 LS3 LS4 LS5 LS6 LS7 PE1 PE2 PE3 PE4 PE5 PE6 PE7 PE8 SH1 SH2 SH3 SH4 SH5 For scientific areas of panels: see p

3 Experience after PhD Percentage of PIs by years after PhD and gender 25% 2 Male Female 15% 1 5%

4 Gender of the PIs Percentage of female PIs by panel 8 7 Overall: 26% women LS PE SH LS1 LS2 LS3 LS4 LS5 LS6 LS7 PE1 PE2 PE3 PE4 PE5 PE6 PE7 PE8 SH1 SH2 SH3 SH4 SH5 For scientific areas of panels: see p. 12 4

5 Age of the PIs Percentage of PIs by age and gender 16% 14% 12% Average age: 35 years Male Female 1 8% 6% 4% 2%

6 Country of host institution Percentage of grants by country of host institution 2 18% 16% 14% 21 countries 12% 1 8% 6% 4% 2% UK FR DE NL IT ES IL CH BE SE FI HU AT EL DK CY IE PT BG CZ NO 6

7 Nationality of the PIs Percentage of PIs by nationality 14% 12% 1 32 nationalities 8% 6% 4% 2% DE IT FR UK IL NL ES BE SE FI HU CH AT EL US CY IE JP PL PT AR CA CN DK TR AU CZ NO RO RU SI SK 7

8 Country of residence of the PIs Percentage of PIs by current country of residence 25% 2 27 countries 15% 1 5% UK FR DE IT NL ES IL CH SE BE HU FI US AT EL CY DK IE PL AR AU CA NO PT RO SK 8

9 Grants in relation to population Grants by country of host institution per million inhabitants 3,0 2,5 2,0 1,5 1,0 0,5 0,0 CY CH NL FI SE BE UK FR HU DK ES AT IE IT DE EL NO PT BG CZ Source: Eurostat 2007, Reference year: 2006 or latest year available. Missing data: IL 9

10 Grants in relation to researcher population Grants by country of host institution per thousand researchers 3,2 3,1 3,0 1,0 0,9 0,8 0,7 0,6 0,5 0,4 0,3 0,2 0,1 0,0 CY NL CH HU IT BE EL ES SE FR IE FI AT DE DK BG PT NO CZ Source: Eurostat 2007, Reference year: 2005 or latest year available. Missing data: IL, UK 10

11 Grants in relation to R&D expenditure Grants by country of host institution per Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D in PPS* (x1000) CY HU BG NL EL CH ES UK BE IT FI PT IE SE FR DK AT DE CZ NO Source: Eurostat 2007, Reference year: 2005 or latest year available. Missing data: IL, TR * PPS = Purchasing Power Standard (an artificial currency reflecting different national price levels (EU27 = 100)) 11

12 Starting Grant panel structure 1. Physical Sciences, Engineering Sciences, Universe and Earth Sciences (8 panels) Panel PE1 - Mathematical foundations Panel PE2 - Fundamental constituents of matter Panel PE3 - Condensed matter in physics and chemistry Panel PE4 - Material and chemical sciences Panel PE5 - Information and communication Panel PE6 - Engineering sciences Panel PE7 - Universe science Panel PE8 - Earth system science 2. Biological and Life Sciences (7 panels) Panel LS1 - Molecular, cellular and developmental biology Panel LS2 - Genetics, genomics, bioinformatics and systems biology Panel LS3 - Organismic physiology, including infection and immunity Panel LS4 - Neurosciences Panel LS5 - Evolutionary, population and environmental biology Panel LS6 - Medical and health science research Panel LS7 - Applied life sciences, biotechnology and bioengineering 3. Social and Human Sciences (5 panels) Panel SH1 - Individuals and organisations Panel SH2 - Institutions, behaviour, values and beliefs Panel SH3 - The human mind and its complexity Panel SH4 - Cultures and cultural diversity Panel SH5 - The study of the past and of cultural artefacts 12

13 Country codes EU Member States FP7 Associated Countries Other countries AT BE BG CY CZ DE DK EE EL ES FI FR HU IE IT LT LU LV MT NL PL PT RO SE SI SK UK Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czech Republic Germany Denmark Estonia Greece Spain Finland France Hungary Ireland Italy Lithuania Luxembourg Latvia Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Sweden Slovenia Slovakia United Kingdom CH HR IL IS MK NO RS TR Switzerland Croatia Israel Iceland FYR of Macedonia Norway Serbia Turkey AR AU CA CN JP RU US Argentina Australia Canada China Japan Russian Federation United States 13