interim results of the first erc starting grant … results of the first erc starting grant...

ERC Scientific Council

Interim results of the first Interim results of the first ERC Starting Grant competition (Stage 1)ERC Starting Grant competition (Stage 1)

European Research Council

• 2ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

ERC Operational PrinciplesERC Operational Principles

• Two-stage application procedure Due to large number of expected applications

• ERC peer review evaluation process based on Panels Panels select proposals to be funded and applicable budgets

• List of peer reviewers drawn up by the Scientific Council Followed by formal ERC decision

• Proposal ranking list approved by the Scientific CouncilFollowed by formal Commission decision


• 3ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

• Individual Research Teams hosted by one or more host/s (= participant/s of the indirect actions) headed by a single team leader, the Principal Investigator (PI)

• The PI has the freedom to choose the research topic and the power to assemble a research team meeting the needs of the project.

• Teams can be of national or trans-national character.

ERC frontier research projects ERC frontier research projects Who can apply?Who can apply?


• 4ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

Eligibility criteriaEligibility criteria

• PI and team members:Nationality is not relevant.

• Host organisation of the PI:To be located in an EU Member State or an associated country*.

• Frontier Research Projects:All fields of science are eligible (investigator-driven, bottom-up).

* Croatia, Iceland, Israel, Liechtenstein, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey.


• 5ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

• The scheme targets young researchers, 2-9 years after PhD, who have the proven potential of becoming independent research leaders.

• The grants amount to between € 100 000 (minimum) and € 400 000 (maximum) per year for a period of up to five years.

ERC Starting Grant (ERC Starting Grant (StGStG))


• 6ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

First call: ERCFirst call: ERC--20072007--StGStG

• Indicative budget: € 289 500 000• Call deadline: 25 April 2007• Two-stage evaluation • 3 domains, 20 panels• Proposals are evaluated on the basis of:è The potential of the PIè The quality of the proposed research projectè In addition, the Panels consider (as a pass/fail

criterion): the research environment


• 7ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

Allocation to Panels

Reading and Assessment by Panel members

Panel meetings

Proposals retained for stage 2

Proposals submitted

Reading by Remote Referees

Stage 2 submission

Interviews of applicants

Panel meetings

Panel chairs meetings

Proposals selected

ERC Submission, Evaluation ERC Submission, Evaluation and Selection Processand Selection Process

Panel evaluators


• 8ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

14.9 %1363Social Sciences & Humanities (SH)

100.0 %9167Total

48.1 %4408Physical Sciences & Engineering (PE)

37.0 %3396Life Sciences (LS)

PercentageNumber of proposalsDomain

Proposals in the domainsProposals in the domains


• 9ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

OverviewOverviewby panelby panel

1.6%150SH5

1.4%130SH4

3.8%349SH3

3.9%355SH2

4.1%379SH1

5.5%503PE8

2.6%236PE7

8.4%768PE6

6.9%631PE5

7.8%719PE4

7.3%671PE3

4.5%408PE2

5.1%472PE1

3.9%355LS7

7.3%672LS6

3.9%358LS5

4.9%453LS4

4.5%413LS3

4.7%429LS2

7.8%716LS1

PercentageProposals submittedPanel


• 10ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

ERCERC--20072007--StG: EvaluationStG: Evaluation

• 9167 incoming proposalsè 8799 eligible whereof 5 withdrawnè 368 ineligible

• 8794 eligible proposals evaluated at first stageè 8235 rejectedè 559 selected (LS=206, PE=251, SH=102)


• 11ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

ERCERC--20072007--StG StG –– Two stage evaluation processTwo stage evaluation process

289.5 M€ available forthis call

è ~ 250 projects

Stage 2 evaluation: ~ 50%

pass rate expected

559 Stage 2“GO” proposals

representing

about 535 M€

Stage 1 evaluation:~ 6 % “GO” rate

8794 proposalsevaluated

representing

about 10 B€

value of FP7 funding


• 12ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

RequestedRequested grantgrant

Average requested grant per panel

500,000 €

600,000 €

700,000 €

800,000 €

900,000 €

1,000,000 €

1,100,000 €

1,200,000 €

1,300,000 €

1,400,000 €

1,500,000 €

LS1 LS2 LS3 LS4 LS5 LS6 LS7 PE1 PE2 PE3 PE4 PE5 PE6 PE7 PE8 SH1 SH2 SH3 SH4 SH5


• 13ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

Nationality of the PIs Nationality of the PIs Country groups for the selected 559 proposalsCountry groups for the selected 559 proposals

Proposals by country groups – nationality of PI:s Number Percent

Founding Member States(BE, DE, FR, IT, LU, NL)Member States joining the EC/EU 1973-1995(AT, DK, EL, ES, FI, IE, PT, SE, UK)Member States joining the EU 2004-2007(BG, CY, CZ, EE, HU, LT, LV, MT, PL, RO, SI, SK)Associated countries(CH, HR, IL, IS, LI, MK, NO, RS, TR)

Third countries 37 7%

Total 559 100%

8%

53%

152 27%

30 5%

47

293


• 14ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

Host country of the PIsHost country of the PIsCountry groups for the selected 559 proposalsCountry groups for the selected 559 proposals

Proposals by country groups – country of host institution Number Percent

Founding Member States(BE, DE, FR, IT, LU, NL)Member States joining the EC/EU 1973-1995(AT, DK, EL, ES, FI, IE, PT, SE, UK)Member States joining the EU 2004-2007(BG, CY, CZ, EE, HU, LT, LV, MT, PL, RO, SI, SK)Associated countries(CH, HR, IL, IS, LI, MK, NO, RS, TR)

Total 559 100%

21 4%

59 11%

275 49%

204 36%


• 15ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

Peer Peer reviewersreviewers by by gendergender and and nationalitynationality

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

DE IT UK FR ES BE NL

US SE HU PL EL AT FI DK IL CZ PT CH IE NO

AU CA JP RU

RO LV SK BG CN

NZ SI CY EE IS LT AR BR GI

HK

HR LU NI

PS

MaleFemale

Number of peer reviewers by nationality and gender

Male79%

Female21%

Gender


• 16ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

Peer Peer reviewersreviewers by type of employerby type of employer

RPN5.6%

RPU25.4%

HES59.9%

OTH2.7%

PUS0.2%

PNP0.2%RIO

2.3%

Unknown1.0%

RPR1.0%

JRC0.7%

BES0.5%

INO0.2%

BCO0.4%

HES

RPU

RPN

OTH

RIO

RPR

Unknown

JRC

BES

BCO

INO

PNP

PUS

HES = Higher Education Establishment

RPU = Public Research Centre

RPN = Private Non-profit Research Centre

OTH = Other

RIO = Internatinal Research Centres

RPR = Private / Commercial Research Centre

Unknown

JRC = Joint Research Centre

BES = Non-research Commercial sector incl. SMEs

BCO = Consultancy firms

INO = Non-research International Organisation

PNP = Non-research Private Non-profit

PUS = Non-research public sector


• 17ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

Time after first PhDTime after first PhDfor the for the PIsPIs of the of the evaluatedevaluated 8794 8794 proposalsproposals

Number of PIs by host country and time after first PhD

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

IT DE

UK FR NL

SE ES EL BE FI PT HU IL PL CH

DK

AT TR IE RO

NO CZ

BG SK SI CY HR EE LT RS IS LU LV MT

6-9 (12) years2-5 years


• 18ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

Time after first PhDTime after first PhDfor the for the PIsPIs of the of the selectedselected 559 559 proposalsproposals

Number of PIs by host country and time after first PhD

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

UK DE NL FR IT ES CH IL BE SE EL FI HU DK PT AT BG CY CZ NO IE

6-9(12) years2-5 years


• 19ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007


0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800


6–9(12) years2–5 years

Number of PIs by panel and time after first PhD

LS PE SH


• 20ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007


0

10

20

30

40

50

60


6–9(12) years2–5 years

Number of PIs by panel and time after first PhD

LS PE SH


• 21ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007


Number of PIs by number of years after first PhDAverage number of years after PhD

5.9

5.4

5.8

6.3

Female

5.55.5Social

Sciences & Humanities

5.95.8Total

5.85.7Physical

Sciences & Engineering

6.26.1Life Sciences

TotalMaleDomain

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 14

Male

Female


• 22ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007


Number of PIs by number of years after first PhD

Average number of years after PhD

6.5

6.0

6.2

7.4

Female

6.06.1Social

Sciences & Humanities

6.46.4Total

6.36.3Physical

Sciences & Engineering

6.76.5Life Sciences

TotalMaleDomain

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

MaleFemale


• 23ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

AgeAgeof the of the PIsPIs of the of the evaluatedevaluated 8794 8794 proposalsproposals

Number of PIs by age

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

1100

22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67

MaleFemale

Average age: 36.3 years


• 24ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67

Male

Female

AgeAgeof the of the PIsPIs of the of the selectedselected 559 559 proposalsproposals

Number of PIs by age

Average age: 35.6 years


• 25ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

GenderGenderof the of the PIsPIs of the of the evaluatedevaluated 8794 8794 proposalsproposals

Percentage of female PIs by panel

28%

37% 37%33% 32%

44%40%

18%16%

19%

30%

17% 18%22%

30%

35%

47% 46%

50%

43%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%


All panels: 30 % women


• 26ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

GenderGenderof the of the PIsPIs of of selectedselected 559 559 proposalsproposals

Percentage of female PIs by panel

17%13%

28%

19%15%

24%

30%

18%

8% 10%14%

29%

19%17%

29%

35%

41% 42%

64%

53%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%


All panels: 24 % women


• 27ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

Country of Country of residenceresidenceof the of the PIsPIs of the of the evaluatedevaluated 8794 8794 proposalsproposals

55 countries

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

IT UK DE FR ES NL SE EL BE FI CH PL IL HU PT TR DK US AT RO IE NO CZ BG CY SI SK CA

MaleFemale

0

5

10

15

20

HR RS LT AU EE RU JP LU CN LV IS ZA IN BR IR AR BF KH ME MT SG SN TN TW UA UZ ZW

MaleFemale

Number of proposals by gender and country of residence


• 28ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

Country of Country of residenceresidenceof the of the PIsPIs of the of the selectedselected 559 559 proposalsproposals

28 countries

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

UK DE FR NL IT ES IL BE CH SE US HU FI EL AT DK CY IE NO PT JP PL AR AU CA CZ RO SK

MaleFemale

Number of proposals by gender and country of residence


• 29ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

NationalityNationalityof the of the PIsPIs of the of the evaluatedevaluated 8794 8794 proposalsproposals

Number of proposals by gender and nationality

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

IT DE FR UK

ES NL

EL SE BE PL FI IL HU

RO PT TR AT DK IE RU

CH CZ

US

BG NO SK CN SI IN CY

RS

CA

UA

AU HR LT JP AR BR EE IS MX

MaleFemale

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

TN BY KR LV NZ

DZ IR SG CU LU VE ZA BD PE TW AM BA CL

CO EG LB MA PK TF UY UZ

AD CG HK KE LK ME

MK

MT

MU

MW MY

NG PH PS SM TG TH TZ VN ZW

MaleFemale

88 countries


• 30ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

NationalityNationalityof the of the PIsPIs of the of the selectedselected 559 559 proposalsproposals

Number of proposals by gender and nationality

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

DE IT FR NL UK ES BE IL SE HU EL CH FI US AT PT DK IE CY AU CN JP CA PL AR CZ IN NO RO RU TR AD BY IS RS SI SK UA

MaleFemale

38 countries


• 31ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

Country of host institutionCountry of host institutionof the 8794 of the 8794 evaluatedevaluated proposalsproposals

Number of proposals by domain and country of host institution (head quarters)

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

IT UK DE FR ES NL SE EL BE FI CH IL PL HU PT DK TR AT IE RO NO CZ BG SI CY SK RS HR LT EE LU IS LV MT

SH

PE

LS

34 countries


• 32ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

Country of host institutionCountry of host institutionof the of the selectedselected 559 559 proposalsproposals

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

UK DE FR NL IT ES IL BE CH SE HU FI EL AT DK NO CY IE PT CZ BG

SHPELS

21 countries

Number of proposals by domain and country of host institution (head quarters)


• 33ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

ProposalsProposals relatedrelated to populationto populationfor the for the evaluatedevaluated 8794 8794 proposalsproposals

Source: Eurostat 2007, Reference year: 2006 or latest year available, Missing data: IL, RS

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

SE CY FI NL DK IE EL BE IT CH SI NO UK AT HU IS PT LU ES DE FR EE CZ SK BG RO PL LT HR MT TR LV

Proposals per million inhabitants


• 34ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

ProposalsProposals relatedrelated to populationto populationfor the for the selectedselected 559 559 proposalsproposals

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

CY NL CH BE FI SE UK HU DK NO FR EL DE IE ES IT AT PT CZ BG

Proposals per million inhabitants

Source: Eurostat 2007, Reference year: 2006 or latest year available, Missing data: IL


• 35ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

ProposalsProposals relatedrelated to to researchersresearchersfor the for the evaluatedevaluated 8794 8794 proposalsproposals

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

CY IT EL NL IE HU SI BE PT SE CH DK FI AT RO ES BG NO DE FR CZ EE SK PL LU HR IS MT LT LV

Source: Eurostat 2007, Reference year: 2005 or latest year available, Missing data: IL, RS, TK, UK

Proposals per thousand researchers


• 36ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

ProposalsProposals relatedrelated to to researchersresearchersfor the for the selectedselected 559 559 proposalsproposals

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

CY NL CH HU BE EL IT ES IE SE FR FI DE NO DK AT PT BG CZ

Source: Eurostat 2007, Reference year: 2005 or latest year available, Missing data: IL, UK

Proposals per thousand researchers


• 37ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

ProposalsProposals and R&D and R&D expenditureexpenditurefor the for the evaluatedevaluated 8794 8794 proposalsproposals

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

LU DE FR IS MT AT CH CZ NO HR LV UK DK FI ES SE LT BE EE NL IE PL SI SK IT PT HU BG RO EL CY

Source: Eurostat 2007, Reference year: 2005 or latest year available, Missing data: IL, RS, TR

* PPS = Power Purchase Standards

Proposals per Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D in PPS*


• 38ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

ProposalsProposals and R&D and R&D expenditureexpenditurefor the for the selectedselected 559 559 proposalsproposals

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

CY HU EL NL BE CH UK ES BG IT PT FI IE SE FR NO DK DE AT CZ

Proposals per Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D in PPS*

Source: Eurostat 2007, Reference year: 2005 or latest year available, Missing data: IL, RS, TR

* PPS = Power Purchase Standards x1000


• 39ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

MobilityMobilityfor the for the PIsPIs of the of the evaluatedevaluated 8794 8794 proposalsproposals

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

20%

IS LU CH AT RS IE DE FR NL EL UK SE ES BG DK LT NO SK FI HR PT BE SI CZ HU IT RO CY PL IL TR EE LV MT


• 40ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

MobilityMobilityfor the for the PIsPIs of the of the selectedselected 559 559 proposalsproposals

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

BG CZ PT CH NO EL DK DE FR NL FI BE UK HU IL IT SE ES AT CY IE

Average2/40

60 out of the selected 559 PIs are intending to move to anothercountry…

… and 23 of these are comingfrom outside the EU or an associated country.

Percentage and number of PIs not yet living in the country of the host institution (head quarters)

1/1

6/25

1/2

1/51/4

2/1111/801/6

7/65

0/6 0/4 0/4

1/12 2/25 8/102 2/29 1/195/56 1/14 3/49


• 41ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

Redress Redress –– 245 cases245 cases

Evaluation – 196 casesè153 claim that one or more erroneous, inaccurate, unfair, etc. reviews have prejudiced the outcome è16 criticize the evaluation in general termsè10 claim that the individual reviews in general are not negative enough to reject the proposalè8 claim that the quality of the proposal is too high for it to be rejectedè5 claim that a reviewer evaluated the wrong proposalè2 claim that the interdisciplinarity of their proposal was not taken into account by the review processè1 claims that the wrong panel has evaluated the proposalè1 claims that one reviewer had apparently a clear conflict of interest

Eligibility – 49 casesè43 missing support letterè5 PhD criterionè1 proposal incomplete


• 42ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

Annex I: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 organisationsPanel SH2 - Institutions, behaviour, values and beliefsPanel SH3 - The human mind and its complexityPanel SH4 - Cultures and cultural diversityPanel SH5 - The study of the past and of cultural artefacts


• 43ERC – 2007 – StG (Stage 1), 1 Oct. 2007

Annex II:Country codes

EU Member States

AT AustriaBE BelgiumBG BulgariaCY CyprusCZ Czech RepublicDE GermanyDK DenmarkEE EstoniaEL/GR GreeceES SpainFI FinlandFR FranceHU HungaryIE IrelandIT ItalyLT LithuaniaLU LuxembourgLV LatviaMT MaltaNL NetherlandsPL PolandPT PortugalRO RomaniaSE SwedenSI SloveniaSK SlovakiaUK United Kingdom

FP7 Associated Countries

CH SwitzerlandHR CroatiaIL IsraelIS IcelandMK FYR of MacedoniaNO NorwayRS SerbiaTR Turkey

Other countries

AD AndorraAR ArgentinaAM ArmeniaAU AustraliaBA Bosnia and HerzegovinaBD BangladeshBF Burkina Faso BR BrazilBY BelarusCA CanadaCG CongoCL ChileCN China (People's Republic of)CO ColombiaCU CubaDZ AlgeriaEG EgyptGI GibraltarHK Hong KongIN IndiaIR Iran (Islamic Republic of)JP JapanKE Kenya

KR Korea (Republic of)LB Lebanon LK Sri LankaMA MoroccoME MontenegroMU MauritiusMW MalawiMX MexicoMY MalaysiaNG NigeriaNI Nicaragua NZ New ZealandPE PeruPH PhilippinesPK PakistanPS Cisjordanie/West Bank (+Gaza strip)RU Russian FederationSG SingaporeSM San MarinoSN Senegal TF French Southern TerritoriesTG TogoTH ThailandTN TunisiaTW TaiwanTZ Tanzania (United Republic of)UA UkraineUS United StatesUY UruguayUZ UzbekistanVE VenezuelaVN Viet Nam ZA South AfricaZW Zimbabwe

interim results of the first erc starting grant … results of the first erc starting grant...

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