peter hedden - an opportunity for the plant science research community in europe
DESCRIPTION
Presentation from Peter Hedden, Rothamsted Research, UK, Deputy Chair, ERC LS9 panel for Starting Grants, at the 7th EPSO Conference, 2 Sept 2013. "An opportunity for the plant science research community in Europe"TRANSCRIPT
ERC – European Research Council
Peter Hedden Deputy Chair, LS9 panel for Starting Grants
Jean-Luc Khalfaoui
ERC Research Programme Officer
ERC support for life sciences - An opportunity for the plant
science research community in Europe
To encourage the highest quality research in Europe
through competitive funding and to support investigator-
initiated frontier research across all fields of research, on
the basis of scientific excellence.
ERC – Mission
│ 2
│ 3 │ 3
ERC - Principles
• Part of the 7th EU Research Framework Programme (IDEAS Programme)
• Frontier research projects; high risk/high gain research
• Excellence as the only valid criterion
• No predetermined subjects (bottom-up); all science fields
• Support for the individual scientist
• International peer-review • Open to researchers from anywhere in the world willing to do
research in Europe • Projects can involve partners from anywhere in the world,
│ 4
ERC Structure : 3 pillars
The Scientific Council • 22 prominent researchers proposed by an independent identification committee • Appointed by the Commission (4 years, renewable once) • Establishes overall scientific strategy; annual work programmes (incl. calls for proposals, evaluation criteria); peer review methodology; selection and accreditation of experts • Controls quality of operations and management • Ensures communication with the scientific community
The ERC Agency • Executes annual work programme as established by the Scientific Council • Implements calls for proposals and provides information and support to applicants • Organises peer review evaluation • Establishes and manages grant agreements • Administers scientific and financial aspects and follow-up of grant agreements • Carries out communications activities and ensures information dissemination to ERC stakeholders
The European Commission • Provides financing through the EU framework programmes • Guarantees autonomy of the ERC • Assures the integrity and accountability of the ERC • Adopts annual work programmes as established by the Scientific Council
10.8%
4%
7.3%
15.1%
17.8%
21.6%
23.4%
0
300
600
900
1200
1500
1800
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Mill
ion
Euro
FP7 budget € 50.5 billion ERC budget € 7.5 billion; Increase by € 250 M/year
Co-operation (65 %)
Ideas (15 %)
People (9 %)
Capacities (8 %) JRC non-
nuclear (3 %)
│ 6
ERC Funding Schemes Creative freedom of the individual grantee
ERC offers independence, recognition & visibility • to work on a research topic of own choice, with a team of own choice • to gain true financial autonomy for 5 years
• to negotiate with the host institution the best conditions of work
• to attract top team members (EU and non-EU) and collaborators • to move with the grant to any place in Europe if necessary (portability
of grants)
• to attract additional funding and gain recognition; ERC is a quality label
│ 7 │ 7 │ 7
ERC Funding Schemes Who can apply?
• Excellent Researchers • Any nationality, any age or any current
place of work to attract researchers to EU In conjunction with a Host Institution
Based in EU or associated countries
Incentive: Additional “start-up” funding for scientists moving to Europe (€ 500 000 for Starting, € 750 000 for Consolidator and € 1 Million for Advanced grantees)
Flexibility: Host institution shall be in an EU member state or an FP7 Associated Country Grantee can keep affiliation with home institute outside Europe (“significant part” of work time in Europe) Team members can be based outside Europe Grantee can move within Europe with the grant
Negotiation: Several European countries/host institutes assist applicants and reward grantees with top-up funds or long-term professorships
Attractive features for researchers from outside Europe
│ 8
Achievements of the ERC - so far
• More than 2,600 funded proposals (58% of them StG)
• More than 480 different host institutions in 26 countries
• 50% of PIs in 50 institutions (“excellence attracts excellence”)
• Average success rate 12 %
│ 9
Starting Grants 2-7 years after PhD
up to € 2.0 Mio for 5 years
Advanced Grants track-record of significant research achievements in the last 10 years
up to € 3.5 Mio for 5 years
Synergy Grants 2 – 4 Principal Investigators up to € 15.0 Mio for 6 years
Proof-of-Concept bridging gap between research - earliest
stage of marketable innovation up to €150,000 for ERC grant holders
ERC Grant schemes
Consolidator Grants (new from 2013)
7-12 years after PhD up to € 2.75 Mio for 5 years
Starting Grants
Consolidator Grants Advanced
Grants
Eligibility PhD award 2-7 years before call publication
PhD award 7-12 years before call publication
for max. 5 years
max. € 1,500,000 + €500,000 if moving from
third country to EU or AC, purchase of major equipment
and/or access to large facilities
max. € 2,000,000 + €750,000 if moving from third country to EU or AC, purchase of major equipment and/or access to large facilities
max. € 2,500,000 + € 1,000,000 if moving from third country to MS or AC, purchase of major equipment and/or access to large facilities
Dedication to ERC project
min. 50% of PI’s working time to the ERC-funded project and in an EU Member State or Associated
Country
min. 50% of PI’s working time in a EU MS or AC and min. 30% of PI’s
working time to the ERC-funded project
EU financial contribution
Direct costs: personnel, equipment, consumables, travel, admin… Up to 100% of the total eligible and approved direct costs Indirect costs: flat-rate financing of 20% of the total eligible direct costs (excl. subcontracting and costs for resources made available by third parties outside HI) │ 11
Features of ERC StG, CoG and AdG
• Potential for research independence • Evidence of scientific maturity • At least one publication without participation of PhD supervisor
Promising track-record of early achievements • significant publications • invited presentations in conferences • funding, patents, awards, prizes
Specific stage of research career at time of application • Starter (2-7 years) • Consolidator (7-12 years)
│ 12
ERC Starting and Consolidator Grants The applicant’s profile
│ 12
│ 13
ERC Advanced Grants The applicant’s profile
Track-record of significant research achievements in the last 10 years
Exceptional leaders and mentors 10 publications as senior author in major
scientific journals 5 granted patents 10 invited presentations at international
conferences 3 international conferences where Principal
Investigator was an organiser International prizes/awards
Age of StG and AdG grantees
│ 14
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 51 53 55 57 59 61 63 65 67 69 71 73
Age of the grantees
Nu
mb
er o
f g
ran
tees
│ 15
Host institution
Not evaluated during evaluation process!
Applicant legal entity: institution that engages and hosts the PI for the duration of the project
Any type of legal entity: universities, research centres, business research units or an International European Interest Organisation (eg EMBL), or JRC … as long as it is in MS or AC
Commitment of HI: to ensure that the PI may
- apply for funding independently
- manage research and funding for the project
- publish independently as senior author
- have access to reasonable space and facilities
│ 15
│ 16
Excellence as sole criterion, to apply to:
1. Research Project (RP) Ground breaking nature Potential impact Scientific Approach
2. Principle Investigator (PI) Intellectual capacity Creativity Commitment
ERC Peer review evaluation: Evaluation criteria
│ 16
Who evaluates the proposals ?
• Panel members: typically 600 / call High-level scientists Recruited by ScC from all over the world:
~14% from outside Europe About 12 members plus a chair person
• Referees: typically 2000 / call Evaluate only a small number of proposals Similar to normal practice in peer-reviewed
journals
Europe and Associated Countries
(86%)
US (7%)
Other (7%)
│ 18
Eligibility check
Step 1 (remote) evaluation on the basis of section 1 of
proposal by panel members
Proposals passing to step 2
Individual assessment of full proposal by panel members &
referees
AdG : 2nd Panel meeting
Submission of full proposals
Proposals selected for funding
ERC Grants: how does it work? Submission, evaluation and selection
1st Panel meeting
StG/CoG: 2nd Panel meeting incl. interviews of applicants
│ 19 │ 19
Call budget distribution for 2013 calls
Indicative call budget Starting Grant : ~ €395m Consolidator Grant: ~ €515m Advanced Grant: ~ €660m Breakdown per domain
• Life Sciences – LS • Physical Sciences & Engineering – PE • Social Sciences & Humanities – SH
Within each domain, budget is broken down according to total funding requested per panel (equal chance in each panel)
│ 20 │ 20
ERC Grant Schemes (StG, CoG & AdG) Panel structure : 3 domains and 25 panels Panels in the area of Plant Science
Each panel : Panel Chair and
10-14 Panel Members
Life Sciences (LS) 9 panels LS1 Molecular & Structural Biology &
Biochemistry LS2 Genetics, Genomics, Bioinformatics &
Systems Biology LS3 Cellular and Developmental Biology LS4 Physiology, Pathophysiology &
Endocrinology LS5 Neurosciences & neural disorders LS6 Immunity & infection LS7 Diagnostic tools, therapies & public health LS8 Evolutionary, population & environmental
biology LS9 Applied life sciences & biotechnology
Social Sciences and Humanities (SH) 6 SH1 Individuals, institutions & markets SH2 Institutions, values, beliefs and behaviour SH3 Environment & society SH4 The Human Mind and its complexity SH5 Cultures & cultural production SH6 The study of the human past
Physical Sciences & Engineering (PE) 10 PE1 Mathematical foundations PE2 Fundamental constituents of matter PE3 Condensed matter physics PE4 Physical & Analytical Chemical sciences PE5 Materials & Synthesis PE6 Computer science & informatics PE7 Systems & communication engineering PE8 Products & process engineering PE9 Universe sciences PE10 Earth system science
│ 21
The LS9 Panel Descriptors : Applied life Sciences and Non-Medical Biotechnology Descriptors in the area of Plant Science
│ 22
Distribution of submitted StG proposals along the LS9 panel descriptors (2008-2012)
• Weighted number of applications per descriptor (No. of applications as Keyword 1 + 50% as Keyword 2)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
LS9_1 LS9_2 LS9_3 LS9_4 LS9_5 LS9_6 LS9_7 LS9_8 LS9_9 LS9_10 LS9_11
ERC Panel LS9
95 projects selected 2008-2013 53 StG + 42 AdG
26 projects selected in plant science and agriculture/forestry 10 StG + 16 AdG
10% success rate for StG 2013
│ 24
Projects funded by LS9 Starting Grants
Do forests cool the Earth? Reconciling sustained productivity
and minimum climate response with portfolios of contrasting forest
management strategies (DOFOCO)
2009
Sebastiaan Luyssaert
COMMISSARIAT A L' ENERGIE
ATOMIQUE, FRANCE
Development of super-wheat crops by introgressing agronomic
traits from related wild species (SWCD)
2009
Maria-Pilar Prieto
INSTITUTO DE AGRICULTURA SOSTENIBLE-CSIC CÓRDOBA, SPAIN
│ 25
Projects funded by LS9 Starting Grants
Priming of plant immunity: from its onset to trans-generational
maintenance (PRIME-A-PLANT)
2012
Jurriaan Ton
THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD, UNITED KINGDOM
Floral integrating networks at the shoot apical meristem of rice (FLARE)
2010
Fabio Fornara
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI MILANO,
ITALY
│ 26
Projects funded by LS9 Advanced Grants
Simultaneous multi-pathway engineering in crop plants through combinatorial genetic
transformation: Creating nutritionally biofortified cereal grains for food security
(BIOFORCE)
2008
Paul Christou
UNIVERSIDAD DE LLEIDA, SPAIN
The Plant Immune System: a multidisciplinary approach to uncover how plants simultaneously deal with beneficial and parasitic organisms to
maximize profits and protection (PLANTIMMUSYS)
2010
Cornelis Marinus Jozef Pieterse
UNIVERSITEIT UTRECHT,
NETHERLANDS
│ 27
Projects funded by LS9 Advanced Grants
FUTUREROOTS: Redesigning root architecture for improved
crop performance
2011
Malcolm John Bennett
THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM
Is there a limit to yield? (YIELD)
2011
Daniel Zamir
THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM, ISRAEL
Future perspectives HORIZON 2020
HORIZON 2020 structure: − Excellent Science − Industrial leadership − Societal challenges − EIT; Spreading excellence and widening participation; Science with
and for society − JRC
Excellent Science: reinforcing and extending the excellence of the EU’s science base and consolidating ERA to make EU’s R&I system more competitive on a global scale European Research Council (budget under H2020: € 13 billion) Future and Emerging Technologies Marie Curie Research Infrastructures
│ 28
Budget Horizon 2020 after negotiations between
Parliament-Council-Commission
Co-operation (65 %)
Ideas (15 %)
People (9 %)
Capacities (8 %) JRC non-
nuclear (3 %)
FP7 budget € 50.5 billion ERC budget € 7.5 billion
H2020 budget € 77 billion ERC budget € 13 billion (+73%)
│ 30
Contact your NCPs http://cordis.europa.eu/national_service/home_en.html
To subscribe to ERC newsletter and newsalerts http://erc.europa.eu/keep-updated-erc
Follow us on https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanResearchCouncil
https://twitter.com/ERC_Research
ERC Website: http://erc.europa.eu