European Research Council The ERC s quest to support excellent researchers all over Europe Prof Eva Kondorosi, Chair of the ERC Scientific Council Working Group on Widening European Participation Art & Build Architect / Montois Partners / credits: S. Brison Ljubljana,
ERC Mission & Widening European Participation The ERC aims to: Support the best of the best in Europe across all fields of science Promote wholly investigator-driven, or 'bottom-up' frontier research Encourage the work of the established and next generation of top research leaders in Europe Reward innovative proposals by placing emphasis on the quality of the idea rather than the research area Raise the status and visibility of European frontier research and the very best researchers of today and tomorrow But also: To capitalise on the full European potential for frontier research without departing from the ERC's principle of excellence. 2
Geographical Location of Grants Talent is everywhere Altogether ERC grants at 670 different host institutions in 33 countries 3
Concentration of ERC grants in research intensive countries and top HI 90% of ERC grants in top 11 countries 50% of ERC grants in top 50 institutions 4
The ERC potential in certain countries seems to be above their current performance Share of ERC grants & budget Share of EU13 public researchers in EU&AC = 16% +AC Share of EU13 highly cited publications in EU&AC = 5% Share of EU13 research investment (GERD) in EU&AC = 3% 5
Significantly different success rates by country of HI Average success rate around 11% Success rate for the region 1% 6
CH IL NL DK UK SE BE FI AT CY IE NO FR DE ES IS IT PT HU EL EE LU CZ SI HR LV BG PL SK RS TR RO As talents are everywhere why are certain countries more successful than others? 45,00 40,00 35,00 30,00 Number of ERC Grants per 1 million inhabitants 25,00 20,00 15,00 10,00 5,00 0,00 7
ERC Grants versus GERD: lower research investment in the region Linear fit Host countries as of 19/09/2016 8
ERC Grants versus Top Publications: Lower number of top publication Linear fit Host countries as of 19/09/2016 9
Relatively low number of applications from EU13 countries
Most ERC grantees from the region are abroad (brain drain) Over 80% of PIs with nationality from the region are have their ERC grant hosted abroad 11
Significant differences in salary levels across Europe In April 2007 the European Commission published a comparison of researchers salaries across Europe, based on an online survey. The chart gives the average salaries adjusted to the cost of living in each country. Average weighted total yearly salary per countries (2006 in ) Country Average weighted total yearly salary adjusted Country Switzerland 82.725 Spain 34.908 Luxembourg 63.865 Portugal 29.001 Austria 62.406 Malta 28.078 Denmark 61.355 Slovenia 27.756 Ireland 60.727 Greece 25.685 Netherlands 59.103 Czech Republic Average weighted total yearly salary adjusted 19.620 Norway 58.997 Croatia 16.671 Belgium 58.462 Turkey 16.249 Germany 56.132 Hungary 15.812 Sweden 56.053 Lithuania 13.851 United Kingdom 56.048 Estonia 11.748 France 50.879 Poland 11.659 Iceland 50.803 Latvia 10.488 Cyprus 45.039 Slovakia 9.178 Finland 44.635 Romania 6.286 Israel 42.552 Bulgaria 3.556 Italy 36.201 12
Too many weak applications from EU13 Compared to 26% evaluated step 2 and 32% C for EU15 13
Too many weak applications from the region (9%) (23%) (68%) Compared to 27 % evaluated step 2 and 31% C for EU15 14
Submitted proposals by funding scheme (2007-2016) 15
Low participation in ERC Calls by the 9 countries 16
Success rate by evaluation step Stumbling block at step 1 Large majority of applications from the region fail at step1, success rate of those that reach Step2 is close to average. 17
Low number of re-applications average over calls 2009-2016 Success rate of returning applicants is higher! 18
Low international mobility: Researchers (post-phd) with a period of at least three months as in another country in the last 10 years, Europe, 2012 (%)
Widening European Participation ERC Working Group Identify possible actions that could be taken by the ERC to support the best scientists from weak participating European countries and encourage them to apply to the ERC. 20
Conclusions: Bottlenecks for higher inclusiveness in ERC competitions 2014: ERC Widening participation survey [n=788] Low international profile of research: lack of international dynamics and mobility Unattractiveness of research environment: scientific isolation, missing culture of scientific excellence, lack of open and merit based reward system Poor career prospective: lack of science career building programmes and longterm research career prospective, non-merit based recruitment practices Low levels of research investment: low salaries for top scientists, lack of additional and sustainable funding: ERC top-up, ERC runners-up, ERC exit programmes Inadequate research funding systems: not appropriate for pursuing ambitious projects Lack of institutional support to ERC applicants and grantees provided locally: administration of HI, NCPs, colleagues and peers, personal coaching National, institutional conditions matter! 21
Actions to be taken at national level Increase research investment Research capacity building and strengthening of local research infrastructure: use of EU structural funds Reform of national/local research systems along best practices for nurturing scientific excellence: competition based research funding, open merit based recruitment, performance based salaries,... Internationalisation of research: fostering international mobility and cross-border scientific exchange, raising attractiveness of research environment Strengthening local support to ERC applicants and grantees: financial support for ERC runners-up, training days, workshops, seminars, and coaching for ERC candidates, but also their supporting services Bring back the most talented scientists from abroad with attractive research funding and salaries (for 5 years) that are prospective candidates for ERC grants Encourage talented scientists to apply with strong, well prepared proposals: international mobility/ training before applying (ERC visiting fellowship), personal encouragement and support from the best scientists,... 22
How can ERC help: ERC Widening Participation Actions ERC EVALUATION PROCEDURE Awareness raising of ERC panel chairs to unequal conditions of applicants allowing to pass more excellent/promising projects for detailed Step 2 evaluation INTERNATIONAL MOBILITY TRAINING Promotion of visiting research fellowships to ERC grantees SUPPORTING CAPACITY BUILDING Supporting promising unfunded ERC applications through EEA&Norway Grants POLICY SUPPORT with RECOMMENDATIONS Organisation of regional ERC widening participation events: open forum with all relevant national stakeholders to identify actions/strategies for higher success rate in ERC calls. Zagreb (2014), Tallinn (2015), Budapest (2015), Krakow (2016), Wroczlaw (Nov. 2016), Ljubljana (Dec 2016) 23
Fellowship to visit ERC grantee ERC guidelines Scheme: Short term research visit (a min 3 to max 6 months) in an ERC team: international exposure, grant application coaching Funding: by a national research-funding organization of a country in the European Research Area, no additional funding is provided by ERC. Eligibility: Open to all excellent researchers working in ERA, through public, open competitions through evaluation panels composed by researchers of high repute and based on excellence and potential for an ERC grant application. Condition: A letter of support signed by an ERC grantee and his/her Host Institution stating that in case the applicant is selected he/she will be hosted as member of the research team of the PI (facilitated by the ERC via Call for expression of interest) Successful applicants must sign a letter of commitment to apply for an ERC grant no later than one/two year(s) after the end of the visit. 24
Fellowship to visit ERC grantee Results of the first call (Sept 2016) Participating countries/regions: Czech Republic Hungary Estonia Poland Slovenia Belgium (Flanders region) All PIs (~2800) of the main grants who have at least 18 months until the end of the project were invited to express their interest to host a visiting fellow through these 6 national programmes. Positive response from 724 (26%) Pis, with good and balanced geographic (29 countries) and thematic (all ERC panels) coverage. Next ERC Call in May 2017 for national/regional fellowship programmes launched in 2017/2018. 25
EEA&NORWAY Grants with ERC Supporting ERC runners-up Excellence Grants for runners-up ERC Step 2 As (Stg, CoG, AdG) Maturing Excellence Grants ERC Step2 Bs (StG, CoG, AdG) ERC non-funded Step 2 As in AdG, CoG and StG calls: full funding of their ERC proposed project coupled with a short term visit/exchange to/from Donor State ERC non-funded Step 2 Bs in AdG, CoG and StG calls: 3-24 months funding for further development of proposal supported by a mentoring scheme and coupled with a short term visit to an ERC or CoE research group in a Donor State and optionally also in a third country. Nurturing Excellence Grants ERC Step1 Bs (StG, CoG) ERC non funded Step 1 Bs in CoG and StG calls: 3-6 months mobility funding for improvement of proposal during a short term visit to an ERC or CoE research group in a Donor State, and optionally also in a third country. 26
Microtubules in action during chromosome division Iva Tolić ERC Repatriation success story: The driving forces of cell division Croatia Background Our body is constantly producing new cells to replace old or damaged ones, at the rate of millions per second. During cell division, cells pass on their genetic material from one generation to the other: chromosomes are replicated, the cell separates in two and an identical set of chromosomes is inherited by each daughter cell. ERC Project: NEWSPINDLEFORCE Iva Tolić Ruđer Bošković Institute (Croatia) ERC Consolidator Grant 2.1 mil. Research Dr Tolić wants to map out the forces acting on the chromosomes during cell division, understand how they are generated and how they act. She is interested in particular in a new class of microtubules. Importance Results could be critical for the development of new therapies against cancer, as this disease results from a cell duplication process that, for some reason, is not regulated correctly. A leading cell biophysicist, Dr Tolic is the ERC 5000 th grantee. She has established her new lab in Croatia. 27
The European Research Council Secretariat of the WG: Boris Kragelj ERC-WEP@ec.europa.eu More information: erc.europa.eu National Contact Point: erc.europa.eu/national-contact-points Sign up for news alerts: erc.europa.eu/keep-updated-erc www.facebook.com/europeanresearchcouncil twitter.com/erc_research www.linkedin.com/company/european-research-council 28