peter hedden - an opportunity for the plant science research community in europe

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

Presenter

Presentation Notes

The purpose of this talk is to introduce the ERC and make you aware of the funding opportunities it offers to plants scientists and particularly to highlight the relevance of Life Science panel 9 to plant science research. Thank Jean-Luc for assistance in preparing the presentation.

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

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

The ERC was established in 2007 as a mechanism to support basic research in Europe across all fields of science. In contrast to other FP7 programmes the projects are initiated by the scientist with scientific excellence being the only criterion.

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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,

Presenter

Presentation Notes

"Excellence“ applies to both the project, which should be ground-breaking in terms of ideas and methodology, and to the PI , who will have demonstrated high intellectual capacity and creativity, or show potential for conducting ground-breaking, innovative research. Focus on "individual teams" (no consortia! )

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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

Presenter

Presentation Notes

The scientific strategy is established by the Scientific Council, consisting of scientists appointed by the Commission, who provide the funding through the Framework programmes. The ERC programme is administered by the ERC agency, who organises the calls, provides information to applicants, organise proposal evaluation, and manages the grant agreements and financial aspects.

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 %)

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Funding for the ERC has increased steadily totalling € 7.5 billion under FP7.

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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

Presenter

Presentation Notes

ERC funding provides an important opportunity to establish independence, particularly for the younger scientist, and allows you to establish your own research group. The prestige associated with an ERC grant can also attract funding, for example from local agencies and may in obtaining job security. Some of the benefits are listed here.

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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

Presenter

Presentation Notes

It funds the researchers of any nationality provided they are based in an EU member state or an associated country. A major aim is to attract excellent scientists to Europe.

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

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

For those moving to Europe it provides extra start-up funding.

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 %

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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

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Starting grants aimed to establish the careers of the promising young scientists (“age” referring to time since obtaining their doctorate rather than chronological age). From 2013 it has been divided into true starters (2-7 years after PhD) and consolidators (7-12 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

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Funding and extra. StG and CoG – min 50% time dedicated to project and spent in EU or AC; AdG 50% time in EU/AC and 30% time on project.

• 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)

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ERC Starting and Consolidator Grants The applicant’s profile

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

Proposals judged on record of PI as well as quality of project. For StG and CoG, there must be evidence of scientific maturity and independence of ideas.

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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

Presenter

Presentation Notes

For AdG grants there must be evidence of a track record demonstrating significant achievements.

Age of StG and AdG grantees

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0

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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

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er o

f g

ran

tees

Presenter

Presentation Notes

No funding gap between StG and AdG, considerable overlap (although average age for AdG 53)

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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

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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

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

Project is expected to be innovative with the potential to have a major impact. Although high risk projects are encouraged, they should be feasible.

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%)

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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

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Two-step process, in which in Step 1, the eligibility, CV and track record and an extended synopsis are evaluated by panel members. In step 2 the full proposal is evaluated by external referees and the panel. For StG and CoG this involves an interview (normally about 30 min including a presentation and questions).

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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)

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Within each domain the budget is divided between the panels according to the number of applications to that panel, so chances are equal for each project.

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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

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Selection of the panel PI responsibility, they can select a primary and then a secondary panel in case their proposal is cross-panel. Will then be evaluated by appropriate members of each panel.

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The LS9 Panel Descriptors : Applied life Sciences and Non-Medical Biotechnology Descriptors in the area of Plant Science

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Several of the topics within LS9 are uniquely tailored to plant science, agriculture and forestry.

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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)

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30

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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

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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

Presenter

Presentation Notes

DOFOCO - The overall goal to quantify and understand the role of forest management in mitigating climate change. Investigating the environmental impact of different forest management systems through detailed monitoring. SWCD – Basic understanding of chromosome pairing during meiosis in hexaploid and tetraploid wheat as controlled by the PH1 locus and to exploit ph1 mutants to introduce useful traits from wild species.

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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

Presenter

Presentation Notes

FLARE – understanding mechanisms involved in the day-length regulation of reproductive development in rice with the ultimate aim of manipulating the process to extend the range of rice production. PRIME-A-PLANT –Understanding the mechanisms involved in priming and maintaining plant defence against predators and how this might be exploited for sustainable agriculture

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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

Presenter

Presentation Notes

BIOFORCE – creation of cereals with increased vitamin and mineral nutrition by genetic engineering of multiple pathways, looking also at IP, regulatory and biosafety issues. PLANTIMMUSYS – Investigating the mechanisms by which plants discriminate between and respond to beneficial and harmful organisms.

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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

Presenter

Presentation Notes

FUTUREROOTS – Developing tools for imaging and modelling root architecture in wheat, analysing architecture variation in germplasms and determining the optimum architecture for water and nutrient uptake. YIELD – Determining genes and mechanisms that influence yield in tomatoes by scrutinizing wild ancestors and integrating candidate genes. Combines high quality, innovative science and technology with the potential for application

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

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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%)

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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

Presenter

Presentation Notes

ERC National Contact Points

http://cordis.europa.eu/national_service/home_en.html

http://erc.europa.eu/keep-updated-erc

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peter hedden - an opportunity for the plant science research community in europe

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