How do I apply? ERC, the Quickguide

At a ceremony in Berlin on 27 and 28 February, work formally began on one of the world’s biggest experiments in scientific funding: the launch of the European Research Council.

This is a €7.51 billion bet that scientists, rather than politicians, will be better at parcelling out European research grants: for the first time in a major EU programme, the task of picking who gets money is being left to 20 specialised panels of international scientists.

That’s the way the US National Science Foundation and other highly regarded scientific agencies have long worked. But for Brussels, where the political principles of “juste retour” – each Member State should get back from the EU something like the money it gives – has turned past programmes into oft-criticised exercises in constructing politically correct consortia to share the money evenly.

But the ERC vows that only one principle will apply: excellence. And so far, the signs are good: As a measure of the scientific community’s vote of confidence, the fledgling agency had a 95 per cent acceptance rate among scientists it asked to join its review panels – a very high rate. If it ultimately succeeds, the ERC’s transparent judging process will increase competition among European researchers and their universities – leading to higher quality research, and a more competitive Europe. That’s the theory, anyway.

But let’s get real: How will this work, and how do you get some of the money? Herewith, a Science|Business Quickguide to the ERC:

Why are they doing this? Aren’t there enough agencies doling out research money already?

The fundamental rationale for the ERC is to introduce pan-European competition among scientists – to raise quality. While politicians often say the problem of European science is lack of money rather than talent, in fact the statistics show that, while money is indeed a problem, quality also is deficient. Take a look at the number of European universities that figure in the top 50 in one widely watched ranking: Nine Europeans appear (led by Cambridge, Oxford and Imperial.) Same picture appears in scientific citations, Nobel Prize awards, and most other measures of quality. There are many clusters of excellence in Europe – but not enough of them.

Part of the problem is that, in most countries, research money is either awarded by bureaucrats or by national panels of scientists; except in clear scientific leaders like Britain, it’s difficult to get enough American, German or other non-national scientists to take the time to study hundreds of complicated grant applications. The result: Inevitably, a certain percentage of the research awards are influenced by local political concerns, rather than purely scientific merit. Multiply this by the three dozen scientific grant agencies across Europe, and a vast problem of pork-barrel politics arises – not to mention duplication of research projects from one country to another.

The ERC isn’t meant to supplant the national agencies; it is intended to complement them with a European dimension. It’s further differentiating itself by starting off with grants only for young scientists. Most national programmes cater to the scientific establishment, full professors with years of experience and connections; there’s seldom room for the bright young post-docs with new ideas – and so they go abroad.

How does the ERC work?

It is – or will be, when it finishes organizing its affairs later in 2007 – an executive agency of the European Union, with a fair degree of autonomy from the normal political machinery of the European Commission. It is governed by a 22-member board, and run by a professional staff led by a secretary-general, Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker (former head of the German research agency, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft). The staff’s main function is organizing the grants process and counting the money.

The decisions on where the money goes are to be made by panels of independent scientists. For the first round of grants, it has formed 20 panels, one for each major academic discipline. Each panel has a dozen members. At present, about 10 per cent of the 240 reviewers are from outside Europe.

For the first round of grants, a two-step process is planned. Applications can be filed online from 18 March to 25 April; nobody knows how many applications will arrive, but it could be 3,000 to 10,000. The reviewers will make the first cuts in June or July, winnowing the crop to about 500. The final selections will be made in October or November, with a target of about 200 to 250 winners for this, first round of €300 million in grants. That implies an acceptance rate somewhere in the vicinity of 5 per cent – tougher than, say, admissions to MIT.

Who can apply?

To begin with, the young. For the ERC Starting Grants, the applicant must have been awarded his or her first doctorate more than two and less than nine years before the 25 April filing deadline. (Some extensions are possible, for instance for maternity leave.) Unlike many grant programmes, the ERC awards focus on the individual, not a team or an institution.

The applicant must be a Principal Investigator, a term of art that means that the scientist has the authority from his or her institution to obtain funding independently of senior staff, manage the project and funding, publish as senior author, supervise any team members, and have access to reasonable facilities for the work. The applicant must also have the endorsement of the institution; that’s because, to conform with EU accounting rules, the formal legal contract for the award will be signed with the institution, rather than the individual.

But there are no further qualifications. An applicant doesn’t have to be European; only the hosting institution has to be in the EU or an “associated” country (so far, that means Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Israel, Turkey, Croatia and Serbia.) They don’t have to work in big teams; in some disciplines, like art history or economics, researchers often work alone. And applicants don’t have to be at universities; they could also be at private companies, if the employer allows the kinds of freedom to research and publish implicit in the principal investigator label.

As for older scientists, their turn will come in 2008, when the ERC launches its second programme, the ERC Advanced Grant. Those will focus on “high-risk” research by very experienced researchers. The details of this programme will be announced later in 2007.

What do I get?

Prestige and money. The typical ERC Starting Grant will last up to five years and provide €100,000 to €400,000 of funding a year. The Advanced Grants will go up to €500,000 a year. Given the enthusiastic accolades that the scientific community has so far given the ERC, it’s also likely that the award-winners will get something more valuable: recognition, not just in their own country, but across the EU.

Where do I start?

With the ERC Web site, and its application guide. It’s in English. And the applications also have to be in English – a shock to some, but reflecting the reality that, if you want international scientific review, it must be conducted in the international language of science.