"Transatlantic Researcher Mobility" presentation by Dr. Astrid Koch, S&T Counselor, European Commission Delegation, Washington DC, at Stanford University, July 21 2010

1. Transatlantic Researcher Mobility –
Funding and networking
opportunities with FP7
Delegation of the European Commission
in Washington DC
Science, Technology and Education
Astrid-Christina Koch

2. Outline
FP7: International Science &Technology
Cooperation
Ideas – The ERC Grants
People – The Marie-Curie Actions
EURAXESS –Links USA Network
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3. Lisbon Treaty and the new
Commission (2010-2014)
Entry into force on 1 December 2009 of the Treaty on the Functioning of
the EU (Lisbon Treaty) means:
Scientific and technological advance is a specific objective of the EU
To be achieved by the development of a “European Research Area” (ERA)
New mandate for a European space policy & implementing program
Mandate of new Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science –
Ms. Maire Geoghegan-Quinn:
Develop the European Research Area
Coordinate innovation activities
Improve EU / national-level coordination in R&D
Improve FP7 implementation
Prepare future EU R&D policies and launch FP8
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4. Framework for EU-U.S.
S&T Cooperation
Science & Technology Cooperation
Agreement
EU-U.S.
Since 1998; renewed 2004 and 2009.
S&T
Wide scope of topics; enlarged to Agreeme
include security and space research. nt
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5. International Cooperation in FP7
FP7 - open to international partners
Cooperation with industrialised countries:
focuses on areas of mutual interest and global
challenges
is funded under particular circumstances (specific
provision or “essential” to the work)
Most US participants use own funding sources
Funding could be made routinely available for
US researchers countries on a reciprocal basis
(e.g. FP7-NIH activities)
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6. The 7th EU Framework Programme
(2007-2013)
Collaborative Research Frontier Research
32 365 M€ 7 460 M€
Human Potential Research Capacity
4 728 M€ 4 217 M€
Total 53 billion € for 7 years
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7. The 7th Framework Programme:
2007 – 2013
Total FP7 budget: € 54,582 billion
Cooperation JRC (EC)
Euratom
1,8
4,1
Capacities
Ideas New
FP7
4,3
(ERC)
People 4,7
Cooperation
People 32,292*
7,46
Ideas
Capacities
*of which Health 5,984
FP7 /7

8. FP7 | Cooperation
bringing together our best talents
to tackle the following areas:
Health;
Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology;
Information and Communication Technologies;
Nano-sciences, Nano-technologies, Materials and new Production
Technologies;
Energy;
Environment (including Climate Change);
Transport (including Aeronautics);
Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities;
Space;
Security.
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9. The 7th Framework Programme:
2007 – 2013
Total FP7 budget: € 54,582 billion
Cooperation JRC (EC)
Euratom
1,8
4,1
Capacities
Ideas New
FP7
4,3
(ERC)
People 4,7
Cooperation
People 32,292*
7,46
Ideas
Capacities
*of which Health 5,984
FP7 /9

10. ERC Grant schemes
Aim: Retain – Repatriate – Recruit
Favour “brain gain” and “reverse brain drain”
improve career opportunities and independence - especially for
young researchers
increase competition, recognition and international visibility -
for excellent individual scientists and scholars in Europe
Raise aspiration and achievement of basic research in Europe -
comparability/benchmark for researchers and research systems
Activities: Two complementary funding schemes
ERC Starting Grant (StG): attract & retain the next generation of
independent research leaders - up to € 2.0 Mio for 5 years
ERC Advanced Grant (AdG): attract & reward established
independent research leaders - up to € 3.5 Mio for 5 years
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11. ERC Grant schemes
Who can apply? – General requirements
1. Principal Investigator (PI)
Nationality, age or current place of work not relevant
2. In conjunction with a Host organisation
To be located in MS or AC
3. Frontier Research Project
All fields of science, engineering and scholarship are
eligible (investigator-driven, bottom-up)
4. Individual research team
PI has freedom to choose National or trans-national
character, if scientific added value proven
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12. ERC Grant schemes
Operational Principles
Application in response to calls for proposals
Principal Investigators applies in conjunction and on
behalf of a research-performing host institution
Electronic Proposals Submission System (EPSS)
Single submission, staged evaluation procedure
to manage a large number of applications
Panel-based international peer review process
Scientific Council selects panels and peer reviewers
Panels assess and select proposals
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13. ERC Grant Schemes
Evaluation: Scientific Excellence is the sole criterion
Evaluation of Excellence at three levels:
• Quality of Principal Investigator
• Quality of Research Project
• Research Environment
Referees and panels evaluate and score criteria under Heading 1 and
Heading 2 numerically which will result in the ranking of the projects:
− 1-4 per criterion
− Threshold ≥ 2 per criterion
Criteria under Heading 3 will be considered as "pass/fail" and commented
but not scored
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14. ERC StG 2007 & ERC AdG 2008
Selected projects: Repatriation and Recruitment
Starting Grant 2007
Advanced Grant 2008
│ 14
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15. ERC Panel structure
Social Sciences and Humanities (SH)
SH1 - Individuals, institutions & markets
Life Sciences (LS) SH2 - Institutions, values, beliefs and behaviour
LS1 - Molecular & Structural Biology & Biochemistry
SH3 - Environment & society
LS2 - Genetics, Genomics, Bioinformatics & Systems
SH4 - The Human Mind and its complexity
Biology
SH5 - Cultures & cultural production
LS3 - Cellular and Developmental Biology
SH6 - The study of the human past
LS4 - Physiology, Pathophysiology & Endocrinology
LS5 - Neurosciences & neural disorders
LS6 - Immunity & infection Physical Sciences & Engineering (PE)
LS7 - Diagnostic tools, therapies & public health PE1 - Mathematical foundations
LS8 - Evolutionary, population & environmental biology PE2 - Fundamental constituents of matter
LS9 - Applied life sciences & biotechnology 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
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16. ERC Budget 2007 – 2013: €7.51 bn
Annual budget distribution (prospective schedule)
│ 16
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17. The 7th Framework Programme:
2007 – 2013
Total FP7 budget: € 54,582 billion
Cooperation JRC (EC)
Euratom
1,8
4,1
Capacities
Ideas New
P7
4,3
(ERC)
People 4,7
Cooperation
People 32,292*
7,46
Ideas
Capacities
*of which Health 5,984
FP7 /17 EUROPEAN COMMISSION – DG Research – Oct 2009

18. FP7 | People
Marie Curie Actions- Fellowships, Grants, Awards
1. Initial training:
1. Initial training:
•Networks for Early stage researchers
•Networks for Early stage researchers
2. Life long training and career development:
2. Life long training and career development:
••Intra European Fellowships
Intra European Fellowships
•European Reintegration Grants
•European Reintegration Grants
••Co-funding of national programmes
Co-funding of national programmes
3. Industry dimension:
3. Industry dimension:
••Industry-academia partnership and pathways
Industry-academia partnership and pathways
4. International dimension:
4. International dimension:
••Outgoing fellowships
Outgoing fellowships
••International reintegration grants
International reintegration grants
••Incoming fellowships
Incoming fellowships
•International staff Exchange Programmes
•International staff Exchange Programmes
5. Specific actions
Such as: ‘Researchers’ Night’; Marie Curie Awards,
ERA-More; networking of NCPs
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19. Outgoing fellowships (from EU)
Career development/ life-long training for EU researchers :
EU outgoing individual fellowships, to be trained
in a third country institute or organisation
at least 4 years after graduation
Funding for up to 3 years in total
• -- with 1-2 years abroad
To establish cooperation
Based on a personal
‘career development plan’
Application together with the host
of the return fellowship,
mandatory return phase
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20. Incoming fellowships
Incoming individual fellowships to attract top class researchers
to EU and Associated States.
• at least four years after graduation (post doc)
• to develop cooperation
• Proposal is submitted by the researcher together with the
host organisation
• For 1 to 2 years
• Salary plus contribution towards
research related costs
• Eventually a 1 year return phase
for researchers from ICPC
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21. International Reintegration Grants
Financial assistance to any EU or Associated States
researchers who wish to return and find a position in
Europe
After having worked in research in a third country
for at least three years
grant of 2 to 4 years
At least four years research experience after graduation
Researcher applies together with the host organisation
Flat rate of 25 000€ annually
Commission signs grant agreement, while re-integration host
will sign employment agreement
Regular cut off date twice a year
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22. IRSES “International Research Staff
Exchange Scheme”
To establish or deepen partnership between min 2 research
organisations within EU/associate and one or more
organisations in third countries.
Joint exchange programme to/from Europe (not between
EU/AS partners) - 24 - 48 month partnership
Short term exchanges (up to 1 year per person)
Partner institutes select their staff for exchange
(Researchers, management, technical staff )
Staff are seconded (maintain salary in institution of origin and
have the right to return – EC Contribution: 1800 € man/month
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23. PEOPLE
Marie Curie Actions in FP7
Some dates and figures 2009-10
ACTION CALL PUBLICATION CALL DEADLINE BUDGET
ITN 08 September 2009 22 December 2009 243,79 M€
COFUND 18 November 2009 18 February 2010 75 M€
IRSES 25 November 2009 25 March 2010 30 M€
ERG/IRG 9 October 2008 8 October 2009 31M€ (2 deadlines)
9 October 2009 9 March 2010 32 M€ (2 deadlines)
IEF 17 March 2010 17 August 2010 95 M€
IIF 17 March 2010 17 August 2010 28 M€
IOF 17 March 2010 17 August 2010 28 M€
Dates can be modified. Updated information can be found on the CORDIS webpage:
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/dc/index.cfm
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24. Participation of U.S.
organizations in FP7
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25. Participation of U.S. organizations in the
FP7 Cooperation Program
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26. Euraxess Links USA activities
http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess/links/usa
A website with targeted information on sources of
research funding in Europe and US, research policies,
career opportunities, collaboration opportunities,
conferences and training courses .
Monthly newsletter with articles specifically of interest to
the European science community in the US.
Regular updates signaling job, funding and collaboration
opportunities.
Co-organization of career fairs with US partners to
provide forum for researchers to meet with European
funding agencies and employers, both public and private.
Occasional meetings and events.
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27. Everything you wanted to know about EC-
funded research…… but never dared to ask!
EU research:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/research
Seventh Framework Programme:
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/home_en.html
Information on research
programmes and projects:
http://cordis.europa.eu
European Research Council
http://erc.europa.eu
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28. Latest call information:
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/dc/index.cfm
FP7 Health theme portal:
http://ec.europa.eu/research/health/index_en.html
EC Delegation website:
http://www.eurunion.org/eu/
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29. Thank you for your attention
Dr. Astrid-Christina Koch
Science Counsellor
Delegation of the European Union to the United States
Astrid-Christina.Koch@ec.europa.eu
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