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was a dedicated implementation structure that operated under the Research Directorate-General as part of the
European Commission. It was legally established as an executive agency by the Commission in December 2007
in accordance with
(11)
, obtaining
(12)
.
Since its administrative autonomy was granted in 2009, the Agency has been responsible for all aspects of ad-
ministrative implementation and programme execution as provided for in the Work Programme. In particular, it
implements the evaluation procedures, peer-review and selection processes according to the principles estab-
lished by the Scientific Council and ensures the proper financial and scientific management of grants.
The Executive Agency operates on the basis of the powers delegated to it by the European Commission,
which has the ultimate political responsibility for the implementation of the specific programme IDEAS. In that
sense, the Commission exercises its supervisory responsibilities over the activities of the ERC Agency through
a
Steering Committee
. The Director of the ERC Executive Agency (currently Pablo Amor) is responsible for
the implementation of the ERC strategy as established by the Scientific Council and for the management of the
Agency and its staff.
ERC Secretary General.
The ERC Secretary General has a key role in ensuring the integrated op-
eration of the ERC, based on the strategy and programme of activities prepared by the ERC Scientific Council.
The Secretary General - rigorously screened for relevant experience and scientific qualifications - is appointed by
the Scientific Council and is its permanent representative in Brussels. The Secretary General ensures an effective
cooperation with the Executive Agency and the European Commission on a day-to-day basis.
The ERC Secretary General is currently Professor Donald Dingwell.
ERC Board.
To streamline governance and further assure the liaison of the Scientific Council with the
European Commission and the Executive Agency, the Chair- and Vice-Chairpersons of the Scientific Council and
the Secretary General, together with the Director of the Agency, meet regularly as the ERC Board. These meet-
ings are also attended by the senior management of the Agency and take place to oversee the implementation
of the ERC strategy and Work Programme prepared by the Scientific Council.
ERC Funding Schemes
are open to top researchers of any nationality, genre, or age who are engaged in pio-
neering research at the frontier of knowledge in their field and who are working or moving to work in Europe (27
EU Member States & Associated Countries).
ERC Grants are awarded and managed through open competition and according to simple procedures that
maintain the focus on scientific excellence, encourage creativity and interdisciplinarity and combine flexibility
with accountability.
The ERC Grants, although given to research organisations, are “personalized”: researchers (Principal Investiga-
tors) can, at any time, move to another host institution and take the grant with them. This «grant portability» pro-
vides leverage to researchers in the negotiations of their working conditions and promotes competition amongst
host institutions which should lead to the improvement of the European research environment.
Two grant schemes designed by the Scientific Council form the core of ERC activities:
ERC Starting Independent Research Grants (ERC Starting Grants) targeted at early-career
•
excellent researchers and
ERC Advanced Investigator Grants (ERC Advanced Grants) for already established research
•
leaders in their field
Two additional funding initiatives with a significantly smaller budget were launched in 2011:
The ERC Synergy Grants for small groups of excellent researchers
•
The ERC “Proof of Concept” targeted at ERC grantees
•
11
INTRODUCTION