September 11, 2008
Villa Bighi,
Kalkara
The Malta Council for Science and Technology is organising a half-day event on the Ideas Programme. The Session is scheduled for Thursday September 11, 2008 between 9am and 1pm at the MCST, Villa Bighi in Kalkara.
In a nutshell, the Ideas Specific Programme offers attractive long-term grants, covering 100% of a research project, giving top researchers the freedom and flexibility they require to pursue ambitious research goals.
In view of new calls (Starting Grant - July 08, Advanced Grant - November 2008), Dr Gianpietro van de Goor, (Deputy Head of Unit RTD.S.1 in charge of ERC Information & Communication, European Commission) will be giving a presentation to explain the programme in greater detail. He will also be available to answer any queries.
For reservations see form below or call on Tel: 2360 2134.
Agenda
09:00 Registration
09:30 Introduction to FP7
Dr Brian Warrington, CEO - MCST
09:45 The ERC funding schemes
The ERC Funding Schemes - Starting Grant
The ERC Funding Schemes - Advanced Grant
The ERC Funding Schemes - Further Info
Dr Gianpietro van de Goor, European Commission - DG RESEARCH
10:45 Q&A
11:00 Coffee Break
11:15 Submitting a Proposal through EPSS
Ms Karen Fiorini, Ideas NCP - MCST
11:30 Case Studies and Statistics on Past Calls
StG & AdG:
Dr Gianpietro van de Goor, European Commission - DG RESEARCH
11:45 Q&A
12:00 Closing
Information on the Ideas Specific Programme (Cordis)
ERC grants will be awarded through open competition to projects headed by young (3 to 8 years of research experience after obtaining a PhD) and established researchers (those with an excellent track-record in the last 10 years of their career) - the sole criterion for selection is excellence. The aim is to identify the best ideas while retaining and conferring status and visibility to the best brains in Europe and also attracting talent from abroad.
By challenging Europe's brightest minds, the ERC expects to bring about new and unpredictable scientific and technological discoveries - the kind that can form the basis of new industries, markets, and broader social innovations of the future.
The ERC aims to:
support the absolute best scientific efforts in Europe across all fields of science, engineering and scholarship;
encourage wholly investigator-driven, or 'bottom-up' frontier research
encourage the work of the established and next generation of independent top research leaders in Europe;
reward innovative proposals by placing emphasis on the quality of the idea rather than the research area;
harness the diversity of European research talent and channel funds into the most promising ideas;
raise the status and visibility of European frontier research and the best researchers of today and tomorrow.
put excellence at the heart of European Research
The two types of ERC grant available are:
- The ERC Starting Independent Researcher Grants (ERC Starting Grants). The objective is to provide adequate support to the independent careers of excellent researchers in or moving to the EU and associated countries, who are at the stage of establishing and leading their first research team or programme.
- The ERC Advanced Investigator Grants (ERC Advanced Grants). The objective is to encourage and support excellent, innovative investigator-initiated research projects by leading advanced investigators across the EU member states and countries associated to the framework programme.
For more info see: http://www.mcst.gov.mt/page_fp7.aspx?id=5