European Commission

On Tuesday 15 March two seminars will take place regarding FP7 Programmes.

The EURASIAPAC event will be focusing more on policy dialogues and introduction of available schemes; the J-BILAT Event will be a best practice sharing workshop with detailed exchange of information and discussion, with speakers who have been involved in Framework Programme projects.

Both events will take place at the Nomura Conference Plaza Nihonbashi, Tokyo.
Further information is available from the following websites: http://www.j-bilat.eu/seminar/...workshop-in-japan/

The President of the European Research Council (ERC), Professor Helga Nowotny, visited Japan in late August to promote funding schemes for outstanding young and established researchers, giving talks at Tokyo Institute of Technology (TITECH) and RIKEN. 
This summer, the ERC opened calls for applications for its starting grant for young researchers who wish to start an independent career. The calls are still open and will close in the Autumn. Later this year, calls under the Advanced Grant scheme will also be opened.
Since its launch, the ERC funding schemes are better known in Europe, therefore, several visits outside of Europe have been organized over the last year to reach a broader range of potential candidates, especially those with international experience. The grants are open to researchers of any nationality.
The presentations given in Japan were to promote the scheme both to European researchers based here, and Japanese researchers considering undertaking research in Europe.

Overview of the ERC and its Grants

The ERC was established in 2007 and is funded through the “Ideas” component of the FP7 budget. Grants are provided in a “bottom-up” manner, that is based on the free ideas of the researcher, and individual teams are supported rather than researcher consortia, as is common in a lot of other FP7 schemes.

At a budgetary level, the ERC is funded to the tune of €7.51bn between 2007 and 2013. Its leadership and management comprise former scientists and researchers, with the past Presidents having on two occasions being prominent academics in their respective field of research. The current President, Helga Nowotny who was appointed on 1 March, is a prominent authority on the social studies of science.
ERC grants allow researchers to pick and choose the most desirable country to perform their research in Europe therefore allowing, as Professor Nowotny mentioned, "intra-European competition and brain circulation".
The grants allow outstanding, and talented researchers the opportunity to perform independently ambitious and pioneering research projects in a country and institution of their choosing.  Researchers should gain enhanced research career opportunities and independence as a result of being awarded such grants.
The schemes were introduced to raise Europe’s aspirations and achievements for basic research and there are two main types of grant:

- ERC Starting Grant
- ERC Advanced Grant

There have now been six calls since they were first opened in 2007 and earlier this year the 1000th grant was awarded (see here for further information). The number of applicants from overseas have gradually been increasing, rising from 5.5% of all applications in 2007 to 7.9% in 2010. As a result, the grants have allowed a number of European researchers to return to Europe to perform research. The number of applications from Japan is quite stable at around 45 per year; there is clearly scope for increase Japanese interest in the scheme.

Starting Researcher Grant

The Starting Grants are aimed at talented and creative young researchers with the potential to perform independent research. It is open to candidates of any nationality or age who will perform their research in a country of their choosing in Europe, including in the Associate Countries(1 ).
Applicants should have proven abilities and either want to start or consolidate a research team. They should have at least one important publication without participation of their PhD supervisor.
The Grants are available in any field of research, but the deadlines are separated according to three domains:

- physical sciences and engineering
- life sciences
- social sciences and humanities

The deadlines in each of these domains can be found further below.
For the 2009 call the total budget was €325m, with 244 grants awarded (an acceptance ratio of 10%)(see here for the 2009 awardees). For the Starting Grants, it is possible to apply for funding up to €2m.
Looking at grants that have been awarded, by field the grant sizes fall within a €200,000 to €2m range. The average size of grant in the Life Science domain is around €1.3m; in the Physical Science & Engineering domain around €1.1m; and in the Social Sciences & Humanities around €800,000 (ERC Starting Grant Booklet 2008: 7).
Although the scheme is open to researchers of any age, typically the age distribution for
recipients is between 24 to 46 years old, with 36 being the average age. So far, most
recipients have between 2 to 12 years post-PhD experience.
Mostly, ERC Starting Grant recipients have chosen to work in the UK, followed by France,
Germany, Spain and Switzerland (ERC Starting Grant Outcome 2009). There are currently four recipients from Japan that are funded under the Starting Grant Scheme, based in Austria, Norway, Germany, and the UK.

ERC Advanced Grant

The Advanced Grant operates to the same principle as the Starting Grant. That is, it is a bottom-up grant based on the idea of the researcher. The duration of the grant is the same (5 years) and applications can be submitted in any field of research. The calls will be opened later this year with the deadlines early next year.
The scheme aims to attract and retain the best researchers in Europe and is aimed towards researchers with a strong leadership profile through the impact and recognition of their work. Evaluators look for an excellent research track record, principally by reference to achievements over the past 10 years.
The budget for the advanced grant should be up to €3.5m. In 2009, 244 grants were awarded out of a total of 1584 project applications (15% acceptance ratio) (see here for the list of accepted projects).
The average age of awardees is 53 years old, with 15% of awardees being female. Interestingly, some of the oldest recipients of the award have been in their 70s, with the youngest recipients in their mid thirties. By domain of research, 44% of grants were awarded in the Physical Sciences and Engineering, 38% in Life Sciences and 18% in Social Sciences and Humanities. Most awardees (58) have established their research group in the UK, followed by France (34), Germany  (31) and Switzerland (29) (see these ERC Advanced Grant Statistics for the full analysis).

Applications & Review

All applications to the ERC programmes are through one single application, with two stages for the evaluation procedure.

All applications to the ERC schemes are reviewed by expert panels, of which there are 25. The Physical and Engineering science research domain has 10 panels; the Life Science domain 9 panels; and the Social Science and Humanities domain, 6 panels. For interdisciplinary researchers there are cross-panel/cross-domain panel meetings. Each panel typically comprises one Chairperson, supported by 12-14 members. Panel members are drawn from the international scientific community, and there are currently 15 panel members from Japan.
In the criteria used for evaluation, written in bold on the Guidance Notes it states that “Excellence is the sole criterion of evaluation”. Excellence relates to the Intellectual capacity, creativity and commitment of the applicant Principal Investigator. Furthermore, for the research project, evaluators are looking for ground breaking project ideas with high potential impact. They also review the proposed methodology.
Following initial review by the panels, proposals are ranked according to the following levels:   4: Outstanding 3: Excellent 2: Very Good 1: Non-competitive. Applications that meet the desired standard of quality are then invited for interview. These interviews last for around 30 minutes where the applicant will present their proposal in the first half and in the second half will respond to questions from the panel.
Following the evaluation review, feedback on the application is sent to each applicant. Those that are awarded an ERC grant will be subject to a scientific review after two and half years.

Views from an ERC Recipient

Dr Takashi Hiiragi, from the Max-Planck Institute of Immunobiology in Germany discussed his experience of applying for and being awarded an ERC Starting Grant. Dr Hiiragi was awarded the grant to continue his research into mammalian development. He is the Principal Investigator on an ERC research project entitled: “A systems-level understanding of the novel principle in early mammalian development” (see here for the project outline). This project was awarded in 2008 and will run for 5 years with a total budget of €1.5m.
Dr Hiiragi was educated and awarded his PhD degree from Kyoto University, he then undertook postdoctoral work at the Max Plank Institute immediately after the completion of his PhD. 
He noted the simple application process and the high degree of freedom he felt in performing the research. He felt that the award was sufficiently prestigious to enable him to enhance his range of contacts and networks in his research field, and felt that this would put him in good stead for his future career. He stressed that when applying for one of the ERC schemes, the most important thing is to develop a clear idea of what you would like to research. The emphasis is very much on the quality of the idea and proposal.
Although there is no real system in place to help potential applicants locate hosts, Hiiragi felt that if the research idea held sufficient potential then, due to the prestige associated with hosting an ERC grant a professor or institution would welcome supporting such a proposal.  Indeed, many institutions are now actively using the ERC grants to seek to recruit excellent researchers.

Deadlines

Starting Grants:
Starting Grant for Physical Sciences and Engineering:	14 October 2010
Starting Grant for Life Sciences:	09 November 2010
Starting Grant for Social Sciences and Humanities:	24 November 2010
Advanced Grants:
Advanced Grant for Physical Sciences and Engineering:	09 February 2011
Advanced Grant for Life Sciences:	10 March 2011
Advanced Grant for Social Sciences and Humanities:	06 April 2011

Further Information and Support

Below, some links to further information and support regarding the ERC schemes:

European Research Council Homepage

Starting Grant Information
Advanced Grant Information
ERC Grant Schemes Guide for Applicants 

ERC National Contact Points
National Contact Points have been established in countries across Europe. The mission of the ERC NCPs is to raise awareness, inform and advise on ERC funding opportunities as well as to support potential applicants in the preparation, submission and follow-up of ERC grant applications. For further information, names and contact details of the contact points, please click here:

1) The Associated Countries are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Iceland, Israel, Faroe Islands, Liechtenstein, FYR of Macedonia, Norway, Republic of Montenegro, Serbia, Switzerland, and Turkey.

BILAT in Japan, a newly launched EU project for the promotion of EU-Japan S&T collaboration will organize its first seminar on 14 April. The full schedule can be found here.

Speaches include:

• “International Dimension of the EU 7th Framework Programme"
• "The Overview, potential and outlook for EU-Japan joint research projects"
• “Promotion of science and technology and Japanese S&T policy”
• “METI's innovation Policy”
• "Current EU-Japan collaborative researches and future perspectives: Japanese funding
  agencies Case 1"
• "Current EU-Japan collaborative researches and future perspectives: Japanese funding
  agencies Case 2"
• "How to participate in the EU 7th Framework Programme"
• "The “People” programme - Mobility actions"
• "J-BILAT: organization and plans, activities and expected outcome"

Participation is free, but pre-registration is required. Please email the J-BILAT project manager, Toshiyasu Ichioka (toshiyasu.ichioka[@]eu-japan.gr.jp).

Please send:

1. Your name
2. Position
3. Affiliation (if possible 1.-3. also in Japanese)
4. Telephone number
5. E-mail address

The European Union (EU) and the government of Japan signed last November the "EU-Japan Science
and Technology Cooperation Agreement", which will trigger more and more cooperation between EU
and Japan in all fields of Science and Technology.

METI/NEDO and the Directorate-General for Research (DG Research) of the European Commission
have been negotiating a joint call on 'photovoltaic research'. It will be launched this summer. This
joint call is related on both sides to the political commitment to reduce CO2 emissions by 2020 and
entre into a low carbon society. Scientific breakthroughs to generate a new generation of technology
can be achieved more quickly through an active research collaboration of Japanese and European
Researchers.

Researchers interested in the field and other science actors particularly those interested to receive
funding through this EU – Japan programme, are invited to join this seminar. We will discuss the
concepts behind and get an idea about the forthcoming joint calls of Japan and Europe in the field of
energy research:

Programme:

• The EU 7th Framework Programme for Research – open to the world
  by Dr. Barbara Rhode, Head of S&T Section, Delegation of European Union to Japan
• EU-Japan Cooperation on Energy Technology Research and Development
  by METI (in Japanese)
• EU-Japan Cooperation
  by Mrs. Aires Soares, Head of Unit, Energy Directorate, DG Research (introduction)
  and Mr. Gilles Lequeux, International Cooperation Officer, Energy Directorate, DG
  Research (Presentation)
• Accelerating energy technology development through EU's joint programming
  by Dr. Harm Jeeninga, EERA (European Energy Research Alliance)

Followed by a Q&A session, where you can ask directly the speakers how to cooperate with European
researchers. Please find the brief information on FP7 and EERA below for your better comprehension
of the seminar.

Date: March 26th, 2010
Time: 13:30-15:00
Venue: AIST/Tsukuba

Venue: Conference Room #01306-2, 1F, Headquarters Bldg., AIST, Tsukuba
http://www.aist.go.jp/aist_e/guidemap/tsukuba/pdf/guidmap_c.pdf
Please be so kind and register by e-mail to delegation-japan-st[@]ec.europa.eu

The first Asia-Europe Physics Summit, entitled “physics towards Science Innovations” will be held at the Epochal International Congress Centre in Tsukuba between 24-26 March 2010.

This Summit aims at strengthening cooperation in physics research between European and Asian countries and deal with programs addressing either issues in fundamental physics or physics research playing a significant role in other fields (i.e. biology, chemistry, earth, space sciences etc.).

The purpose of the summit will be to:

1. Discuss the common scientific interests of European and Asian countries in various research fields, including large scale infrastructures;
2. Set up a dedicated framework that would enhance Euro-Asia collaborations in physics for the next 15-20 years
3. Involve developing countries in basic research and bridge the knowledge/digital gap.

There is also a call for posters targeted to the following:

• Scientific physics projects that would benefit from enhanced Asia-Europe cooperation,
• Physical societies, Academy of science and other organizations
• Representatives of the physics community to present their activities and actions for international cooperation,
• Government ministries, funding agencies and international organizations that provide funding programs and support international collaborations,
• Research centers/ laboratories,
• Industrial partners,
• Innovative projects or cooperation initiatives presented by individual researchers.
• Young scientists

Date: 24-26 March 2010
Location: Epochal International Congress Centre, Tsukuba
Further information: ASEP

Below, please find slides presented at the Career Fair held in November, 2009. Click here for the evaluation report of the event.

Opportunities at EU Level
Dr Barbara Rhode, Delegation of the European Commission to Japan

European National Funding Opportunities
Mr Chris Pook, UK Embassy
Mr Eric Decreux, French Embassy
Dr Holger Finken, DAAD
Dr Natacha Aveline, CNRS
Dr Anders Karlsson, Embassy of Sweden

Experience of Receiving funds
Dr Takako Nemoto, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
Dr Yannick Rondelez, CNRS/University of Tokyo

Japanese Public Research & Funding Opportunities
Dr Takashi Shimizu, AIST
Dr Kiyoshi Yamada, Tokai University
Mr Yasuaki Yutani, RIKEN

Opportunities for Funding: Grants open to Foreign Researchers in Japan
Mr. Hisashi Kato, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Mr. Seiya Hirakawa, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST)
Mr Takeshi Uehara, New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation
Organisation
Mr Hiroshi Emoto, National Institute of Communication Technology

Experienced Researchers Session:
Dr Julia C Hargreaves, JAMSTEC
Dr Remy Magnier-Watanabe, University of Tsukuba
Dr Carsten Daub, RIKEN Yokohama Institute

Overview of Employment Opportunities in Japanese Industry and Trends
Mr Hirose Sachio, Professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology

Presentations by Individual Companies
Ms JooHee Kang, Panasonic Corporation
NTT Communications Corporation
Mr Junichi Namekata, Omron
Mr Jungo Hayashida, Fujitsu Corporation

Experience of Working in Industry
Mr Fernando Vasquez, NTT Data
Dr Peter Buist, Delft University of Technology

Please check the latest Newsletter for information on all the latest events in Japan.