Tagged / European Research Council

Professor Melanie Klinkner receives European Research Council Consolidator Grant

A BU research project to develop a comprehensive human rights framework around mass graves has been awarded over £1.6 million from the European Research Council (ERC).

Mass Grave Protection, Investigation & Engagement: a comprehensive universal human rights framework – or MaGPIE – will be led by Professor Melanie Klinkner, Professor of International Law at BU.

Professor Melanie Klinkner

Professor Melanie Klinkner

Mass graves exist across the globe on a shocking scale, with thousands of victims and families seeking answers. However, currently there are no global records for mass graves – meaning the scale and nature of the problem is not well understood.

There is also no universal framework for protecting and investigating mass graves to safeguard sites and human remains, as well as the rights and interests of survivors.

The MaGPIE project will respond to this significant knowledge and policy gap and develop a comprehensive human rights framework to inform the protection, investigation and stakeholder engagement around mass graves.

Professor Klinkner said: “I am grateful and honoured to have been given this opportunity by the European Research Council. Mass graves, the focus of my research, are a very sensitive topic: for each body concealed in a mass grave, there is a family or community suffering from anguish and grief.

“This five-year research project will explore how dignified, rights-compliant engagement with mass graves can be progressed, asking what and how we can do better for affected families and survivors.”

This work builds on Professor Klinkner’s research into the protection and investigation of mass graves.

This includes projects to examine when mapping of mass graves should be avoided or kept secret so that protection is not jeopardised, exploring how states deal with missing persons cases, and the publication of the international standard-setting Bournemouth Protocol of Mass Grave Protection and Investigation. It also continues a long-standing collaboration with the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP).

Professor Einar Thorsen, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Media & Communication at Bournemouth University, said: “Receiving this prestigious and highly competitive award from the European Research Council is an outstanding achievement and testament to the quality of research being undertaken by Professor Klinkner and the team at Bournemouth University.

“Protecting mass graves and the rights of victims and their loved ones is an issue of international importance and this funding reflects our commitment to addressing global challenges and enriching society across research, education and practice.”

The funding of 1.9 million Euros (approximately £1.6 million) to support the MaGPIE project has been given as an European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant.

Professor Klinkner is one of 321 researchers from 37 countries across Europe to receive the funding, chosen from 2,222 applications through a rigorous review process.

The funding – worth €657 million in total – is part of the EU’s Horizon Europe programme. It will help excellent scientists, who have 7 to 12 years’ experience after their PhDs, to pursue their most promising ideas. Only 31 British researchers, including Professor Klinkner, have been selected.

President of the European Research Council Prof. Maria Leptin said: “ERC Consolidator grants support researchers at a crucial time of their careers, strengthening their independence, reinforcing their teams and helping them establish themselves as leaders in their fields. And this backing above all gives them a chance to pursue their scientific dreams.”

EU funding related events – March / April 2022

EU, Events, Funding opportunities, pre-award

COST webinar

UKRO will be holding a webinar ‘An Introduction to COST” on 17 March 2022 (11:00-12:30pm UK time). COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is a funding organisation that aims to support researchers, in any sector and at all career stages, to grow their professional research networks and boost their careers. COST Actions are open to all science and technology fields, including new and emerging fields and help to connect research initiatives across Europe and beyond.

The webinar is aimed at researchers and research support staff, interested in finding out more about COST funding opportunities. The event will also outline the different ways to get involved in a COST action and will cover UK participation in COST. Attendance is free of charge, but participants should register here.

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 Call Information Webinar Series

The UK Research Office (UKRO), in its capacity as UK National Contact Point for the Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), will be holding a series of information webinars for organisations and individuals interested in applying to the 2022 MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships Call (call opens 13 April 2022, call deadline 14 September 2022).

Postdoctoral Fellowships help experienced researchers advance their careers and gain new skills through training, international, intersectoral and international mobility. Postdoctoral Fellowships are aimed at researchers who are already in possession of a doctoral degree, and at the call deadline have a maximum of 8 years full-time equivalent research experience.

BU has excellent track record in applying for MSCA fellowships and we encourage those considering to apply for the first time to register and participate in these webinar series.

I would like to remind BU academics that MSCA calls are one of exceptions regarding submission of Intention to Bid forms; RDS my require to submit ItB up to two months before the submission deadline. Please get in touch with your RDS Funding Development Officer as soon as possible if you plan to apply to 2022 MSCA PF call.

ERC 2022 Advanced Grant Webinar Slides and Recording Available

The presentation slides and video recording from UKRO ERC Advanced Grant Webinar are now available for the two sessions and can be accessed on the UKRO event page.

Tentative Dates for ERC 2023 Calls are Announced

The European Research Council (ERC) has published the tentative deadline dates for the 2023 calls. Note that these deadlines will not be confirmed until the 2023 ERC Work Programme is officially published over the summer.

ERC calls are another exception regarding submission of ItB forms; RDS my require to submit ItB at least three months before the submission deadline. Please get in touch with your RDS Funding Development Officer as soon as possible if you plan to apply to ERC 2022 Advanced Grant or ERC 2023 Starting Grant (submission deadline in 2022) call.

I would like to also remind that all BU researchers can access the UKRO Portal as employees of the subscribing institution to read news articles, factsheets and other useful information. Anyone with an institutional email address can register. To access some links above, you may be required to be UKRO registered user.

ERC Have Announced Tentative Dates for 2022 Calls

EU, Funding opportunities, pre-award

The European Research Council (ERC) has announced the tentative opening dates and deadlines for their 2022 calls. They are as follows:

ERC Synergy Grant 2022 Call

  • Opening date: 15 July 2021
  • Deadline: 10 November 2021

ERC Starting Grant 2022 Call

  • Opening date: 23 September 2021
  • Deadline: 13 January 2022

ERC Consolidator Grant 2022 Call

  • Opening date: 19 October 2021
  • Deadline: 17 March 2022

ERC Advanced Grant 2022 Call

  • Opening date: 20 January 2022
  • Deadline: 28 April 2022

There were a few BU academics willing to submit their applications this year but were not able to do it due to time constraints.

These dates are tentative and still subject to change. They differ from the regular yearly cycle that the ERC has established; according to UKRO, the call cycle will revert to the expected times of each year by 2023. The ERC aims to provide as much time and predictability as possible for applicants to prepare while also finding the time for evaluation procedures that last several months for each call.

For more information about the ERC and other Horizon Europe funding opportunities contact RDS Research Facilitator International Ainar Blaudums.

ERC Consolidator Grant 2019 call published

EU, Funding opportunities, pre-award

The European Research Council (ERC) has published its 2019 Consolidator Grant call; applicants have to submit their proposals before 4 PM (UK time) 7 February 2019 (104 days left until closure from now).

The fundamental activity of the ERC is to provide attractive, long-term funding to support excellent investigators and their research teams to pursue ground-breaking, high-gain/high-risk research.

ERC Consolidator Grants are designed to support excellent Principal Investigators at the career stage at which they may still be consolidating their own independent research team or programme. Applicant Principal Investigators must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their scientific proposal.

Consolidator Grants may be awarded up to a maximum of EUR 2 000 000 for a period of 5 years. The Principal Investigator shall have been awarded their first PhD over 7 and up to 12 years prior to 1 January 2019. The effective elapsed time since the award of the first PhD can be reduced in certain properly documented circumstances.

A competitive Consolidator Grant Principal Investigator must have already shown research independence and evidence of maturity, for example by having produced several important publications as main author or without the participation of their PhD supervisor.

For more information please refer to Guide for Applicants. There also are great support opportunities available at BU for academics planning to apply for EU and International funding. If you are considering applying for international funding, contact international research facilitator or any member of RKEO Funding Development Team at your faculty to individually discuss your ideas and the ways we could support you.

ERC Work Programme 2019 published

EU, Funding opportunities, international, pre-award

With a slight delay, the European Research Council (ERC) has published the Work Programme for 2019. While the Starting Grant 2019 call is open and preparation of proposals may already be at their final stage, academics may refer to ERC Work Programme 2019 for further information on ERC Consolidator Grant(submission deadline 07/02/2019), Advanced Grant (29/08/2019), Synergy grant (08/11/2018) and Proof of Concept Grant (cut-off dates 22/01/2019, 25/04/2019 and 19/09/2019).

In the meantime, ERC has published an article “Applying for ERC funding – myths vs reality”. Academics might be interested to find out more about ERC grant application process from the point of view of a person who has experience from both sides of the fence; Professor Superti-Furga, a molecular and systems biologist, has won several ERC grants from 2009 to 2015 and became a member of the ERC’s Scientific Council in 2017.

The fundamental activity of the ERC is to provide attractive, long-term funding to support excellent investigators and their research teams to pursue ground-breaking, high-gain/high-risk research.

There are great support opportunities available at BU for academics planning to apply for EU and International funding. If you are considering applying for international funding, contact international research facilitator or any member of RKEO Funding Development Team at your faculty to individually discuss your ideas and the ways we could support you.

ERC News

EU, Funding opportunities, Research news

We have received an update from the European Research Council, which highlights….

  • The current ERC Starting Grants call has now closed with results due in the summer of 2018.  The ERC Work Programme has earmarked €581 million for an estimated 391 Starting Grants in 2018.
  • Ideas, the ERC newsletter, autumn issue is now available, with a focus on serendipity in research.
  • An agreement has been concluded between the EU and India to encourage research visits of Indian top researchers in teams funded by the European Research Council (ERC) in Europe. In line with the ERC global approach, this is the tenth international initiative of this kind, which comes at a time when the ERC also marks its tenth anniversary.  The first initiative of this kind was signed in 2012 with the USA (National Science Foundation, NSF) and agreements then followed with prestigious funding bodies in South Korea, Argentina, Japan, China, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil and Canada.

Open Calls

BU staff considering applying for any of these calls and other international funding, should contact Emily Cieciura, RKEO’s Research Facilitator: International Funding, for further information and support.

Will you be applying to the ERC in 2017?

EU, Funding opportunities, international, Research news

ercAre you at the right stage in your career to apply for a European Research Council Grant?

The indicative deadline dates for 2017 are:

Consolidator Grant – 9th February 2017 (see recent press release for the results of the last round)

Advanced Grant –  31st August 2017 (call expected to open on 16th May 2017)

Proof of Concept Grant – 19th January 2017, 25th April 2017 and 5th September 2017

To find out more about these opportunties, which fund the best of the best researchers in Europe, please take a look at the ERC website and the  2017 ERC Work Programme.

The ERC is celebrating 10 years in 2017 – it has funded almost 7,000 researchers and thereby has supported more than 40,000 team members.

If you are considering applying, please contact Emily Cieciura, RKEO’s Research Facilitator; EU & International, to discuss your plans and arrange support.

European Research Council – Consolidator Grants

EU, Funding opportunities

ercWhat are ERC Grants?

The ERC Work Programme 2017 sets out the objectives and principles of ERC funding. ERC Starting and Consolidator Principal Investigators must demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their scientific proposal. ERC grants are open to researchers of any nationality, who intend to conduct their research activity in any EU Member State or Associated Country .

The ERC’s frontier research grants operate on a ‘bottom-up’ basis without predetermined priorities. Applications can be made in any field of research with particular emphasis on the frontiers of science, scholarship and engineering6 . In particular, proposals of an interdisciplinary nature, which cross the boundaries between different fields of research, pioneering proposals addressing new and emerging fields of research or proposals introducing unconventional, innovative approaches and scientific inventions are encouraged.

The next call for the Consolidator Grant closes on 9th February 2017. Consolidator Grants can be up to a maximum of EUR 2,000,000 for a period of 5 years (pro rata for projects of shorter duration).

Are you at this stage?

  • Have you been awarded your first PhD > 7 and ≤ 12 years prior to 1 January 2017 – cut-off dates: PhD awarded from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2009 (inclusive)?
  • Can you demonstrate research excellence?
  • Are you starting or consolidating your own independent research team or programme?
  • Do you have several important publications as main author or without the participation of your PhD supervisor?

The ERC guidance for Starting and Consolidator grants guidance has recently been updated.

What next?

If you are considering applying to this scheme, please contact Emily Cieciura, RKEO’s Research Facilitator: EU & International, as soon as possible.

 

UK Research Office training opportunties

EU, Events, Funding opportunities, Info Days, Research Training

UKRO logoUKRO hold provides regular training events in their capacity as the UK National Contact Point for the European Research Council (ERC) and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions​ (MSCA).

Forthcoming events:

26th October 2016: ERC Consolidator Grants Information and Proposal Writing Event to be held at the University of Glasgow

Are you a researcher interested in applying for the 2017 ERC Consolidator Grants call?

The session is aimed at researchers based in, or moving to, the UK who are planning to submit a proposal to the ERC Consolidator Grants call. The 2017 Consolidator Grants call is expected to open on 20 October 2016 and close on 9 February 2017. Applicants are expected to be active researchers and to have a track record of excellent research. The scheme is designed to support Principal Investigators (PIs) at the stage at which they may still be consolidating their own independent research team or programme. To be eligible for the 2017 call, the PI must be 7-12 years from the date of award of their PhD on 1 January 2017, which is extendable in certain strict cases.

Another repeating event is being planned for a London location in November 2016.

 

12th October 2016: MSCA Innovative Training Networks (ITN) to be held at the University of West London

The ITN scheme supports joint research training and/or doctoral programmes, implemented by European partnerships of universities, research institutions, industry (incl. SMEs) and other non-academic organisations. The research training programmes are intended to provide doctoral students with excellent research skills, coupled with experience outside academia, hence developing their innovation capacities and employability prospects. The event aim to provide participants with an in-depth overview of the ITN scheme. Participants should gain a clear understanding of the proposal format for each scheme and the key issues relating to planning, writing and submitting proposals. There will also be ample opportunity to ask questions. Attendance will be free of charge, thanks to the support from the University of West London.

To attend staff should register, via BU’s subscription, on the UKRO website. Please ensure that you have approval within your Faculty to attend. You should also register with UKRO so that you receive announcements concerning EU funding direct to your own inbox – make sure that you hear first!

If you are considering applying, please contact Emily Cieciura, REKO’s Research Facilitator: EU & International, in the first instance.

UKRO – ERC Starting Grant Information and Proposal Writing Events

EU, Funding opportunities, Research Training

UKRO logo​​​In its capacity as UK National Contact Point for the European Research Council (ERC), the UK Research Office, in partnership with the hosting institutions, is holding two events for researchers who are interested in applying for the next ERC Starting Grants call. The events are scheduled as follows:

•University of York, Monday 5 September 2016, 13:30 – 17:00

•King’s College London​, Tuesday 6 September 2016, 10:00 – 13:00

​​The scheme is designed to support Principal Investigators (PIs) at the stage at which they are starting their own independent research team or programme. To be eligible for the 2017 call, the PI must have been awarded their PhD between two and seven years prior to 1 January 2017 (extendable in certain strict cases).

The next ERC Starting Grant call is not yet available on the Participant Portal but please refer to the ERC website for all information about this and other ERC calls.

BU staff can also register, via BU subscription, on the UKRO website to receive announcements concerning EU funding direct to your own inbox – make sure that you hear first!

If you are considering applying, please contact Emily Cieciura, REKO’s Research Facilitator: EU & International, in the first instance.

UKRO Conference Report – important EU funding updates

BU research, EU, Events, Funding opportunities, Guidance, international, Research news, Research Training

UKRO logoThe UK Research Office (UKRO) is the European office of the UK Research Councils. It delivers a subscription-based advisory service for research organisations (in the main UK HEIs) and provides National Contact Point services on behalf of the UK Government. UKRO’s mission is to maximise UK engagement in EU-funded research, innovation and higher education activities. One way UKRO supports this mission is through the annual conference.

The slides are publicly available via the UKRO website. To access further subscriber-only information, including events notifications and news, BU staff members can register today!

The 2016  UKRO Annual Conference took place at Glasgow ​Caledonian University in Glasgow on Thursday 30th June and Friday 1st July 2016.​​ Please follow the links below to access slides and other information from the event:

Conference Programme​​

​Biographies of Speakers​

Presentations:

Thursday 30 June 2016

Opening plenary session

Horizon 2020: Are We On the Path to Success?​
Mr Wolfgang Burtscher (DG RTD, Deputy Director General)

European Research Council: An Update and Future Directions​
Mr Theodore Papazoglou (ERCEA, Head of Unit, Support to the ERC Scientific Council)

Parallel sessions 1

A) Horizon 2020 Health Challenge: Zika, Ebola & Antimicrobial Resistance
Ms Line Matthiessen (DG RTD, Head of Unit, Fighting Infectious Diseases and Advancing Public Health)

B) Being Ethics Ready and Compliant
Ms Maria Filipa Ferraz De Oliveira (ERCEA, Head of Ethics Sector)

C) Horizon 2020 Funding for Research into Migration and Mobility​
Ms Elisabeth Lipiatou (DG RTD, Head of Unit, Open and Inclusive Societies)

Parallel sessions 2

A) Marie Skl​odowska-Curie Actions Reporting: IT’s That Time of the Year Again…
Ms Cathy Souto Enriques (REA, MSCA Project Advisor)

B) Funding Research for a Secure Society
​Mr Graham Willmott (DG HOME, Head of Unit, Innovation and Industry Security)​

Friday 1 July 2016

Open Innovation: The Future of EU Innovation Funding? Ideas for Creating a European Innovation Council
Ms Sophie Laurie (NERC, Associate Director of Innovation and Translation)​
Mr Matthew King (DG RTD, Head of Unit Open Innovation)​​

Parallel sessions 3

A) Open to the World: Co-Funded Calls and How it Works in Practice
Mr Diego Sammaritano (DG RTD, Policy Officer, R&I Cooperation with China)

B) Open Science: Opening Up Scientific Information in Horizon 2020
Ms Joy Davidson (Collaborative Research & Services Provision Manager, University of Glasgow)

Parallel sessions 4

ELO Profiles for the Future of EU Funding
Ms Angela Noble (University of Edinburgh, Manager – Europe)
Ms Philippa Shelton (University of the West of England, Bristol, Senior Research Business Development Manager)
Ms Kimberly Cornfield (UCL, Head of EU Proposal Management)​

Managing Intellectual Property in Horizon 2020​
Mr Jakub Ramocki (EU IPR Helpdesk, Intellectual Property Advisor)

If you would like to discuss potential EU funding activity, please contact Emily Cieciura, RKEO’s Research Facilitator: EU & International. To see related articles, just search for ‘UKRO’ on the BU Research blog.

 

ERC Deadlines

BU research, EU, Funding opportunities, international

ercThe deadlines for the European Research Council calls are quickly approaching.

Please contact Emily Cieciura, RKEO’s Research Facilitator: EU and International if you intent to apply for:

Why not sign up for ERC email alerts so that you keep up to date with ERC news and events?