The UK Research Office (UKRO) have prepared a comprehensive Q&A list relating to the eligibility criteria for the ERC Starting Grants and Consolidator Grants (ERC-2013-StG and ERC-2013-CoG), including questions related to the PhD date of Principal Investigators (PIs).
Further documentation is available on the UKRO website, including the ERC’s 2013 Work Programme and Guide for Applicants for the ERC-2013-StG Starting Grant call.
Q: In terms of time since PhD, what is the eligibility window for Starting Grant (StG) applicants?
A: The 2013 ERC Work Programme states that:
“For the Starting Grant the Principal Investigator shall have been awarded his/her first PhD at least 2 and up to 7 years prior to the publication date of the call for proposals of the ERC Starting Grant.”
UKRO has checked this with the ERC. It confirmed that those who obtained their PhDs between (and including) 10 July 2005 and (including the) 10 July 2010 will be eligible for StG.
Extensions to this period are possible in certain strict cases. These are listed on page 9 of the StG Guide for Applicants. The elapsed time since the award of the first PhD should not in any case surpass 11 years and six months for applicants to the StG.
Q: In terms of time since PhD, what is the eligibility window for Consolidator Grant (CoG) applicants?
A: The 2013 ERC Work Programme states that:
“For the Consolidator Grant the Principal Investigator shall have been awarded his/her first PhD over 7 and up to 12 years prior to the publication date of the call for proposals of the ERC Consolidator Grant.”
UKRO has also checked this with the ERC, who confirmed that those who obtained their PhDs between (and including) 7 November 2000 and (including the) 7 ovember 2005 (and including) will be eligible for CoG.
Extensions to this period will also be possible in certain strict cases. These are listed on pages 14 and 15 of the 2013 ERC Work Programme. The elapsed time since the award of the first PhD should not in any case surpass 16 years and six months for applicants to the CoG.
Q: So this means that some people will be eligible for both schemes then?
A: Yes, those who obtained their PhDs between (and including) the 10 July 2005 and (including the) 7 November 2005 are eligible for both schemes.
Q: For those who are eligible for both schemes, does the ERC have any advice on which scheme they should go for?
A: No, the ERC will not provide any advice on which scheme that applicant should apply to. It is up to the applicant to decide in which category they would like to compete.
Q: Well then, is there anything preventing someone who already has a team from applying for a StG? Surely they would not be penalised for doing so well so early on in their career?
A: Absolutely not. They should not be disadvantaged for doing well and can (if eligible) apply for a StG.
Q: What about success rates for the two schemes, the StG and CoG?
A: The success rates for both schemes are expected to be similar. Looking at statistics from previous calls, the success rates within the StG category, and within the CoG category, do tend to go up slightly the longer someone is from their PhD.
Q: Is there anything else to think about?
A: If the research planned is expensive, it may be worth considering that the budget limits for a CoG proposal are higher than for a StG proposal.
Q: Can someone submit as a PI to both the ERC-2013-StG and ERC-2013-CoG calls?
A: No. The restrictions on submission of proposals listed on page 16 of the 2013 ERC Work Programme states that:
“A Principal Investigator may submit only one proposal to the ERC for ERC frontier research grant calls made under the same Work Programme (Ineligible or withdrawn proposals do not count against this limit.)”.
Therefore applicants will have to choose which scheme to apply for, and can not apply more than once as a PI to the calls in the 2013 Work Programme.
Q: But what if someone submits a proposal to the StG scheme which is declared ineligible by the ERC. Can they then submit a proposal to the CoG scheme?
A: Yes, if a proposal is declared ineligible by the ERC then the above restriction on the submission of proposals does not apply. The PI could then decide to submit a proposal as a PI to one of the other calls in the ERC 2013 Work Programme, such as the CoG call, instead. The ERC has set the CoG deadline later so that those who are ineligible for the StG call can consider doing this.
Please note that PIs whose proposal is declared ineligible for StG will not have their proposal automatically transferred to the CoG scheme by the ERC. The PI will have to submit a new proposal to the CoG scheme. Part of the reasoning for this is that the CoG scheme has a higher budget limit per proposal, so the PI may want to adapt their research plans taking this into account.
Q: The ERC 2013 Work Programme mentions that extensions to the eligibility window are possible in certain cases. However it does not mention anything about part time working. Can I have an extension if I have been working part time?
A: UKRO has checked with the ERC, who stated that part time working is not an accepted reason for extending the eligibility window.
Q: Can I have an extension to the eligibility window if I have had period of unemployment, travel or time in non-research related careers?
A: No, the only reasons for extensions are normally those specified in the ERC Work Programme and StG/CoG Guides for Applicants.
Q: What PhD date is used when calculating eligibility?
A: The ERC rules on PhD dates state that:
“The reference date towards the calculation of the eligibility period should be the date of the actual award according to the national rules in the country that the degree was awarded.”
Q: What if I have a Doctor of Medicine (MD)?
A: The ERC’s 2013 Work Programme states on page 75:
“For medical doctors, an MD will not be accepted by itself as equivalent to a PhD award. To be considered an eligible Principal Investigator medical doctors (MDs) need to provide the certificates of both basic studies (MD) and a PhD or completion of clinical specialty training or proof of an appointment that requires doctoral equivalency (i.e. post-doctoral fellowship, professorship appointment). Additionally, candidates must also provide information on their research experience (including peer reviewed publications) in order to further substantiate the equivalence of their overall training to a PhD. In these cases, the certified date of the MD completion plus two years is the time reference for calculation of the eligibility time-window (i.e. 4-9 years past MD for Starters, and over 9-14 years past MD for Consolidators).
For medical doctors who have been awarded both an MD and a PhD, the date of the first degree that makes the applicant eligible takes precedence in the calculation of the eligibility time-window (2-7 years after PhD or 4-9 years past MD for Starters, and over 7-12 years after PhD or 9-14 years past MD for Consolidators).”
Please note that these rules have been updated compared to the rules for previous ERC calls which used to state that: “For medical doctors who have been awarded both an MD and a PhD, the date of their PhD award takes precedence in the calculation of the eligibility time-window (2-12 years after PhD).”
Q: If a PhD certificate has more than one date on it. Which one will be used?
A: If there is more than one date given on the PhD certificate, then the ERC will normally make a decision based on the PI’s CV (position, research activities performed after the PhD). The ERC’s approach would normally be to take the date shown in the PhD certificate which is the most favourable to the applicant.
Q: What is the earliest date that the ERC will take into account for award of the PhD?
A: The most favourable (or earliest) date that the ERC can take into account for eligibility is the defence date of the PhD. However, to be considered, this date should appear either on the PhD certificate or in an official document from the awarding Institution (with letterhead and signature of the Dean or authorised person mentioning the successful outcome).
Please note that the defence date can not be used unless the document provided by the PI stated that there was a successful outcome to the Viva. Otherwise the document does not prove that the PhD has been passed.
Q: What happens if the eligibility of an application is unclear?
A: The ERC has a special eligibility committee that will assess the documentation provided with the proposal and will make a decision on the eligibility of the PI.
Q: I applied to the last StG call (ERC-2012-StG) and scored a ‘C’. Can I apply as a PI to the 2013 StG or CoG calls (ERC-2013-StG or ERC-2013-CoG)?
A: No.
Those who scored a C last time, which is defined as “is not of sufficient quality to pass to step 2 of the evaluation” may be subject to restrictions on submitting proposals to future ERC calls, as stated in the ERC 2012 and 2013 Work Programmes.
In the ERC 2013 Work Programme, the restrictions on submissions of proposals are given on pages 16-17 and include:
“A Principal Investigator who has submitted an eligible proposal to a 2012 ERC call may not apply to a 2013 ERC call for any ERC frontier research grant if the proposal was evaluated as of insufficient quality to pass to step 2 of the evaluation (category C – see section 8.5). As an exception to this rule, a Principal Investigator who has submitted an eligible proposal to the 2012 Synergy Grant call may apply to the 2013 Starting, Consolidator or Advanced Grant calls (but not Synergy Grant) even if the proposal was evaluated as of insufficient quality to pass to step 2 of the evaluation (category C – see section 8.5)”
Therefore someone who scored a C in the ERC-2012-StG call can not submit to the 2013 calls as a PI.
Q: I applied to the last StG call (ERC-2012-StG) and scored a ‘B’. Can I submit as a PI to the 2013 StG or CoG calls (ERC-2013-StG or ERC-2013-CoG)?
A: Yes, if you scored a B last time (no matter whether this was at Step 1 or Step 2 of the peer review process) then you can submit a proposal to the 2013 ERC calls (including ERC-2013-StG and ERC-2013-CoG).
Q: If someone is a team member on an existing ERC grant or on a previous ERC grant application, do the rules on multiple applications apply to them?
A: No, existing ERC grants or ERC applications where a researcher is a team member (rather than a PI or Co-I) are not taken into account in the restrictions on submission of proposals. The rules only apply to all existing ERC grants and ERC grant applications where someone is named as a PI or Co-I.Therefore, if a researcher is a team member on an existing ERC grant or on another ERC proposal, they can apply as a PI for another ERC grant.