UNESCO SCIENCE REPORT

European Union
n The Specific Programme for People funded the training,
career development and mobility of researchers between
sectors and countries worldwide. It was implemented
through the Marie-Skłodowska-Curie Actions 12 and Specific
Actions to Support European Research Area policies.
n The Specific Programme for Capacities funded research
infrastructure for SMEs. It also hosted the following smaller
programmes: Science in Society, Regions of Knowledge,
Research Potential, International Co-operation and the
Coherent Development of Research Policies.
By December 2014, almost half of all research projects within
the Seventh Framework Programme had been completed.
More than 43 000 scientific publications has been reported
from 7 288 projects, almost half of which had appeared in
high-impact journals. Germany and the UK had the largest
number of applicants for project funding, about 17 000 over
12. The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions provide researchers with grants at all
stages of their career and encourage transnational, intersectorial and interdisciplinary
mobility. Between 2007 and 2014, more than 32 500 EU researchers
received this type of funding.
2007–2013, whereas the much smaller Luxembourg and
Malta each had less than 200 (Table 9.11).
When it comes to measuring the success rate, defined
as the number of proposals retained, a different ranking
emerges. Belgium, the Netherlands and France stand
out here, with a success rate of at least 25%. If we take
population size into account, it is the smaller countries that
have been the most successful, with Cyprus and Belgium
both having more than 500 retained proposals per million
inhabitants.
In financial terms, the largest countries received the bulk
of funding in absolute terms and France, Belgium and the
Netherlands the greatest shares. However, if we compare
Seventh Framework Programme funding with national
levels of research funding, it transpires that framework
funding is relatively higher for those countries with modest
levels of national funding. This is the case for Cyprus, for
instance, where framework funding amounted to almost
14% of GERD, as well as for Greece (just over 9%) and
Bulgaria (more than 6%).
A successful model
The ERC has been widely acknowledged as
a highly successful model for competitive
research funding. Its existence has had a
strong impact at the national level. Since
the ERC was created in 2007, 11 member
states have set up national research
councils, bringing the total to 23. Funding
schemes inspired by the ERC structure
have been launched by 12 member
states: Denmark, France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg,
Poland, Romania, Spain and Sweden.
The ERC calls for proposals are very
competitive: in 2013, the success rate
was just 9% for Starting and Consolidator
Grants and 12% for Advanced Grants.
Consequently, 17 European countries *
have developed national funding schemes
to support their ‘finalists’ in the ERC
competitions who were not awarded a
grant (ERC, 2015).
* Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, France,
Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway,
Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and
Switzerland
A scheme open to researchers everywhere
The ERC is open to top researchers from
anywhere in the world. To raise awareness
and forge closer ties with counterparts
abroad, the ERC has toured all continents
since 2007. The ERC also offers young
researchers the opportunity to come to
Europe to join the research teams of ERC
grantees, an initiative supported by
Figure 9.7: Grants by the European Research Council, 2013
Top 23 grantees by country of host institution and origin of grantee
1 000
800
600
400
200
0
-200
UK
Germany
France
Netherlands
Switzerland
Italy
Israel
Spain
Sweden
Belgium
Austria
Denmark
non-European funding agencies.
Agreements have been signed with the
National Science Foundation in the USA
(2012), the Government of the Republic
of Korea (2013), the National Scientific and
Technical Research Council (CONICET)
in Argentina (2015) and with the Japan
Society for the Promotion of Science (2015).
Source: compiled by authors
Finland
Norway
Greece
Hungary
Grants in country
Non-nationals in host country
Nationals in host country
Nationals away from country
Portugal
Ireland
Poland
Czech Rep.
Cyprus
Turkey
Estonia
Source: ERC (2014)
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