8
ideas 2014 #2 (June)
European Research Council Newsletter
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Widening participation
29 cities in 22 countries visited in two months, and over
100,000 people reached that is the outcome of the
road show organised by EURAXESS. Tis two-month
campaign started in Brussels on 3 March with the goal
to promote scientifc career opportunities amongst young
researchers across Europe. Te ERC joined one part of the
journey: it hopped on the bus in Poznan, then moved on
to Warsaw and Wroclaw in Poland and ended in Prague,
the Czech Republic.
One of the ERCs priorities is to ensure that promising
talent, particularly in EU Member States less present
in the ERC calls, is aware of the funding ofered.
Te EURAXESS roadshow was therefore a perfect
opportunity to present the ERC funding schemes to
possible future candidates in Poland and the Czech
Republic, where the numbers of ERC applications are still
low. In all ERC core funding schemes from 2007 to 2013,
there have been 683 submissions from researchers in
Poland and 344 in the Czech Republic. As a comparison,
the numbers in the biggest EU Member States are 7,150 in
the United Kingdom, 5,354 in Italy and 4,702 in Germany.
Looking at a country with a population size quite similar
to that of Poland, the fgure for Spain is 3,540. As for the
Czech Republic, population-wise it can be compared to
Portugal, with 649 proposals in all calls.
During the campaign, with the help of National Contact
Points (NCPs) and EURAXESS local correspondents, the
ERC organised information sessions at universities in the
four cities visited to explain its funding schemes and the
application process.
Te ERC info events were a good occasion to talk
directly with PhD and postdoctoral students, and to
get a grasp of the reasons for the low application rates.
According to these discussions, some of the factors
that seem to have played a role in those two countries
are for instance language issues, low numbers of
publications in international peer reviewed journals,
and insufcient administrative support.
Despite the ERCs past campaign in the newer EU
Member States and substantial eforts made by the
NCPs, the lack of awareness about the ERC schemes
is still a challenge here.
Afer this useful tour, the ERC may organise a specifc
workshop with the NCPs from newer EU Member
States to come up with possible solutions to the
challenge in these countries.
ERC hits the road
Support for researchers in motion
EURAXESS is a European
Commission platform
for scientists interested
in pursuing their career
in Europe. It provides
information on job and
funding opportunities, as well as support services
for researchers reallocating to Europe.
Commissioner Mire Geoghegan-Quinn and Director-General Robert-Jan
Smits launched the campaign in Brussels
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Te EURAXESS bus in front of the University of Warsaw, Poland
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