Slow and steady: Research Council was game-changer for Flemish scientists
For the past decade, the European Research Council has been funding cutting-edge work around the world and across disciplines, and Flanders’ institutes have benefitted greatly from it
Frontiers of knowledge
Flanders also has reason to celebrate, since it has been exceptionally successful in the often stiff competition for ERC funds. This has helped support local academics, as well as inspiring researchers working abroad to move or return to Flemish institutions.
“It’s really an incentive for promising researchers to receive such a grant,” says Hans Willems, secretary-general of the Flanders Research Foundation (FWO), the national contact point for the ERC. “It’s a huge amount of money, and it means they have sufficient funding to perform the research they want to perform within the European Union, rather than looking to the United States or Japan.”
The ERC was set up by the EU in 2007, at a time when politicians preferred funding research with clear applications, likely to have rapid commercial or social impact. In contrast, the ERC would support research at the frontiers of knowledge, where the results were uncertain and might take decades to emerge.
All disciplines
The ideas would come from the researchers themselves, in any discipline from life science, the physical sciences and engineering, through to social science and the humanities. Researchers would also assess the ideas, picking only the best.
Three kinds of grants were devised, and continue to be awarded. Starting grants are for young researchers, ideally between two and seven years after they get their PhD, who want to move from working under a supervisor to become an independent investigator. They can get up to €1.5 million, spread over five years.
Grants of this type are not available in Flanders for all disciplines, and the budget allows researchers to take some risks
Researchers who are already independent but want to build or strengthen a team can apply for consolidator grants, worth up to €2 million over five years. Then there are advanced grants, for research leaders with high-risk projects to pursue, which are worth up to €2.5 million over five years.
Belgium has won 252 grants from the ERC since it began, of which 185 have gone to Flemish universities and research institutes. The country ranks ninth out of the 33 participating nations, behind Italy but ahead of Sweden, Austria and Denmark. Flanders’ performance puts it on a par with Austria.
Impressive record
The University of Leuven (KU Leuven) has the most impressive record, hosting 63 of the main research grants, a figure that puts it in the top 20 institutions across Europe and equal to countries such as Norway and Portugal.
Next comes Ghent University (UGent), with 39 grants, and Flanders’ Life Sciences Research Institute (VIB), with 31 grants. This government-funded research institute has laboratories in universities across the region but administers the ERC grants itself.
“The smaller universities also show some impressive results, with one or more grantees in every discipline,” says Willems. “That is quite an achievement.” Antwerp University has 14 grants while the Free University of Brussels (VUB) has 12.
Finally, the semi-conductor research institute imec has four grants, Hasselt University has two, the Institute for Tropical Medicine in Antwerp two and the Orpheus Institute in Ghent one.
These grants are a considerable asset to the institutions. “They are not only prestigious but also represent a lot of money, so we consider them important,” says Ignace Lemahieu, director of UGent’s research department.
Supporting a team
“It’s a substantial amount of financial support for basic research. Grants of this type are not available in Flanders, at least not for all disciplines, and the budget allows researchers to take some risks,” says Liliane Schoofs, vice rector for research policy at KU Leuven. “This is the only way to achieve real scientific breakthroughs.”
The stiff competition to win ERC grants is also a positive factor, according to Lieve Ongena, senior science policy manager at VIB. “The ERC is pushing our researchers to go beyond the scope of nationally funded projects,” she says. “Many of these ground-breaking ideas would never be elaborated if the opportunity of ERC funding was not available.”
More and more foreign researchers are interested in performing their research in Flanders
While the grants go to an individual researcher, they are often used to support a whole team of post-doctoral researchers and PhD candidates working on this person’s idea. It is also possible for a research group to win multiple awards, pushing forward a broader body of research.
One example is Ghent’s photonics team, which has three starting grants, one consolidator grant and one advanced grant to its name.
Since the grants are personal, researchers can apply while at one institution and then move to the preferred host once they are successful. The idea is that this helps tempt the best European researchers back from the US and other desirable destinations. Although within Europe the mobility cuts both ways.
“There is always a risk that, if it looks more promising in Switzerland or the UK, they will take their grant and leave. But right now we are doing quite well in keeping them here,” says Willems. “We also see that more and more foreign researchers are interested in performing their research in Flanders.”
Strong competition
According to Schoofs, the most important factor in Flanders’ ERC success is the quality of its researchers. “I’ve been a member of an ERC panel this year, and no other factor is as important,” she says. “It’s about the best scientists and the best projects.”
But that excellence comes from somewhere, and Willems thinks competition for FWO funds plays a part, helping researchers learn how to pitch their projects. “The strong competition also means that only the best researchers receive funding on a post-doctoral level, and so they are well-placed to play a role on the European level.”
The institutions also encourage researchers to seize the opportunity. “It starts with training the next generation of top scientists – with a special focus on female scientists – to develop a plan for the ERC,” says Ongena of VIB’s approach. “In addition, we try to identify who should be applying in the coming year. We analyse CVs, we look at big research papers coming up, and we advise people individually.”
Sometimes they are advised to wait, such as until an important paper has appeared. For Schoofs, the main task is reassuring hesitant researchers. “Young scientists can sometimes be reluctant to apply because they think they are not good enough.”
Providing incentives
All the institutions provide support with the bureaucracy of applying, and efforts are made to connect aspiring ERC applicants with those successful in previous rounds. Ghent has the most tangible rewards, offering grant winners without fixed appointments positions as professors.
“For young researchers in particular, this is a big incentive to apply for ERC funding,” says Lemahieu. And if they win, their teaching responsibilities can be reduced to allow more time for research.
Finally, the FWO has a runners-up scheme for researchers who reach the ERC’s final round but don’t make the cut for funding. “Of course it is on a much more limited scale than the ERC,” Willems explains, “but it’s an incentive for young post-doctoral researchers to submit an application. And then, based on that runner-up project, they can work on their CV, work on their research and try again one or two years later.” Some have already succeeded.
Projects in Flanders
Silvana Mandolessi of KU Leuven is looking at how digital media are changing the way a nation’s collective memory is shaped. Starting grant (2016-21) €1.5 million
Matteo Campioli at Antwerp University is working out the factors that determine when leaves fall from trees, knowledge that will improve assessments of forest growth and climate change. Starting grant (2017-22) €1.5 million
Kevin Verstrepen, a VIB researcher at KU Leuven, is investigating whether living cells can somehow remember past experiences, and if this helps them respond to their environment. Consolidator grant (2016-21) €2 million
Niel Hens at Hasselt University is looking at new mathematical models that will use medical and social data to track the movement of infectious diseases through the population. Consolidator grant (2016-21) €1.6 million
Liesbet Lagae at imec is developing a device that combines chip-based cameras and digital image processing to sort and analyse blood cells, for example picking out cancer cells. Consolidator grant (2014-19) €2 million
Piet Demeester of UGent is investigating a new kind of wireless network, capable of connecting dense groups of moving objects, such as robots. Advanced grant (2017-21) €2.5 million
Gert Desmet from VUB is developing a new approach to chromatography in order to map all the molecules that are active in the human body. Advanced grant (2016-21) €2.5 million
Photos: top, VIB/Ine Dehandschutter; bottom, Christophe Vander Eecken/Ghent University
