Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament explaining the European Research Council operations and realisation of the objectives set out in the Specific Programme "Ideas" in 2007
Date: 2008-07-18
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU action, EU office or agency, EU programme, report, research programme, scientific research

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 18.7.2008 
COM(2008) 473 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT 

explaining the European Research Council operations and realisation of the objectives 
set out in the Specific Programme "Ideas" in 2007 

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REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT 

explaining the European Research Council operations and realisation of the objectives 
set out in the Specific Programme "Ideas" in 2007 

1. 

Introduction  

The  European  Research  Council  (ERC)  is  an  ambitious  new  component  of  the  European 
Union's  research  policy.  It  has  been  established  under  the  provisions  of  the  Seventh 
Framework  Programme,  and  is  the  means  for  implementation  of  the  Specific  Programme 
“Ideas”, with a budget of € 7.51 bn over the period 2007-2013. Consisting of an independent 
Scientific Council supported by a dedicated implementation structure and operating according 
to 
transparency  and 
accountability,  the  ERC’s  mission  is  to  promote  the  very  best  research  at  the  frontiers  of 
knowledge across all areas of science and scholarship, through competition at European level 
between individual research teams. 

the  principles  of  scientific  excellence,  autonomy,  efficiency, 

Article 4.4 of the Decision on the Specific Programme "Ideas" states that: 

The  Commission  shall  act  as  the  guarantor  of  the  European  Research  Council's 
autonomy and integrity, ensure the proper execution of the tasks entrusted to it and 
provide the European Parliament and the Council with an annual report on the ERC's 
operations and realisation of objectives set out in the specific programme.  

Annex 1 of the same Decision states that the annual report will be drawn up in co-operation 
with the Scientific Council. 

This Annual Report of the Commission, 2007, which has been drawn up in co-operation with 
the  ERC  Scientific  Council,  presents  the  Commission's  assessment  of  the  ERC's  operations 
and the achievement of its objectives in its first year of existence.  

2. 

Legal and organisational base 

The European Research Council (ERC) came officially into existence on 2 February 2007, by 
a Decision of the Commission1, in accordance with the Decisions of Council and Parliament 
on the Seventh Framework Programme2 and Rules for Participation3, and the Decision of the 
Council on the Specific Programme "Ideas"4. 

This  Commission  Decision  formally  established  the  ERC  Scientific  Council  (ScC),  and 
provided  for  the  establishment  of  the  dedicated  implementation  structure  as  well  as  the 
position of ERC Secretary General, whose role is to assist the Scientific Council in ensuring 
its effective liaison with the Commission and the dedicated implementation structure5. 

1 
2 
3 
4 
5 

2007/134/EC; OJ L 57, 24.02.2007, p.14. 
1982/2006/EC of 18.12.06, OJ L 412, 30.12.2006, p.1. 
1906/2006/EC of 18.12.06, OJ L 391, 30.12.2006, p.1. 
2006/972/EC of 19.12.06, OJ L 400, 30.12.2006, p.243 and corrigendum OJ L 54, 22.02.2007, p.81. 
To  prepare  for  the  start-up  of  the  ERC,  precursors  to  both  the  Scientific  Council  and  the  dedicated 
implementation  structure  were  set  up  by  the  Commission  in  advance  of  the  Decision  on  the  Seventh 
Framework Programme. Members of the Scientific Council were nominated by Commissioner Potočnik 
in July 2005 and held a first meeting in October 2005.  

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A  subsequent  Commission  Decision6  established  the  first  ERC  Secretary  General,  selected 
independently  by  the  Scientific  Council,  in  the  position  of  Special  Advisor  to  the 
Commission. 

The  Scientific  Council  is  an  independent  body,  representing  the  European  research 
community and consisting of 22 scientists, engineers and scholars of the highest repute from a 
broad  range  of  fields,  and  has  the  responsibility  for  setting  the  scientific  strategy  for  the 
"Ideas" specific programme. It has full authority over decisions on the type of research to be 
funded and acts as guarantor of the quality of the activity from the scientific perspective. Its 
tasks  cover,  in  particular,  the  establishment  of  the  annual  work  programme  and  necessary 
modifications, including calls for proposals; the methods and procedures for peer review and 
proposal evaluation, monitoring and quality control of the programme’s implementation from 
the scientific perspective; and communication. 

Immediately  after  the  Decision  establishing  the  ERC,  the  Scientific  Council  confirmed  the 
election  of  its  Chair  and  two  Vice-Chairs,  and  adopted  rules  of  procedure,  including 
provisions  for  the  functioning  of  the  Scientific  Council;  liaison  with  the  dedicated 
implementation  structure  via  the  ERC  Secretary  General;  and  a  code  of  conduct  and 
declaration to avoid conflicts of interest and ensure confidentiality. 

To  further  assure  its  effective  operation  as  well  as  its  interaction  with  the  Commission  and 
dedicated  implementation  structure  (ERC  DIS),  and  consistent  with  the  ERC  Decision1, 
Article  5(4),  the  Scientific  Council  set  up  an  ERC  Board,  consisting  of  its  Chair  and  Vice-
Chairs, the ERC Secretary General. The Director of the dedicated implementation structure is 
invited to participate in these meetings.  

The  dedicated  implementation  structure  is  to  be  set  up  as  a  lean  and  cost-effective  external 
structure, in the form of an executive agency of the Commission – the ERC Executive Agency 
(ERCEA),  whose  role  is  to  implement  the  Ideas  programme  until  the  ERCEA  becomes 
operational,  the  functions  of  the  ERC-DIS  are  assured  by  Directorate  S  of  DG  Research,  a 
new Directorate created for this purpose on 1 October 2006.  

During  2007,  the  Commission  made  significant  progress  towards  establishing  the  ERCEA. 
Following consultation with Commission services and the other Community institutions, the 
Member States' Regulatory Committee on Executive Agencies gave a positive opinion on the 
draft  proposal  on  14  November.  This  was  followed  by  a  positive  vote  by  the  Budgetary 
Committee  of  the  European  Parliament  on  27  November.  The  Commission  Decision 
establishing the ERCEA was subsequently adopted on 14 December7.  

The  Commission  also  adopted  ERC-specific  Decisions  on  implementing  arrangements,  in 
particular the ERC Grant Agreement covering frontier research projects, and associated ERC 
Supplementary Agreement setting out the obligations of the host organisation to the Principal 
Investigator8; and the ERC Rules for the submission of proposals and the related evaluation, 
selection and award procedures relevant to the Ideas Specific Programme9. 

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C(2007)4670-3 of 15.10.2007, not published. 
2008/37/EC; OJ L9, 12.01.2008, p.15. 
C(2007)1625  of  16.04.07,  as  last  amended  by  the  decision  of  the  Commission  C(2007)3598  of 
31.07.07, not published.  
C(2007)2286  of  06/06/2007  as  last  amended  by  the  decision  of  the  Commission  C(2007)4429  of 
27.09.2007, not published. 

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3. 

ERC Strategy, work programme and peer review methodology  

Strategy 

The  Scientific  Council  has  the  responsibility  for  setting  the  ERC’s  scientific  strategy, 
including establishing the annual Ideas Work Programme. During 2007, the Scientific Council 
met 8 times in plenary session. The ERC Board set up by the Scientific Council met 10 times 
during  the  year  to  plan  the  Scientific  Council  meetings  and  liaise  with  the  dedicated 
implementation structure. 

In accordance with the objectives of the Specific Programme “Ideas” the Scientific Council 
has  developed  two  "core"  funding  schemes,  which  are  based  on  the  "investigator-driven" 
principle,  enabling  individual  Principal  Investigators  (PIs)  leading  individual  national  or 
trans-national teams to propose "bottom-up" research projects (i.e. without predefined topics) 
including high risk, interdisciplinary projects, which are evaluated against the sole criterion of 
excellence: 

The  ERC  Starting  Independent  Researcher  Grants  (“ERC  Starting  Grants” 
(StG)):  supporting  the  independent  careers  of  excellent  researchers,  whatever  their 
nationality, located in or moving to the Member States and associated countries, who 
are at the stage of starting or consolidating their own independent research team or, 
depending on the field, establishing their independent research programme.  

The  ERC  Advanced  Investigator  Grants  (“ERC  Advanced  Grants”  (AdG)): 
supporting  excellent,  innovative  investigator-initiated  research  projects  across  the 
Member States and associated countries, directed by leading advanced investigators 
of  whatever  age,  who  have  already  established  themselves  as  being  independent 
research leaders in their own right.  

These funding schemes are designed to promote research excellence in all fields of knowledge 
and scholarship, and to secure the corresponding human capital, by both retaining in Europe 
and progressively recruiting from abroad some of the top research talent of both the current 
and the next generation. They provide substantial funds (up to € 400,000 per year over 5 years 
for StG and up to € 500,000 per year over 5 years for AdG) and flexible conditions. They are 
intended to operate for the period of the Seventh Framework Programme, with progressively 
increasing  call  budgets  and  with  call  deadlines  organised  on  an  annual  basis,  thereby 
presenting a high level of continuity and predictability to the research community. 

Work programmes 

The Scientific Council established the ERC / Ideas work programmes for 2007 and 2008 on 
the basis of the above strategy. 

The  2007  Ideas  work  programme,  which  launched  the  first  ERC  Starting  Grant  call,  was 
transmitted by the Scientific Council (then operating in “precursor” mode) to the Commission 
in  October  2006.  Following  inter-service  consultation  and  opinion  of  the  Programme 
Committee, the provisional work programmes were adopted by the Commission in December 
2006 and calls for proposals issued on 22 December 2006. Following the entry into force of 
the Seventh Framework programmes, the specific programmes and the rules of participation, 
and  the  formal  establishment  of  the  ERC,  the  2007  Ideas  work  programme  was  adopted 
without change on 26 February 200710 and, modified on 2 October 200711 

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C(2007)561 of 26.02.2007, not published. 
C(2007)4467 of 02.10.2007, not published. 

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The  2008  Ideas  work  programme12,  which  launched  the  first  Advanced  Grant  call,  was 
transmitted by the Scientific Council to the Commission in October 2007 and adopted without 
change by the Commission on 29 November 2007. The 2008 work programme also included a 
call for Co-ordination and Support Actions (CSA) to generate a portfolio of projects, studies 
and  associated  initiatives  that  will  contribute  to  the  evaluation  of  the  impact  of  the  ERC 
activities and provide relevant evidence to contribute to the ERC mid-term review (see point 7 
below).  It  also  included  support  actions  for  the  activities  of  specific  legal  entities  (named 
beneficiaries)  to  provide  support  to  the  Scientific  Council  Chair  and  vice-Chairs  at  their 
places of work13.  

Peer review methodology 

Since the quality of the ERC’s peer review evaluation process and the confidence it engenders 
within the research community will be vital to the achievement of the ERC’s objectives, the 
Scientific Council gave careful attention to the ERC’s peer review methodology. It adopted a 
structure  of  high-level  peer  review  panels,  covering  the  entire  range  of  research  disciplines 
and  organised  in  a  framework  of  three  main  research  domains  –  physical  and  engineering 
sciences,  life  sciences,  and  social  sciences  and  the  humanities.  Panel  members  proposed  by 
the  Scientific  Council,  include  scientists,  engineers  and  scholars  of  the  highest  international 
reputation from both within the EU and beyond.  

Each panel covers a broad range of topics, to ensure that proper consideration is given to high 
quality,  interdisciplinary  proposals.  Twenty  panels  were  set  up  for  the  first  ERC  Starting 
Grant call covering all scientific domains. Based on the experience gained from the call, the 
number of panels has been increased to 25 for the first ERC Advanced Grant call. 

4. 

Programme implementation 

The ERC-DIS is responsible for all aspects of administrative implementation and programme 
execution,  as  provided  for  in  the  work  programme.  It  will,  in  particular,  implement  the 
evaluation  procedures,  peer  review  and  selection  process  according  to  the  principles 
established by the Scientific Council , and ensure financial and scientific management of the 
grants.  

The main activities in 2007 have been the provision of strategic and administrative support to 
the Scientific Council, implementation of the first call for ERC Starting Grants, including the 
operational development of the call management and peer review systems, preparation of the 
first ERC Advanced Grants call, communication with the scientific community and assurance 
of the integrity of procedures and processes.  

The ERC Starting Grant call 

The ERC Starting Grant call was published on 22 December 2006 with a deadline of 25 April 
2007, and indicative budget of €290 million; the ERC-DIS implemented the ERC peer review 
system, including the appointment of the panel members, as defined by the Scientific Council.  

A total of 9167 proposals were received of which, following eligibility check, 8794 were peer 
reviewed, in a two stage process. At the end of the first stage, 559 successful applicants (6%) 
were invited to submit a more detailed proposal by the deadline of 17 September 2007. The 
second  stage  peer  review  evaluation  involved remote  individual  assessments,  carried  out  by 

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C(2007)5746 of 29.11.07, not published. 
These  support actions  followed  SSAs  established  with  a  similar  purpose  as  preparatory  actions  under 
the Sixth Framework Programme. 

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panel members and referees and individual interviews14 with the respective panel, prior to the 
final panel discussion and ranking.  

In  line  with  the  work  programme,  panels  recommended  the  level  of  funding  for  each 
successful proposal, subject to technical adjustments by the ERC-DIS in some cases to assure 
consistent  and  appropriate  treatment  of  salary  costs  according  to  the  Rules  of  Participation. 
With  funding  levels  of  applications  averaging  slightly  more  than  €1  million,  and  with  the 
addition of a proportion of available third country receipts to the indicative call budget15 it is 
expected that about 300 proposals will be funded, strictly according to the rank order decided 
by the peer review panels. Of these projects, 95 were screened by an external ethics panel of 
which  40  were  subjected  to  a  full  ethical  review.  One  project  involves  the  use  of  human 
embryonic  stem  cells  and  will  be  submitted  for  opinion  of  the  Programme  Committee  for 
regulatory approval. 

Redress 

The  ERC  put  in  place  redress  procedures,  following  the  model  established  for  the  Seventh 
Framework Programme16. The "Ideas" configuration of the redress committee considered 245 
redress  requests  relating  to  the  9167  proposals  submitted  following  the  stage  1  peer  review 
evaluation; this number represents approximately 3% of the total number of applications. The 
redress  committee  concluded  that  15  of  these  cases  (6%  of  complaints;  0.16%  of  proposals 
received) required a re-evaluation, resulting in 1 proposal being passed to stage 217. Following 
the stage 2 evaluation procedures, 27 cases were received and have been processed, but none 
were retained18. 

Grant management 

The ERC-DIS has also set up procedures for the financial and scientific management of the 
grants building on existing good practice and simplifying processes where appropriate. It has 
designed  and  implemented  means  for  the  ERC-DIS  to  prepare  ERC  grant  agreements  and 
manage  grants  efficiently  in  accordance  with  the  principles  established  under  the  Specific 
Programme “Ideas”, allowing research projects to operate in a highly flexible way that is also 
fully accountable.  

ERC grants will be subject to both scientific and financial monitoring over the lifetime of the 
project. To keep the administration requirements for the Principal Investigator to a minimum, 
in most cases only a mid-term scientific report is foreseen. Reporting on financial aspects and 
the  use  of  resources  will  be  more  frequent,  with  the  host  institution  submitting  the  relevant 
information  at  the  end  of  each  financial  management  reporting  period.  To  ensure  that 
Principal  investigators  can  adapt  to  scientific  developments  and  carry  out  work  with 
unpredictable outcomes, project payments will not be conditional on deliverables but on the 
effort and use of resources (funding) for the project.  

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The Ideas work programme C(2007)4467 of 02.10.07 and the ERC Rules for Submission of proposals 
C(2007)4429 of 27.09.2007 were modified, to include a provision for the reimbursement of the travel 
expenses of the applicants invited to interviews with the ERC Panel in Brussels. 
Commission  Decision  to  adapt  the  work  programme  C(2008)1640  of  29.04.2008  the  total  available 
budget for the call increased to €335 million. 
OJ  L  391,  and  OJ  L400  of  30.12.2006  (EC  and  Euratom  rules  respectively)  and  corrigendum  in 
Euratom OJ L54 of 22. 02.2007, p4. 
There remains one stage 1 request pending (Ombudsman case no 485/2008/(IG)IP) 
Information regarding the redress procedures is on the CORDIS website at: 
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ideas/redress_en.html 

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The ERC Advanced Grant call 

The call for ERC Advanced Grants, was published on 30 November 2007 with three different 
deadlines depending on the domain (Physical and Engineering sciences; Life sciences; Social 
sciences  and  Humanities)  in  Spring  2008.  The  call  involves  a  one-stage  application  process 
(applicants being required to submit their full proposal, along with a synopsis and evidence of 
their  track  record  in  Scientific  Leadership,  at  the  submission  deadline)  and  two-step 
evaluation. 

5. 

Communication  

A  significant  effort  has  been  made  during  2007  to  communicate  the  ERC’s  activities 
effectively to the scientific community and raise awareness with the wider public.  

A number of key  communication tools,  products  and channels, have been  developed  during 
2007  to  disseminate  information  on  the  ERC.  These  include  the  establishment  of  the  ERC 
website at http://erc.europa.eu which was launched on 14 February 200719; the establishment 
of National Contact Points (ERC NCPs) in more than 36 countries (27 EU Member States, 9 
Associated  Countries  and  some  third  countries);  production  and  broad  dissemination  of  a 
brochure  introducing  the  Scientific  Council  to  75  000  contacts  in  Europe,  including  key 
stakeholders in research, policy and economy; and launching an awareness-raising campaign 
on the ERC focusing on the 1st Starting Grant call, with over 90 presentations at FP7 and ERC 
launch  events  in  23  countries,  as  well  as  the  dissemination  of  5000  posters  announcing  the 
call to research organisations and intermediaries.  

A highly successful ERC launch conference took place on 27/28 February 2007 in Berlin, co-
organised  by  the  Deutsche  Forschungsgemeinschaft,  DFG  (German  Research  Foundation) 
and the European Commission. 

6. 

Resources 

During  2007,  the  staff  of  Directorate  S  grew  from  84  to  108;  in  view  of  the  number  of 
proposals received and evaluated under the first call for proposals and the effort required for 
the  establishment  of  the  ERC’s  structures,  systems  and  procedures,  this  reflects  extremely 
lean management20. 
The operational credits of the Ideas programme, commitments of 266.790.220 € and payments 
of 1.372.598 € were fully executed (99.99% and 99.11% respectively). 

7. 

Monitoring and assessment of the ERC 

During 2007, measures have been taken to ensure that the ERC is efficient and transparent in 
its  operations,  and  accountable,  and  that  it  acts  as  a  true  “learning  organisation”,  assessing 
achievements  on  an  ongoing  basis  and  adjusting  and  improving  procedures  on  the  basis  of 
experience.  

The  Scientific  Council  have  reported  regularly  to  the  Commission,  both  during  the  normal 
course  of  business  (in  particular  the  adoption  of  the  work  programme,  grant  agreement  and 
rules  for  submission  of  proposals)  and  via  specific  meetings  involving  the  Chair  and  Vice-
Chairs of the Scientific Council. 

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Hosted by the CORDIS website infrastructure 
To note that, during 2007, Directorate S was responsible also for the management of projects under the 
NEST  (New  and  Emerging  Science  and  Technology)  activity  of  the  6th  framework  programme, 
essentially  to  maintain  and build up  scientific  and financial  management  capabilities  of  the dedicated 
implementation structure in the period prior to implementation of ERC projects.  

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Meetings of the “Ideas” Programme Committee, whose members met informally in late 2006, 
were  held  on  26  March  and  27  September.  In  addition  to  the  formal  business  of  the 
Programme Committee (which normally operates in an advisory mode) these meetings were 
structured  to  keep  the  Committee  fully  informed  of  progress  on  the  implementation  of  the 
“Ideas” programme and the ERC, and allow for an open exchange of information on strategy 
and operational matters between the Committee and the ERC Scientific Council and Secretary 
General, as well as the ERC-DIS. 

The Scientific Council has considered carefully the experience and outcome of the first StG 
call to ensure that the lessons learned are incorporated into the ERC’s funding schemes and 
procedures;  for  example,  refinements  were  introduced  with  the  aim  of  achieving  a  better 
balance between demand for grants and the available budget. A number of specific measures 
have  thus  been  incorporated  in  the  first  ERC  Advanced  Grant  call,  under  the  2008  work 
programme,  and  refinements  will  also  be  made  to  the  ERC  Starting  Grant  scheme  for  the 
second call. 

Measures are also being taken by the ERC-DIS to simplify the administrative procedures, for 
example  the  appointment  and  payment  of  experts  and  reviewers,  to  improve  the  efficiency 
and effectiveness of operations. 

First steps have been taken by the Scientific Council and the ERC-DIS, in close collaboration 
with  the  DG  Research's  Evaluation  unit,  to  develop  an  appropriate  monitoring,  assessment 
and  evaluation  framework  for  the  ERC  and  the  implementation  of  the  Specific  Programme 
“Ideas”.  The  aim  is  to  assist  future  strategy  making  and  provide  ongoing  feed-back  on 
effectiveness of processes and the outcome of decision-making, both as a means for continual 
learning and adaptation and for ex-post evaluation in the longer term.  

To contribute to this exercise, the 2008 Ideas work programme introduced a call for proposals 
for  CSAs  that  was  launched  in  November  2007  with  a  deadline  on  6  March  2008,  with  the 
aim  of  generating  a  portfolio  of  projects,  studies  and  associated  initiatives  which  will 
contribute  to  the  monitoring,  assessment  and  evaluation  of  the  impact  of  the  ERC  and  the 
Ideas Programme.  

8. 

Conclusions and outlook for 2008 

The Commission can report that the main institutional building blocks of the ERC have been 
successfully  established  during  2007  in  accordance  with  the  timeframe  envisaged,  and  the 
programme  has  been  implemented  according  to  the  principles  set  out  in  the  Specific 
Programme “Ideas”.  

There  has  been  a  strong  and  effective  collaboration  between  the  Scientific  Council  and  the 
ERC-DIS  in  implementing  the  “Ideas”  Programme  and  progressing  towards  setting  up  the 
ERCEA as an autonomous, independent entity.  

The  overwhelming  response  to  the  Starting  Grant  call  imposed  enormous  demands  on  the 
ERC’s  operations  at  a  very  early  and  potentially  vulnerable  stage,  testing  the  peer  review 
process, imposing a very high workload on the administration and panels and posing serious 
logistical challenges.  

The  ERC-DIS  and  other  DG  RTD  support  services  (particularly  the  IT  infrastructure: 
Electronic Proposal Submission Service and Evaluation Support Service) nevertheless coped 
remarkably  well,  and  allowed  the  peer  review  to  be  conducted  according  to  the  original 
schedule and to high quality standards, as judged by the panels themselves and confirmed by 
the relatively low percentage of cases upheld at redress. 

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Structures,  mechanisms  and  governance  will  continue  to  evolve  during  2008,  presenting  a 
dynamic  and  challenging  environment  for  the  ERC  as  it  continues  on  its  trajectory  towards 
administrative autonomy. A further Decision of the Commission, on the delegation of tasks to 
the  Executive  Agency,  will  be  presented  by  DG  Research  in  early  2008.  During  2008,  as 
progress  is  made  towards  the  formal  establishment  and  commissioning  of  the  ERCEA,  the 
current  tasks  of  Directorate  S  will  be  transferred  to  the  Agency  and  further  staff  will  be 
recruited. Directorate S will be dissolved as soon as the ERCEA is ready to take its place as 
the ERC-DIS. The Commission is committed to delivering an efficient and effective structure, 
while  at  the  same  time  ensuring  the  implementation  of  the  "Ideas"  programme  and  will 
provide the necessary support during 2008 to realise these objectives.  

Also during 2008, the Commission will present to the European Parliament and the Council a 
Communication on the methodology and terms of reference of the review to be carried out by 
independent  experts  by  2010  concerning  the  ERC's  structures  and  mechanisms,  against  the 
criteria  of  scientific  excellence,  autonomy,  efficiency  and  transparency  and  which  will 
explicitly  look  at  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  a  structure  based  on  an  Executive 
Agency, against an alternative structure based on Article 171 of the Treaty.  

Communication is, and will continue to be, a core challenge - to assure a high reputation and 
positive image of the ERC in and outside of Europe, which to a large extent will be founded 
on the quality of its strategy and operations, and in the longer-term on its impact on European 
research. From 2008 onwards, ERC-funded frontier research projects will be starting and the 
ERC  will  showcase  successful  Principal  Investigators  and  projects,  which  will  serve  as 
benchmarks  and  case  studies  of  European  research  excellence,  raising  awareness  and  the 
aspirations of potential applicants.  

Overall,  with  its  achievements  during  2007,  the  ERC  has  set  very  high  standards.  The 
challenge  remains  for  the  Commission  and  the  ERC  to  progress  efficiently  and  effectively 
towards the realisation of an operationally independent administrative entity during 2008 and 
to realise the added value and opportunities for the competitiveness and growth of Europe of 
an EU frontier research programme.  

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