Danmarks Grundforskningsfond

Fall 2012

8th Call for NewCenters of Excellence

Excellence – Trust - Transparency

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Præsentation:

- Head of Manuscript Department, The Royal Library

- Head of Research, The National Museum

- Director, Danmarks Humanistiske Forskningscenter

- Professor, dr.phil., The Danish National Archives,

and affiliated The University of Copenhagen

- Chair of research board, The Ministry of Culture

- Vice president of board, The University of Aalborg

- Board member, The Danish Research Foundation

6. sep 2012

Excellence

Trust

Transparency

Danish National Research Foundation

Focus on people

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Let the best people grapple with the problems they are passionate about, and you set the

stage for real scientific breakthroughs.

DNRF calls for ‘dream projects’

Philosophy of DNRF: Focus on people

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The Danish parliament, Folketinget, established the Danish National Research Foundation in 1991 with capital of 2 billion DKK (≈ 265 million Euros).

In 2008 the foundation was given an extra 3 billion DKK (≈ 400 million Euros) and the capital will be entirely spent by 2026.

The foundation annually distributes up to 400 million DKK (≈ 53 million Euros).

Since 1991 the DNRF has committed itself to supporting Danish research environments with 6 billion DKK (≈ 800 million Euros).

Finance

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The DNRF Activities

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The DNRF’s primary means to strengthen Danish research:

Other DRNF activities:

Centers of Excellence (CoE)

Niels Bohr Visiting Professorships

DNRF Professorships

International collaboration withMax Planck Society, NSFC, CNRS, NSF

International Talent Recruitment Program

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Centers of Excellence

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Må have den højeste videnskabelige kvalitet

Må være ambitiøs

Må være original og videnskabeligt nytænkende

Kan inkludere en anvendt forskningsdimension (skal ikke)

Kan have vægt på enten teoretisk dimension eller empirisk

Skal være potentielt nybrydende grundforskning (alle videnskabsområder)

Forskningen - generelt

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Centerlederens drømmeprojekt

Centerleder: ambitiøs, internationalt anerkendt, stærk publikationsprofil, erfaren / nytænkende forskningsleder

Forslaget skal være drevet af:

den gode idé, nysgerrighed og originalitet

spørgsmål og hypotese, ikke beskrivelse

substans, klarhed – og relevans

et klart afsæt i ‘state of the art’

tværvidenskabelighed

Forskningen – Leder og idé

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Centerlederen vælger de folk, han/hun har brug for til at løse forskningsspørgsmålene, ikke andre

Hvis kompetencen ikke er på institutionen, så tænk i rekruttering

2 – 5 gruppeledere, hver med delprojekt, som danner kerne-styregruppen

Tværfaglig ‘gitterstruktur’ (forskellige fag-kompetencer på samme projekt)

Klar ledelsesstruktur med en entydig beslutningskompetence

International rekruttering: Post.docs og Ph.d’er

Fysisk center med samarbejdsrelationer

Advisory Board

Forskningsteam – og organisation

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Ingen fast model

Størrelsen varierer fra 15 til 60 personer

Bevillingen varierer from 36 to 64 mio d.kr. incl. 44 % overhead for en

6-års periode (cf. 7th Call)

Centrene placeret på danske forskningsinstitutioner, som ofte

inkluderer andre danske og/eller internationale institutioner

De fleste centre er inter- og tværdisciplinære

Størrelse og placering af Center of Excellence (CoE)

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Klar vinkling (skal kunne læses og forstås på 10 minutter)

Klar identifikation af den innovative idé og hvorfor netop du/I kan udføre den

Begrundelse for, hvordan du/I bliver en del af den globale top 10 på 6 år

Klar begrundelse for, hvorfor DG-bestyrelsen gør en forskel med bevilling til netop dig/jer

Journalistisk skrivemetode: Gem ej det bedste til sidst!

Give 5 – 20 faglige nøgleord

Husk du/I skriver til DG-bestyrelsen, ej til fagfæller

Forskningen – forslaget til ansøgning (prækvalifikation)

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Life Cycle of a Center of Excellence

Sep 6, 2012

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Call Outline proposals

Prequali-ficationSubmission of full applications

Center start Selected, peer-reviewed applications. Large, flexible grants (6+4 years). Max. 2 grant periods.

Midterm evaluationAfter 5 years, the board decides which centers will continue

1ST PERIOD

Final evaluationAfter 9 years

Annual follow-up meetingsAnnual reports

Year

Potential embedment at host institution2ND PERIOD

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Call and Prequalification

Sep 6, 2012

Preparation ofoutline proposal, approx. 5 pages

Outline proposals

Board processing

1. Outline proposals are submitted electronically: www.dg.dk

2. The DNRF board processes the letters of interest.

3. A number of qualified applicants are selected.

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The Selection Process

Sep 6, 2012

Preparation ofoutline proposals, approx. 5 pages

CallOutline proposals

Preparation of applications,approx. 15 pages

Peer review3 international peers per application

Contract phase

Inauguration

Board processing

ApplicationsProcessing

Board processing

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The Application Phase

Sep 6, 2012

Preparation of applications,approx. 15 pages

Application

The outline proposal is developed into a real research plan for a 6-year period at a maximum of 15 pages, according to the guidelines set by the DNRF.

The application must contain:• a description of the scientific problem and the scientific and social relevance of the problem

• budget

• CVs for core workers

• an organizational plan

• a commitment from the host institution

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The Processing Phase

Sep 6, 2012

Peer review3 international peers per application

Board processing

Processing For each application, 3 written peer reviews are collected. The peers are internationally recognized within their fields of research.

The international peers are chosen following counseling from national and international research grant-awarding organizations (Danish research councils, ESF and NSF). Applicant may suggest one peer.

The applicant is heard on the composition of the panel and again on the reviews, with an option to comment on them.

The Selection Phase

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The DNRF boardchooses the Centers

Contract phase

Inauguration

In the contract phase, the DNRF and the center leader negotiate with the host institution on co-financing and on plans for embedding the center after the end of the DNRF grant.

When processing the applications, the board includes:

the application the peer reviews the applicant’s comments on the peer reviews an interview with the applicant

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A) should be supported;

B) should be conditionally supported, further discussed, clarified, etc;

C) should be rejected; or

P) shows the potential to deliver real transformative or groundbreaking research, even though the proposed endeavor may be considered very risky.

DNRF board: A B C P scores

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Approx. 140 outline proposals responding to the 5th and 6th call (198 to the 7th call)

Success rate on outline proposals ~ 20%

27 applicants invited to submit full applications in the 7th round (29 in the 6th round and 23 in the 5th round)

Success rate on full applications/final decision ~ 30%

11 new centers have been selected for funding in the 7th round

Overall success rate ~ 6 %

Number of Applications and Success Rates

Sep 6, 2012

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30-40 % success rate15-20 %

success rate

6 % success rate

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The primary criterion isscientific excellence – peer reviews

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Fairness ’Equal treatment’ of all proposals No overlap

Quality ‘True peers’ Well argumented reviews (not reduced to numbers, ranking/grading)

Transparency ‘Double open’ Extensive consultation procedure

Basic Principles in Peer Review

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Transparent and open process ensures that: the peers have the right scientific profile conflict of interests are exposed the evaluation is high quality and legitimate

But… it is time consuming the wording of the peer reviewers’ opinions are not as direct as in

anonymous reviews.

Transparent Process

Sep 6, 2012

High scientific standing, complementary competencies

One reviewer who has been proposed by the applicant

Extensive consultation process (external sources)

Composition of review ‘panels’

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Some statistics:To get 1 reviewer we need to ask 2-3. 1% declines due to open process60% of all reviews considered A – only 4% C by board in 6. round

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Centers and Board

6. sep 2012

Centers of Excellence:Strengthening the Organization of Danish Research

The DNRF Centers of Excellence work as role models for increasing the level of:

organization talent nursing talent recruitment training professional administration professional management

in publicly funded research in Denmark

Each center is visited annually by:

Chairman, 1-2 board members, director and research adviser Research progress, financial and administrative/organizational matters

etc. are discussed Every other year informal meetings with postdocs and/or PhD students Selected topics (internationalization, fraud, scientific communication,…)

Annual meetings for all center leaders and board members etc.

Annual reports

Annual follow-up meetings – keeping in close contact

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The DNRF board

Klaus Bock, Chair

Bo Honore

Birte Svensson

Kirsten Hastrup

Eivind Hiis Hauge

Svend Erik Larsen

Gunnar Öquist

Pirjo Nuutila

Birgitte Possing

Thomas SinkjærDirector

List of active Centers of Excellence

Centre for Quantum Optics

Nordic Centre for Earth Evolution

Centre for Individual Nanoparticle Functionality

Centre for Inflammation and Metabolism

Centre for Genotoxic Stress

Centre for Social Evolution

Centre for mRNP Biogenesis and Metabolism

Centre for Insoluble Protein Structures

Centre for Oxygen Microscopy and Imaging

Centre for Viscous Fluid Dynamics

Dark Cosmology Centre

Centre for Language Change in Real Time

Centre for Textile Research

Centre for Models of Life

Danish Arrhythmia Research Centre

Centre for Molecular Movies

Centre for Research in Econometric Analysis of Time Series

Centre for Carbohydrate Recognition and Signalling

Centre for DNA Nanotechnology

Centre for Epigenetics

Centre for Ice and Climate

Centre for Massive Data Algorithmics

PUMPKIN, Membrane pumps in cells and disease

Centre for Autobiographical Memory Research

Centre for Particle Physics & Origin Mass CP3 – Origins

Centre for Particle Physics – DISCOVERY

Centre for Symmetry and Deformation

Centre for Materials Crystallography

Centre for GeoGenetics

Centre for Quantum Geometry of Moduli Spaces

Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate

Centre for Star and Planet Formation

Center for Medieval Literarure

Center for Dynamic Molecular Interactions

Center for Permafrost Dynamics in Greenland

Center for Frictional Finance

Center for Nanostructured Graphene

Center for International Courts

Stellar Astrophysics Centre

Copenhagen Center for Glycomics

Center for Vitamins and Vaccines

Center for Quantum Devises

Center for Geomicrobiology

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Centers Distributed Among Scientific Fields

Sep 6, 2012

The DNRF has so far funded 88 centers. At the moment 49 centers are active. The centers are funded for up to 10 years, typically with grants of 50-100 million DKK for a 10-year period.

www.dg.dk

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8th Call. Deadline for outline proposals:

End November 2013

Inauguration of new centers January 1st, 2015

Stiff competition/get through the eye of a needle Big effort The organizational plan must match the research projects Ambitious and original research (potentially ground-breaking) Basic research/frontier research Adequate and flexible funding with long-term time frame

8th Call – Summary

Sep 6, 2012

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The DNRF board is your target group at first

Explain how the project will redefine science and why exactly your outline proposal/application should get funded

Should be ambitious and original

Ask advice from present and former center leaders

Do not hesitate to contact the DNRF secretariat for advice

Tips for Outline proposals/Application

Sep 6, 2012