The Dream Team of Research made in..ERC
Ten years ago, when the European Commission established the European Research Council (ERC), Bocconi was in the middle of an ambitious transformation plan. Its purpose was to make it a modern university, an institution that, in addition to teaching, aims to be a center for the development of innovative thought in its areas of expertise through continuous research by the teaching faculty. The European Commission aimed to promote basic research all over the continent, discriminating only on the basis of project quality.
Since then, the two institutions have come a long way together. ERC transformed from a large project into a large organization, which has financed the best European research with billions of euros and has influenced the way in which many member states organize their research grant programs. For Bocconi it is an authoritative organization that has contributed to its legitimization as a top player in Europe by funding many of its projects. It is now able to select and attract the best talents, its researchers regularly publish in leading scientific journals, its graduates can attend the most prestigious PhD programs and its PhDs can complete research at leading institutions.
Over these past 10 years, Bocconi has hosted 25 research programs financed by the ERC - the best performance in Italy. The University has thus received €26m. ERC funds are assigned to projects managed by individual researchers (principal investigators), but "research is increasingly a team project even in the social sciences," says the University's Dean of Research Marco Ottaviani. And funding triggers important networking effects, with the 25 Bocconi programs directly involving more than 200 scholars, often from international universities. At the same time, during its first ten years, ERC funded 7,000 researchers for a total of 40,000 academics involved in teams, leading to the publication of 100,000 articles in scientific journals.
The grant program has been highly successful, and the same can be said of Bocconi scholar participation in selections. "A collaborative climate has been established," says Ottaviani. "With 19 scholars who have received at least one grant (read their stories clicking the links below), it's easy to find good advice. In addition, organizational support in submitting applications is very strong, and researchers can truly focus on the research itself."
ERC assigns three kinds of grants to academics in different stages of their career: starting, consolidator and advanced. Applications are assessed by commissions of experts in individual subject areas, which rotate quickly. "In the past," says Ottaviani, "I have participated in them. Appointments are initially kept secret to avoid any kinds of pressure and decisions are always collective. Projects are read by several reviewers, discussed and reread by other reviewers. In the case of startings, after an initial selection, individual interviews are completed and decisions are defended in writing. Researchers who obtain a grant receive not only funds, but also outside and objective feedback on the quality of their work."
"On the national and international landscape of research grants assigned competitively," continues Ottaviani, "ERC's two great features are the fact that it assigns grants based on the excellence of individual researchers and that it promotes all basic research without imposing specific topics, provided that they have a scientific and social impact."
Read here the other articles on the ERC research projects:
University at the Time of Star Wars
The Culture That Influences Demography
For a History of Inequality in Europe
Fostering Solidarity in Times of Migrations
A Theory of Games and Emotions
Why with Broadband We will have More Children
How to Communicate Climate Science
At the Birth of Maritime Insurance
Even Distorted Choices can be Rational
The Psychology of Economic Behavior
Great Expectations for Great Objectives
What we are Certain about Uncertainty
Putting a Halt to the Spread of Infections
Wellbeing and Fertility, a Two-Way Relationship
The Role of Financial Imperfections
The World Through the Lens of Power
The Selection of the Political Class
How to Evaluate Innovative Ideas
A Help for Those who make Predictions
When a Government is Guided by Values