The European Research Council (ERC) has announced a package of changes to its panel structure that will be implemented for the 2024 ERC calls.
Potential applicants to forthcoming calls can refer to the revised panel structure and rationale for the changes on the ERC website to update themselves on which is the best fit for their proposal. All information is indicative and subject to change pending the publication of the 2024 ERC Work Programme.
We advise subscribers to take a detailed look at these changes to evaluation panels because some of them are immediately apparent in the code number of the panel but these are not the only significant changes. There are also changes to the name of panels, subtitles and/or to their descriptors. Any of these features can be important factors in defining the makeup of the group of evaluators who assess any given ERC proposal.
These changes do not affect the upcoming 2023 Advanced Grant call deadline on 23 May 2023, the guidance for that call is unchanged since the call opened, as reported by UKRO.
What do changes in ERC panels mean for applicants?
The ERC panel structure is revised regularly (for scientific and/or operational reasons). For example, UKRO reported on a previous package of changes in 2020.
The structure does not set out any ERC funding preferences or priorities, it is a schema that is designed to be broad and adaptive to honour the ERC’s mission to support investigator-driven frontier research across all fields. Therefore a change is not a fundamental change of topic eligibility, it is a reorganisation meant to provide the best possible evaluation of any submitted proposal.
It is likely that changes will mean that some proposals become better suited to a different panel than previously submitted versions. It will also mean that like-for-like references from preceding panels will now be less straightforward for changed or new panels, nevertheless using experts named for past evaluation panels has only ever been able to give an approximate indication of who might be on an anonymous panel for an upcoming call.
Furthermore, the rationale for the changes gives insight into the longstanding concept of ERC panel structures and how they are designed to receive proposals from any field of research, this could help all applicants refine their understanding of how to address evaluation panels effectively in their application.
Any ERC panel choice will necessarily be a judgment on which is the best fit for the project and the Principal Investigator. This best-fit approach is embedded in the function of the panel structure; to provide guidance without setting up the expectation that applications will have a definitive, correct panel.
Any proposal topic is welcome, regardless of whether it is explicitly stated. These can and often do fall in between panels; when that happens evaluation will be adapted.
Overview of this package of changes to the panels in each domain
Social Sciences and Humanities
- SH1: change across descriptors to rebalance economics, finance, management; “law and economics” moved to SH2 panel, when it had been part of the SH1_15 descriptor.
- SH3, SH4, and SH5 each lose disciplines but remain multidisciplinary.
- SH3 « The Social World and Its Interactions » covers sociology, social psychology, education sciences, communication studies.
- SH4 « The Human Mind and Its Complexity » covers cognitive science, psychology, linguistics.
- SH5 « Texts and Concepts » covers literary studies, literature, philosophy.
- SH5: panel now fully incorporates “philosophy”. Previously this discipline had been split between SH4 and SH5).
- SH6: descriptor terms shared between history and archaeology redistributed to a more even spread.
- SH6: “palaeoanthropology” descriptor term removed. Meant to channel proposals with life-science aspects to relevant LS panels.
- SH8: new panel called “Studies of Cultures and Arts”.
Combines elements from various elements that were previously in SH5 with social anthropology that was previously in SH3.
Life Sciences
- LS3: new panel title. Changed from “Cellular, developmental and regenerative biology” to “Cell biology, development, stem cells and regeneration”.
- Stated rationale: the regenerative biology field is smaller than the stem cell field; previous wording may not sufficiently attract the stem cell research community.
- LS5: panel subtitle has the additional text “…in humans and all other organisms” at the end.
- Previously the subtitle illustrated broad topics that fit under the heading Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System without being explicit that this was open to any kind of organism.
- LS5: additional example listings for three pre-existing descriptors (LS5_8, LS5_9, and LS5_16).
Physical Sciences and Engineering
No changes