ERC MasterClass – Preparing a competitive proposal for ERC

If you have any difficulty, please contact us at the following e-mail address : grants@icm-institute.org

Registration deadline: 30/06/2022

 

Description

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ERC (European Research Council) grants are highly competitive grants to support excellent scientists who wish to develop a breakthrough research programme.  

This MasterClass offers several activities to provide a clear understanding of the application process (evaluation steps, components of the application), panel’s and reviewer’s expectations (evaluation criteria, Q&A with a panel member) and will help participants prepare a strong application thanks to unique recommendations, personalised feedback and practical exercises based on successful grants. 

For candidates with mature projects, a pitch and discussions with a jury can be organised.  

This MasterClass is targeted to all junior and experienced researchers of ICM, who wish to apply to the Starting and Consolidator ERC grants, priority being given to candidates planning to apply in 2023 or 2024. 

 

 

Educational objective

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Overall objective: take into account the ERC’s expectancies and build a competitive proposal. 

Session 1 : 

• Understand the application and evaluation procedure and underlying criteria 
• Organise the proposal preparation, from project conception to proposal writing 

Session 2 :  

• Presenting a strong CV and track-record  
• Building an impactful abstract 
• (Improve the proposal thanks to the jury’s feedback) 

 

 

Learning content

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Session 1: Project design and proposal contents – Tuesday 6 June 

During the first session, you will discover the main ERC expectancies, the evaluation procedure and will have the occasion to ask questions to an ERC panel member. You will also learn how to organise your proposal’s preparation and get recommendations for writing and organising parts B1 and B2.  

We encourage you to watch the short videos before this session (cf. resources). 

 

Session 2: Proposal writing (and project pitches) – Tuesday 5 September  

 

Proposal writing: From 2:00-3:30 PM, we will focus on writing a competitive proposal responding to ERC expectancies, including a workshop on drafting a strong CV and track record based on concrete examples and an introduction to abstract preparation.  

To take full advantage of the workshop, we encourage you to bring a draft of your CV to work on during the session. (Reminder: CV 2 pages + Track record 2 pages based on ERC template). 

 

Project pitches: Between 3:45 and 5 :45 PM, individual 20-minute project pitch and exchange sessions with a jury will be organised for 4-6 candidates having already relatively mature projects (to be discussed between the candidates and the Grants Office). Upon confirmation, the candidates will receive a PPT template to fill in and send back before the session. In case there are less than 8 candidates, the individual session’s duration may be prolonged.   

 

 

Organizing team

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Julia Tepel – ICM Grants Office (grants@icm-institute.org) 

Julia Tepel has been supporting researchers with ERC proposal preparations since 2014. She is an expert of the European research and innovation programmes, among which Horizon Europe.   

 

Ressources

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E-learning materials to be consulted before the training: video tutorials + interviews with laureats 

The following e-learning materials will will be made available to you via the Digiforma platform upon registration. 

 

The video tutorials will provide you with the main features of an ERC application and provide tips to make you familiar with ERC key points before the workshop. 

• Video 1: Building a strong profile in the CV and Track record 
• Video 2: ERC expectations in 10 important questions on your project idea 
• Video 3: ERC evaluation procedure 

 

In the interviews, the ERC laureates will share their personal tips and experience for the preparation of ERC proposals. 

• Interview of Claire Wyart (StG and CoG laureate) 
• Interview of Fabrizio de Vico Fallani (CoG) 

 

Annotated templates of Parts B1 et B2 

These templates annotated by ICM based on lessons learned from past proposals provide more detailed tips for drafting and structuring parts B1 and B2. They will be made available shortly after the publication of the ERC calls (StG expected in mid-July and CoG at the end of September).