How to submit an MSCA Individual Fellowship proposal

How to submit an MSCA Individual Fellowship proposal Istanbul, 2 June 2017 Daniel Göhring European Commission Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture Unit for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Daniel.GOHRING@ec.europa.eu

Outline How to write a successful application Work Programme, Guide for Applicants Award Criteria Do's and Dont's How to apply Participant Portal Proposal Submission

How to write a successful application

Open IF call: April 2017 Opens: 11 April 2017 Closes: 14 September 2017 @ 17:00:00 Brussels time Budget: EUR 248.70 million Apply via the Horizon 2020 Participant Portal: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/o pportunities/h2020/topics/msca-if-2017.html

Expected impact of IF projects At researcher level: increased research and other skills, career prospects, research/innovation output, contribution to society At organisation level: stronger networks, transfer of knowledge, R&I capacity At system level: more researcher mobility, more well-trained and entrepreneurial researchers, results better communicated to society, increased attractiveness of Europe, improve the quality of research and innovation

Hints for a successful proposal Before you start preparing your proposal: Read the Work Programme (WP) carefully, at least the parts relevant for the action you apply for: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/wp/ 2016_2017/main/h2020-wp1617-msca_en.pdf Read more than carefully the Guide for applicants; http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/othe r/guides_for_applicants/h2020-guide-appl-msca-if_en.pdf

REA (Research Executive Agency) Beneficiary organisation (in EU Member State or Associated Country) Grant Agreement Employment Contract Researcher

IF Award Criteria (WP p.62)

Proposal Eligible proposal Expert Expert Expert Expert Expert Minimum 3 experts Individual Evaluation Report Individual Evaluation Report Individual Evaluation Report Individual evaluation Individual Evaluation Report Consensus group Individual Evaluation Report Consensus Consensus Report

Evaluation scores will be awarded for each of the criteria, and not their individual elements. Each criterion will be scored from 0 to 5. Scores with a resolution of one decimal place may be awarded. The total score will be subject to a threshold of 70%.

Evaluators are Scientists/experts Might know the work of the beneficiary and the supervisor Like good science Curious Realistic

Do's and Don'ts Proposal should make the evaluators' "life" easier (consistent, well-written, "built" around the award criteria); The evaluators may not all be experts in exactly the area of your proposal avoid using very specific jargon and acronyms! Proof-read and check the English with a native speaker if possible. Evaluators don't have too much time: keep it simple and concise!

Do's and Don'ts Provide the evaluators with evidence for your claims, but avoid external resources (links to websites etc.) if possible; Graphics and charts can be very helpful, but don t overdo it! Make sure they are readable in black & white; Page limit 10 pages (for IF) and 30 pages (for ITN and RISE) to be absolutely respected.

Do's and Don'ts Explain the contribution that your project is expected to make. Your project should be innovative and original and not look like a simple continuation of your PhD. Demonstrate the expertise of the host institution as well as the expertise of the supervisor in the field of research you want to explore. This includes information on host's expertise in training researchers and capacity to provide mentoring/tutoring. Describe how this project will contribute to your own career. The potential of the fellow to acquire new competencies should be clearly described.

Do's and Don'ts Secondments Include a secondment only if it increases the impact of your proposal The choice therefore depends on the nature of your research In IF, one-third of submitted proposals and one-third of main list proposals included secondments Example: Designing Next-Generation Aircraft via High- Fidelity Computational Models (NextGen Airliners) European Fellow at INSTITUT SUPERIEUR DE L'AERONAUTIQUE ET DE L'ESPACE (France) has a secondment at Airbus "The proposed research is expected to make a lasting impact at Airbus."

Do's and Don'ts Multidisciplinarity Award criterion Excellence: "Quality and credibility of the research/innovation project; level of novelty, appropriate consideration of inter/multidisciplinary and gender aspects" In IF, one-third of submitted proposals were multidisciplinary, and one-third of main list proposals were multidisciplinary Panels with highest share of multidisciplinary proposals on main list (EF 2015): ENG (50%), ENV, (40%), PHY (40%) European Research Council (ERC) grants: 42% are multidisciplinary Nature (September 2015): more than one-third of the references in scientific papers now point to other disciplines

Do's and Don'ts Please check the eligibility criteria and make sure you are within the MSCA definition of an eligible researcher We strongly advise that the supervisor is involved in and agrees with the submission of your proposal We recommend that applicants submit their proposals at least a week before the deadline

Do's and Don'ts Common mistakes Proposal too much written as Scientific Paper: Objectives and state-of-the-art research are elaborate and in-depth, but Implementation/Methodology and Impact are under-developed Over-ambitious Not enhancing training/ career Essential parts disregarded

Final tips: Start early Submit your proposal early Don't wait until final clean version is ready Every new submission overwrites the previous one

Project Officer Project Officer Call for Proposals Selection of experts Project Life Cycle Payments & Closure Independent Experts Evaluations GAP Project Officer & Financial Officer Reporting & Monitoring Project Officer & Financial Officer

Any Experienced Researcher may submit only one proposal to the call for proposals in any given year!

How to apply

Participant Portal

Funding Opportunities

Find a Call

IF Call Page

IF Call Page Submission Links

IF EF-ST Confirmation

Create a Draft Proposal

Manage participants

Edit Proposal

Edit Part A

Edit Part A Change Panel

The applicants should choose the scientific area and descriptors (keywords) carefully since this will guide the REA in the selection of the most appropriate experts for the proposal evaluation. The descriptors should be selected in order of importance, the first being the most important.

Edit Part A- GF only

Edit Part A Abstract

Edit Part A Resubmission

Edit Part A Place of activity (previous 5 years)

Edit Part A Budget EF

Edit Part A Budget - GF

Edit Part A Call Specific Questions-EF-ST

Edit Part A Call Specific Questions-EF-CAR

Edit Part A Call Specific Q. EF-RI & GF

Upload Part B

Submit Proposal

Further questions regarding submission of proposals, finding partners, grant management, ethics? Horizon 2020 Online Manual: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/d ocs/h2020-fundingguide/grants/grants_en.htm

and: Contact your National Contact Point (NCP)! http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal /desktop/en/support/national_contact_points.ht ml

MSCA website: http://ec.europa.eu/msca Thank you for your attention! MSCA on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marie.curie.actions Twitter: #MSCA Horizon 2020 Research Enquiry Service http://ec.europa.eu/research/index.cfm?lg=en&p g=enquiries Questions? Daniel.GOHRING@ec.europa.eu