Do Research in Europe Webinar 26th March 2013 Dr. Juliane Sauer National Contact Point Marie Curie Actions, Switzerland Dr. Evgenyi Redekop Marie Curie Fellow IIF University of Ghent, Belgium 1
Overview Welcome and Introduction Basic Information on International Incoming Fellowship IIF The five evaluation criteria Additional tips and tricks Other funding opportunities & Info material Testimonial of Evgeniy Redekop, IIF Fellow 2
PeopleNetwork+ EC financed Network of PEOPLE National Contact Points 15 partners; more than 70 associated partners 2 year duration 2012-2013 Coordination by APRE in Italy Focus on the integration of non-european countries in the PEOPLE programme 3
Set-up of the Webinar 4
What is an International Incoming Fellowship? International Incoming Fellowships (IIFs) are a Marie Curie Action (Fellowships by the EC) specially designed to attract top class researchers from Third Countries (not EU-MS, not Associated Countries) Postdoctoral Fellowship for 2 years; Employment contract with European host institution. Goal: Develop research cooperation between Europe and other parts of the world. 5
Which research topics can be funded? All areas of scientific and technological research that are of interest to the EU may be eligible for IIF funding. When applying, you will assign your proposal to a certain thematic sector so that the right evaluators can be found. 6
For whom? Eligibility Criteria Researchers moving from non European Countries to EU Member States or Associated Countries are eligible for an IIF. There is no minimum time that you must have spent in the non-eu country, but think of the goal: Transfer of Knowledge. Otherwise: Apply for an Intra-European Fellowship. Mobility Rule: Researchers must not have resided or carried out their main activity in the country of their future host organization for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the call deadline. To apply, you must have either a doctoral degree or at least 4 years full-time research experience, after obtaining a degree permitting you to embark on a doctorate. The more experience you have, the better! 7
How to find a Host Institution? Your application for an IIF should be made in liaison with the organisation or institution that would be willing to host you in Europe. Host organisations can be universities, research centres or companies. Search for the host institution early on. Contact a potential supervisor with an abstract of your project. When you decide for a host institution, bear in mind you ll work closely together with the supervisor for 2 years. Make sure you get along with each other! 8
The Timeline March 14th 2013 Calls for Proposals opens August 14th 2013 Calls for Proposals closes Sept.- Oct. 2013 Evaluation Nov.- Dec. 2013 First info to Applicants Jan.-Feb. 2014 Negotiation Phase March 2014 First possible start date March 2015 Last possible start date 9
Money, Money, Money Living Allowance Experienced Researcher (< 10 yrs experience) Living Allowance Experienced Researcher (>10 yrs experience) Mobility Allowance (with/without family obligations) 58 500 Euro/year 87 500 Euro/year 700 Euro/m 1000 Euro/m Financial support is provided for 12-24 months (full-time equivalent). The rates are specified by the EC are and are multiplied with a country correction coefficient. Most countries tax the income! The host institution receives 700 Euro per Researcher Month as contribution to the overheads and 800 Euro per Researcher Month as contribution to research expenses. 10
Is it worth it? Year Success Rate in % 2007 23.82 2008 20.9 2009 15.02 2010 12 2011 15.26 2012 13.34 2013? 11
Basic documents The Workprogramme PEOPLE 2013 with the background information and the goal of the IIF The Guide for Applicants IIF 2013 with all the details for your application Both to be found on the Research Participant Portal ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/people 12
Where to get the relevant information 13
The different parts of a proposal Part A: Deals with the administrative issues such as information on the host institution, on the fellow, contact data, scientific panel... Register NOW on Research Participant Portal and fill in the forms! Part B: Deals with the actual proposal part 14
Individual Fellowship: Basic Facts of Part B You need to address all of the issues mentioned in the Guide for Applicants Some criteria have a threshold Each area is weighted Science counts for 25% so do not forget the rest!
Evaluation Criteria for IIF 4 pages Impact 8 pages S&T 6 pages Implementation 4 pages 8 pages 2 pages ToK 7 pages Researcher 7 pages
S&T Quality Sub-criteria 8 pages max. Weight: 25% Research and technological quality, including any interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary aspects of the proposal Appropriateness of research methodology and approach Originality and Innovative nature of the project, and relationship to the 'state of the art' of research in the field Timeliness and relevance of the project Host research expertise in the field Quality of the group/scientist in charge
Questions for your text Are the citations documented? Host: Why is this the best host for the project? Is the goal of the project clearly stated in the first paragraph? Why did you chose this research group and supervisor? Is there an extra chapter on multi/interdisciplin arity? Are there graphics/figur es/tables to illustrate the text? Timeliness: Why is this project now important? Is there an extra chapter on the state of the art and the progress beyond the state of the art?
Transfer of Knowledge Sub-criteria 2 pages max. Weight: 15% Clarity and quality of the transfer of knowledge objectives Potential of transferring knowledge to European host and/or bringing knowledge to Europe
Questions for your text Do you mention which knowledge you ll bring you the Host Institution? Do you mention how you will transfer this knowledge? In which form? Do you mention why it is important to transfer your knowledge to the European Research Area?
Researcher Sub-criteria 7 pages max. Weight: 25 % Research experience Research results including patents, publications, teaching, etc Independent thinking, leadership qualities, and capacity to transfer knowledge Match between the fellow's profile and project
Questions for your text Do you get a good impression of the researcher s achievements at first sight? Are the achievements clearly stated and well structured? Do you give examples for your independent thinking, your leadership quality,... Do you show clearly why you and your project match?
Implementation Sub-criteria 6 pages max. Weight: 15 % Quality of infrastructure/facilities and international collaborations of host Practical arrangements for the implementation and management of the research project Feasibility and credibility of the project, including work plan Practical and administrative arrangements and, support for the hosting of the fellow
Questions for you Do you have a nicely layouted work plan? A gantt chart is really helpful! (See next slide) Do you add buffer time? Do you assess potential risks? Do you make a reference to www.euraxe ss.eu? Do you make a reference to Charter and Code? Check them out on the Euraxess-Site! Do you state the international projects your host institution is involved? Name the people and the projects and state why these collaborations will be useful for your project. How can you benefit from these? Do you have milestones for your project? What will you need, will you have access to the lab / library / etc.?
Example for a work plan Tasks and Activities Interaction seminar: Ecology and Evolution (2h per week) Duration in months 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 Conferences in London and Paris Culturing and characterizing bacteria XYZ Characterization of bacterica XYZ with microsims Training in Evolutionary Biology & proposal writing (1 week) Training in Project Management for Research (3 days) Constructing reporter gene fusions in bacteria XYZ Development of link between microscopy and microsims Microscopy and single-cell physiology Conducting the evolution experiment Training in modelling population and dynamics (1 week) Analysis of the evolution experiment Physiological characterization of the evolved strain Incorporation of results into theoretical models Writing publications
Impact Sub-criteria 4 pages max. Weight: 20 % Potential for creating long term collaborations and mutually beneficial co-operation between Europe and the other Third Country Contribution to European excellence and European competitiveness through valuable transfer of knowledge Impact of the proposed outreach activities
Questions for your text What will you have achieved after the project? Are you giving details on your outreach activities? What is the impact on the European Research Area? How will you continue to collaborate with the host institution? Are your outreach acitivities original and do they correspond to your project?
Make sure you mention adequately Code of Conduct: ec.europa.eu/euraxess/index.cfm/rights/brochure Euraxess Service Centres: www.euraxess.eu
Referee s Assessment Who? Someone who knows your way to work, but not your future supervisor Ask them timely for their opinion as they will be contacted by the EC via email, make sure they check their emails and their spam filter If you have the Assessment(s): it s a nice plus. If you don t have it: Don t worry, it s no must.
Tips and Tricks Follow the exact structure of the Guide for Applicants. You can add subchapters, but do not leave a chapter out. Spoon-feed the evaluators with the information. It is your task to make your text comprehensible, not their task to search for information. Stay within the page limits! Details, details, details! Evaluators can only judge upon the information you give them! 30
Tips and Tricks Don t forget a single achievement, even if they seem natural to you (grad school participation, awards, ) Document your achievements (it is not enough to say I have participated in many international projects. Say which ones) The proposal has to be understandable for experts as well as for generalists (counts also for abbreviations and non-english terms) Make little appetizers: subtitles, paragraphs, graphs...
Tips and Tricks Write short sentences and keywords Use paragraphs Highlight important parts Tables and Graphics help (readable in black/white)
Example for a table PROJECT OBJECTIVES Main Objectives Indicator O.1 Develop adaptation strategies Adaptation strategy accepted (M2.2) O.2 Support implementation policies Policy recommendations submitted to EU (M3.4) Additional Objectives Indicator O.9 Inform stakeholders of adaptation strategies 3 Workshops organised in Participating countries (D.3.1, D.3.2, D.3.3) Non-Objectives Save the world from climate change
Examples for Graphics
Other funding sources Apply for a CIG: Career Integration Grant Designed to help researchers establish their career in Europe 25 000 Euro/year for 2 to 4 years (flat rate) Experienced researchers, mobility rule applies Mandatory: 100% working contract for at least the time of the duration of the CIG!! Next call deadline: Sept. 18th, ongoing submission possible 35
More research jobs on Euraxess IIF didn t work out, CIG is not the right action? www.euraxess.eu! 36
Useful information www.peoplenetworkplus.eu mariecurieactions.blogspot.ch/ ec.europa.eu/research/mariecurieactions/ ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/page/home www.euraxess.eu 37
Thank you! Good luck for your application! For further help: Please contact the National Contact Point of your future European host institution or check if there is an NCP in your country. The contacts can be found here: https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/page/nationalcontactpoint 38