European Research Council Grants in H2020 Academy Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague (2) Presenter: Renata P. Schaeffer Ext: Email:rs530@admin.cam.ac.uk
The ERC Ideology The ERC encourages in particular proposals that cross disciplinary boundaries, pioneering ideas that address new and emerging fields and applications that introduce unconventional, innovative approaches. Think: Ground-breaking nature Potential impact Intellectual excellence Scientific Excellence shall be the sole criterion on which ERC grants are awarded
Eligibility Criteria Which grant shall I apply? Starting Grant Consolidator Grant Advanced Grant Eligibility Criteria PI s PhD would have been awarded between 2 and 7 years* PI s PhD would have been awarded between 7 and 12 years* None Be realistic! Am I ready to apply? *Prior to the date of the call for proposals of the ERC Starting/Consolidator Grant
Structure of the Applications Forms Part A Administrative and Summary Forms (completed directly onto system) A1 Proposal & PI information & HI Legal Representative (including abstract) A2 Host Institution(s) information & PIC (one A2 form per institution) A3 Budget (summary financial information) Part B1 Proposal Details (template from Participant Portal, submitted as.pdf) Cover page & proposal summary Extended Synopsis (5 pages) Curriculum Vitae including Funding ID (2 pages) Track Record (2 pages) Same Part B2 Research Proposal (template from PPSS, submitted as.pdf) Section 2 - Research Proposal (15 pages, excluding ethical issues table and annex) a) State-of-the-art and objectives b) Methodology c) Resources (including project costs) d) Ethical and security sensitive issues (including ethics table) Annexes Commitment of the Host Institution (template from PPSS, submitted as.pdf) PhD Certificate, and (if applicable) evidence of extensions (as.pdf) Ethical Issues Annex (if applicable) (template on PPSS, 2 pages, excl. copies of authorisations)
The Application Process STEP 1 - Evaluation Interviews of PIs (StG &CoG only) Panel meetings and ranking 1- Applicant submits full proposal in PPSS (Chooses Primary Panel (and Secondary if needed) Eligibility Check Independent, remote reviews by panel (part B1 only) Independent, remote reviews by panel members of full proposal (parts B1 and B2) STEP 2 - Evaluation Proposal selected! Panel meetings and ranking Proposal retained for stage 2 (or not)
What are the reviewers asked to review? 1 PI s Excellence (intellectual capacity), Creativity and Commitment are central The PI has demonstrated the ability to propose and conduct ground-breaking research and his/her achievements have typically gone beyond the state-of-the-art. The PI provides clear evidence of creative independent thinking The ERC grant would contribute significantly to the establishment and/or further consolidation of the PI's independence. The PI is strongly committed to the project and demonstrates the willingness to devote a significant amount of time to the project (based on Scientific Proposal, not only on the % given). Ensure to clearly address every criteria! Reviewers will be asked to choose one of one response for each : Fully agree / Agree partially /Disagree partially/strongly disagree
What are the reviewers asked to review? 2 The scientific approach: To what extent is the outlined scientific approach feasible? To what extent is the proposed research methodology appropriate to achieve the goals of the project? To what extent does the proposal involve the development of novel methodology? To what extent are the proposed timescales and resources necessary and properly justified? Ensure to clearly address every criteria!
CV The format Part B1.b The format CV : Maximum of 2 pages Academic record Research record Fellowship and awards Supervision of graduate students Details of current research grants and topics Also include ongoing applications for work relating to the ERC proposal Remember: career breaks or unconventional gaps need to be clearly justified!
Presenting yourself / CV What to consider? Remember to address the full requirement of the track record and highlight your best achievements Include a wide range of research highlights, including extra activities (outreach work and research symposia) Explain national prizes and well-renowned fellowships Explain anything that is unique to your country Highlight achievements which shows international standing and wider impact of research Website, scientific blog or podcasts? Add a link to it. But remember to keep it UP TO DATE SELL YOURSELF!
Presenting yourself / CV Avoid British understatement I am an excellent researcher! ** Remember it needs to be ground breaking research, so why YOU and why NOW? Provide evidence of international cooperation and activities, if applicable Can you lead a team? Refer explicitly to the criteria used in the Grant Call documents Have it reviewed by a colleague!
Strengthening your CV with evidence Research Your Key outcomes New Knowledge you ve Be very specific about your outcomes!! Teaching (use it to demonstrate your leadership) generated A creative approach you ve taken Technical difficulties you ve overcome Collaborations you ve set up/initiated Have you supervised students/what types? Have you designed any projects? Be creative (and daring), but concise (you only have 2 pages!)
CV some examples My most important scientific contributions have been my work on the hereditary breast cancer gene xxxx conducted while I was a tenured Assistant Professor at McGill University where I led a research group comprising a research assistant, a research genetic counsellor and a variable number of students. On the basis of this work I set up an international group of around 20 researchers who study the xxx and I have arranged four meetings of this group since 2009 in the Netherlands, UK, USA and Canada. As a clinician-scientist who is equally at home in the clinic and the laboratory, I feel that I am especially well positioned to lead research projects on patient-based problems and deliver translational benefits of research back to the clinic. I have both depth and breadth of expertise in the field of hereditary cancer and I have obtained over $600K in grants for hereditary breast cancer research over the last four years, and I was the local lead investigator for a national trial.breast and ovarian cancer (Gelmon et al., Lancet Oncology, 2011). I completed my PhD in 2003 and have not taken any career breaks since then so I would categorise myself as a consolidator for this application.
Early achievements track record Part B1.c 1. Publications in major international peer-reviewed multi-disciplinary scientific journals and/or in the leading international peer-reviewed journals, peer-reviewed conferences proceedings and/or monographs of their respective research fields, highlighting five representative publications, those without the presence as coauthor of their PhD supervisor, and the number of citations (excluding self-citations) they have attracted (if applicable). 2. Granted patent(s) (if applicable). 3. Invited presentations to peer-reviewed, internationally established conferences and/or international advanced schools (if applicable). 4. Prizes and Awards (if applicable).
Early achievements track record some examples Publications Total publications in peer-reviewed journals = 74 (first author =25, last author= 10); Research/Clinical articles =562, Reviews=12 (including 1 invited commentary) Book chapters = 3 h-index = 23 (ISI) Cumulative citation index excluding self-citations (ISI) = 1,729 Average impact factor of first/corresponding publications (excluding reviews) = 7.51 Provide plenty of evidence of your best achievements. Your Excellence needs to stand out, you are competing against the best!
Proposal Abstract Part B1 cover & Part A1 What to consider? Be enthusiastic, ambitious and demonstrate a clear vision (and language) Abstract will be reviewed by generalist and specialists make it readable to all Start with the basics details (so that generalists can understand). Go in to more depth Might consider writing the full description of the proposal (Part B2 Section 2) first! Try to make it interesting to read (include pictures of journals relating to your work or relate it to current issues!) If possible and appropriate, mention the contribution of the planned research to EU policy objectives! Be positive Think of a catchy acronym!!
Abstract Hints and Tips Look at past examples! Readable by generalists Be ambitious (but feasible) Ground breaking research Make sure to use key words Novel methodology My great idea State of the art Ask colleagues from different fields to review it. Multi disciplinary element Risky and path breaking Novelty
Abstract some examples Hereditary cancer is an important cause of morbidity and mortality and over the last 20 years the majority of highly penetrant risk alleles such as xxxx in breast cancer and xxx in colon cancer have been identified. However, there are many men and women who have a strong family history of cancer for whom we cannot provide answers because no mutation is found in known genes To overcome these challenges, we will focus on hereditary breast cancer (HBC) and apply an innovative genome-wide approach which combines exome sequencing technology (EST) with a highly sensitive platform that measures allele specific expression (ASE). The current project takes a novel approach, arguing that the economic newsroom should be studied as a knowledge site. Paleomagnetism has played a pivotal role in developing our modern understanding of the Earth, and remains one of the primary tools used to study the structure and dynamics of the Earth and other planets Adopting cutting-edge techniques from physics and materials science Some of the most interesting and controversial periods of Earth s history occur far beyond the current limits of our confidence in the paleomagnetic signals used to study them. xxx will solve this problem by
Renata P. Schaeffer renata.schaeffer@admin.cam.ac.uk