How to apply for an ERC Starting Grant

About the event

The Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo will organise a workshop for researchers who plan to apply for an ERC Starting Grant.

This workshop is all about making your ERC proposal the best competitive proposal. Competition for ERC Grants is fierce, and it is not enough to provide good science. Based on the experiences of the past ERC calls this workshop will provide you with valuable input for writing a competitive ERC Grant proposal.

The WP2020 deadline for submitting applications for the ERC Starting Grant is expected to be mid-October 2019 and early February 2020 for the ERC Consolidator Grant.

The workshop will be led by Mette Skraastad, Yellow Research. She has extensive experience in running ERC workshops and in pre-submission review of ERC starting, consolidators and advanced grants. She has trained candidates for writing ERC proposals since the second call.

Programme

9:00 Opening of seminar

Part I ERC Grants in a nutshell
ERC objectives, selection criteria and evaluation procedure and eligibility criteria.

Part II Concept development
We will discuss what is required to develop a project idea for an ERC proposal in view of the ERC evaluation criteria.

Coffee break

Part III Scientific Proposal: Objectives, concept, gain and scientific approach
Using the ERC writing instructions and the evaluation criteria we will discuss how to present the project idea and scientific approach to the critical external referees. We will discuss ERC terms as challenge, ambition, groundbreaking, and impact and how panels select proposals.

12:00 Lunch

Part IV Continuation: Work plan, methodology and resources
In this section we will discuss how to present the intermediate goals, planned activities and methodology to the reviewer who has to assess the appropriateness of the methodology to achieve the goals. We will also discuss how to balance your ambition and high risks with evidence for
feasibility, alternative plans and resources.

Short Break

Part V Cover page and Extended Synopsis
We will discuss how to present the Scientific Proposal to the panel in step 1 of the evaluation. What are the panel members looking for? The emphasis will be on the groundbreaking nature and feasibility of the proposal and how the outcomes of the research will impact further research and society.

Part VI Principal Investigator
We will address the key elements for Curriculum Vitae including Funding ID, 10 year Track Record and assessment of career achievements.

15:00 End of course

Berit Sundby Avset

Senior Adviser
Open Researcher Arena
bsa@forskningsradet.no

Per Magnus Kommandantvold

Special Adviser
Open Researcher Arena
pmk@forskningsradet.no