Objective of this Call
The ERC Starting Grant supports individual PIs starting their independent research groups and pursuing ground-breaking ideas by introducing non-canonical and disruptive scientific approaches.

Challenging to apply for because…
If you’re applying for this prestigious grant, it will typically be a qualitative leap in your grant writing, often with significant implications for your career trajectory. You may not yet be used to applying for grants of this scale, and it can be intimidating to confidently capture the ambition of your scientific proposal, while also being realistic with the implementation and coordination of the project.

How we can help

• • Support to help you underline your leadership capacity and maturity in research
  • Accompaniment in your writing process, to help you plan and sticking to your timeline
  • One-on-one meetings to discuss your proposal and resolve doubts or questions
  • Strengthen the critical points required for positive evaluations
  • An external perspective to detect mistakes and inconsistencies
  • Help make your proposal attractive and engaging

Objective of this Call
The ERC Consolidator Grant supports individual PIs consolidating their research groups and pursuing ground-breaking ideas by introducing non-canonical and disruptive scientific approaches.

Challenging to apply for because…
As an applicant for this call, you’ve already started your own research group, and you’re in the process of establishing your presence in your field in the eyes of your institute and the international research community. You’re building the partnerships needed for research, for growing your team, and for attracting important collaborators to your institute. However, you may not yet have significant staff, infrastructure, or support in your team or institute, plus you have many other responsibilities (teaching, supervision, admin, coordination, etc.). So the stakes are high for your application to this call.

How we can help

• • Support with highlighting your key contribution to your research field and your capacity to lead research teams
  • Accompaniment in your writing process
  • Assistance in planning and sticking to your timeline
  • Help to strengthen the critical points required for positive evaluations
  • One-on-one meetings to discuss your proposal and resolve any doubts or questions
  • An external perspective to detect mistakes and inconsistencies
  • Insights to make your proposal attractive and engaging

Objective of this Call
The ERC Advanced Grant supports individual PIs who are established leaders in their research fields and pursue ground-breaking ideas by introducing non-canonical and disruptive scientific approaches.

Challenging to apply for because…
You are a senior profile, and if you’re successful, getting the AdG will be a major win for your institute. However, this call also has the strongest competition and the lowest success rate of all ERC calls. You typically have a packed agenda, with multiple coordination and leadership roles for your research projects, institution, students, postdocs, and junior PIs. In this context, it will be challenging for you to carve out the time and mental space needed to think about, discuss, and properly develop your scientific ideas for this important milestone, and especially to coordinate development of the application itself.

How we can help

• • Support demonstrating your role as an established leader in your research field and your capacity to train the next generation of researchers
  • Accompaniment in your writing process
  • Assistance in planning and sticking to your timeline
  • One-on-one meetings to discuss your proposal and resolve any doubts or questions
  • Help to strengthen the critical points required for positive evaluations
  • An external perspective to detect mistakes and inconsistencies
  • Insights to make your proposal attractive and engaging

Objective of this Call
The ERC Synergy Grant supports a group of 2-4 PIs to jointly address ambitious scientific challenges by introducing interdisciplinary disruptive scientific approaches.

Challenging to apply for because…
As coordinator of this application, it will be challenging for you to coordinate meetings and communication with other busy PIs, and to homogenise your team’s ideas and writing style. It can also be intimidating for you to write about research fields outside of their main expertise, and these challenges are added that of coordinating the entire writing process, while also attending to your many other duties as a PI.

How we can help

• • Assistance in developing a cohesive research project with a language adapted to the distinctive characteristics of the ERC-SyG review panel
  • Support homogenising the researcher’s profile sections (research achievements, peer recognition, etc.) of the Synergy group
  • Accompaniment of your Synergy group in the writing process, helping to plan and stick to your timeline
  • One-on-one meetings to discuss your proposal and resolve any doubts or questions
  • Help to strengthen the critical points required for positive evaluations
  • An external perspective to detect mistakes and inconsistencies
  • Insights to make your proposal attractive and engaging

Objective of this Call
The MSCA-DN aims to develop creative, entrepreneurial, and innovative doctoral programmes to train the next generation of researchers, while converting ideas into products and services for economic and social benefit.

Challenging to apply for because…
This is not a scientific project, but rather a training program, so there are many non-scientific details to focus on, including recruitment, administration, logistics, training plan, supervision, the gender and open science dimensions, while forming durable intersectoral, interdisciplinary, and international partnerships. Your training program, and consequently your network composition, will need to be perfectly aligned with the scientific goals you want to achieve. Your institute’s projects office will be a big help, but they may not have the resources needed to meticulously review all the details to help you create a detailed, cohesive proposal. And of course you will need to fit this task in around your many other responsibilities as a PI.

How we can help

• • Support in developing a cohesive proposal that integrates intersectoral, interdisciplinary and international partners
  • Help ensure your training and research programs are credible and innovative
  • Accompany your network’s writing process
  • Assistance in planning and sticking to your timeline
  • One-on-one meetings to discuss your proposal and resolve any doubts or questions
  • Help to strengthen the critical points required for positive evaluation
  • Insights to make your proposal engaging and easy to read

Objective of this Call
The MSCA-PF facilitates the mobility of postdoctoral researchers, and strengthens Europe’s capital base in research & innovation with better-trained, innovative, and entrepreneurial researchers.

Challenging to apply for because…
If you’re the host PI, it will require quite some time to accompany the applicant in developing their scientific ideas and learning how to write the grant, and to coordinate the writing process and review their work.
If you’re the named PF applicant, this may be one of the first big fellowships you apply for. You might be still adapting to the mindset, jargon, and style of grant applications, and the unfamiliar topics they include (e.g impact, risk assessment, project implementation). You might not yet be used to interpreting the extensive documentation that comes with any grant call, or coordinating the process of developing, debating, and communicating your scientific ideas. This also happens to be a very competitive call.

How we can help

• • Assistance in focusing your project and making your implementation coherent and credible
  • Help in highlighting key details about the planned research, training, and dissemination activities
  • Accompaniment during your writing process
  • Assistance in planning and sticking to your timeline
  • One-on-one meetings to discuss your proposal and resolve any doubts or questions
  • Help to strengthen the critical points required for positive evaluations
  • Insights to make your proposal attractive and engaging

Objective of this Call
Pillar II grants follow a top-down approach to tackle major global challenges and address Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Pillar II also boosts Europe’s competitiveness in technology and implements interdisciplinary solutions from research to innovation.

Challenging to apply for because…
In this top-down call, the funder is telling you what they want to achieve, and what research topic they want you to work on. As an established researcher, especially if you have focused on bottom-up calls until now, it may be challenging to adapt your current research lines to the funder’s intentions, while also developing a coherent project with a good balance between your expertise and that of your consortium partners. It’s important to perfectly blend their expertise with yours, and to communicate this in a cohesive proposal; we have found this to be one of the most common shortcomings of previous applications.

How we can help

• • Assistance in adapting your project to the specific destination and expected impacts of this call
  • Support with blending the consortium’s expertise and writing a cohesive proposal that highlights the value of each partner
  • Accompaniment during your consortium’s writing process
  • Assistance in planning and sticking to your timeline, and coordinating partners
  • One-on-one meetings to discuss your proposal and resolve any doubts or questions 
  • Help to strengthen the critical points required for positive evaluations
  • Insights to make your proposal attractive and engaging