Most common reasons for rejection

Incomplete
Proposal fails to convincingly address all the critical points required (see below)

Project unbalanced
Research projects that carry important risks and their feasibility is not sufficiently supported with solid precedents

PI’s leadership capacity
The PI’s leading role in their research field and ability to provide high-quality training is not sufficiently demonstrated

Readability issues
Proposal difficult to read: complicated organisation of ideas, intricate text flow, or language not adapted to the audience

How we can help you maximise your chances of success

We analyse how well your proposal addresses the following critical points:

Motivation
The scientific challenge identified is important, and solving it will be highly impactful.

Disruptive character/Impact
The strategy, approach, and/or conceptual framework used to address the scientific challenge is unique and disruptive, and opens up new research paths to explore within and beyond the research field.

Research objectives
The research objectives are clear, specific, ambitious, verifiable, and connect with the project’s main purpose.

Feasibility of the research plan
The research plan is coherent, logical, and founded in solid precedents.

Timeliness
The project is timely, emphasises the novel concepts, methods, equipment and/or technologies that enable its successful implementation.

Risk positioning
The potential risks of the project are well-identified, and solid contingencies are in place to make it bulletproof.

Researcher profile
The proposal evidences the PI’s role as an established leader in their field of research, whose influential voice is important for the scientific community and who has trained a generation of scientific leaders

Text flow
The proposal is well-structured, easy to read, enjoyable and presents a coherent flow of ideas

More generally…
We will also assess the interdisciplinarity, originality, and cohesion of the project.