eSignature Legitimacy for Sponsorship Proposal in European Union

How to eSign a document: e-signature legitimacy for Sponsorship Proposal in European Union

hello in this video i will walk you through seven things to consider before applying for an erc grant [Music] my name is janka matrey and i work as a scientific officer in the area of bioinformatics and neuroscience at the executive agency of the european research council why would you apply for an erc grant you need to be strategic in your career and writing an application takes a lot of time and effort we understand that the success rates are low and you may think you don't stand a chance but then why wouldn't you apply for an erc grant an erc grant offers independence and recognition you can research a topic of your own choice with your own team you will have true intellectual and financial autonomy for up to five years it will increase your visibility help you access large facilities negotiate the best working conditions buy the necessary equipment attract the best team members and collaborators and bring additional funding only when you play you can win the game and it's really worth it so let's see how to take a chance on your next drc grant [Music] usually applicants will think of this at the last moment but knowing what you are getting into is very important just go to the european commission's funding and tender opportunities portal here you should 1. register early in the process 2. get to know the portal well 3. download the information for applicants to keep it on your bedside table in the worst case it will help you fall asleep but we hope it won't 4. talk to your institution's grant office a lot of institutions can provide lot of help put you in touch with people who have already applied and won a grant or can read through your proposal don't leave this to the last moment the host institution also needs to provide you with a statement of support a very important document for your proposal and it is not good to do this in a rush 5. speak to your national contact point or ncp these are people appointed in different research institutions to help you locally with information about our grants there is at least one in every eu country and in some countries outside europe have a look at our website to find out who you should contact it is good to get information from a variety of sources if you feel you still have questions you could even contact the erc directly it is you who chooses your host institution as long as it is located in the eu or in an associated country you can change it throughout the project's life but it is important that before you apply you define what's going to be your position once you get the grant what equipment the host institution will provide what administ administrative support and want access to infrastructures you will get better sort these things out before you apply because you will have to include them in your proposal there is a rumor that the quality or reputation of the host institution will increase your chances of getting a grant this is absolutely not true the host institution is really not an evaluation criterion and as i just mentioned you can change the host institution at any time during the course of your grant [Music] to apply you must have been awarded a phd or an equivalent doctoral degree the window of eligibility of your adult phd is calculated from when you were awarded the phd up to the 1st of january of the year of the call extensions of eligibility are possible in several cases in the case of maternity paternity for military service and medical specialty training and if you were caring for a seriously ill family member there is no limit to the total amount of years you can ask as an extension in addition we pay special attention to applicants with career breaks or unusual career paths including special situations concerning mobility institutional hierarchy main and last authorship and independence [Music] so after acquiring all the necessary information having your brilliant exciting new idea when is the right time to apply this is a difficult question and there is no bulletproof answer but there are some key points which may be worth considering when you write a grant try to strike a balance make your proposal ambitious but not over ambitious after all you have to plan for up to five years think of convincing supporting data for your idea but do not wait too long collecting all the preliminary data and then losing on novelty consider that seminal papers are published not only in nature or science be bold but think about feasibility and plan b's speak to your peers and talk the details out and then go for it another rumor suggests that you should wait until the end of your eligibility window to apply since you will be more senior and more competitive this is one of the most heartbreaking misconceptions because very often the feedback from the panel if you are unsuccessful the first time is what will win your grant when you reapply if you leave it until the last moment you may run out of time to apply again in this way time works twice for you many of our successful grantees failed for the first time in addition statistics show that success rate is equal throughout the most of the eligibility window for starting and consolidate your grants so please do not wait until the last moment [Music] a panel is composed of the people that will assess your proposal and choosing the right one is extremely important because after all you want the right experts to evaluate your project once you have chosen a panel you will target your proposal to that audience if you choose the wrong panel we will reassign you to a different one how do we reassign proposals to different panels initially the proposal is assigned to a panel you indicate in your application but sometimes we make transfers to a different panel this can happen if you think if you think it is a clear mistake on your part or if another panel has better expertise for your proposal for example in the case of very interdisciplinary projects both panels must agree in the transfer so that it is as far as possible an explanation of what sort of expertise is covered in each panel can be found in the information for applicants but be careful this can change from year to year so even if you have already applied make sure you check the descriptors carefully lots of people think you can choose your panel strategically in order to increase your chances of success you may look at previous year's results to check how many projects were funded per panel however the success rate is the same in each panel and the funding is given to each panel as a function of demand based on the number of proposals received that year in other words just choose the panel that fits you your project best with your proposal you will have to include descriptors and free keywords for your project this may sound trivial but it's what we use to allocate your proposal to the right evaluators they will also determine whether we will ask for input from another panel so think about them well unlike what some may think panel descriptors don't represent erc scientific priorities they indicate what expertise are present in a panel people also say that the more cross panel descriptors you indicate the better because interdisciplinarity is via seen this is also not true i cannot tell you how many proposals come with no descriptors with no free keywords please help us to help you give us the information that will help us allocate your project to the right reviewers when you decide to apply in the administrative part of your application called part a you will have to prove that you have thought about all the points we have mentioned so far you will have to provide administrative information about your project your career your host institution and how you plan to administer the budget of your project you should make sure that you have all the important documents that are needed one the statement of support of your host institution two the copy of your phd or equivalent three the documents for your extension of eligibility and four any explanatory information on ethical issues the panel members only see the documents part b1 and b2 which we will talk about in another video they will not see the annexes they won't see any certificates they will not see any reference letters preprints you may want to include so there is no point in trying to beef up part a of your application but make sure that all the necessary documents are present this is the end of this video hopefully by now you are familiar with some of the questions to ask yourself before applying to avoid making common mistakes and to make your life easier with the administrative part of your application now all that's left is to apply thank you for tuning in and if you're curious about other parts of the application and evaluation process please check out our other videos and see you at the erc you