2021 ERC Mentoring event

On 11th November 2021, the YAE in collaboration with the Academia Europaea (AE) Budapest Knowledge Hub hosted an event for researchers who are interested in applying for the next round of ERC Starting Grants (StG), with the ambition of widening participation to researchers from EU13 and Associated Countries.

This second instalment of our mentoring events was focused on how the ERC’s evaluation panels work and how decisions within evaluation panels are made to recommend a grant application for funding. This was an important opportunity for applicants to gain key insights into what makes a successful ERC application and a better understanding of the evaluation process.

The online event included two parts. First, a plenary information session with a representative from the ERC Executive Agency (Janka Mátrai), and a talk by the ERC National Contact Point leader in Hungary (Gergely Bőhm) on typical comments of ERC evaluation reports. The recording of this plenary session is available on our Youtube channel – https://youtu.be/OXO0Wq3qsoI.

The main part of the event included three parallel sessions, each with a mock ERC StG evaluation panel by domain: Physical Sciences & Engineering (PE), Life Sciences (LS), and Social Sciences & Humanities (SH). The recordings of these parallel sessions are available on our Youtube channel:

  • The LS panel session recording is available here
  • The SH panel session recording is available here
  • The PE panel session recording is available here

In addition to the recordings, we also share here a document outlining common areas for improvement from ERC applications received from EU13 countries, with practical recommendations on how to circumvent them. We are grateful to the author of the document for their input.

The YAE is grateful to the AE Budapest Knowledge Hub, the speakers in the plenary session, the eminent scholars who volunteered as panel members in the parallel sessions, and the previous ERC applicants who generously donated their applications for this educational activity.

2020 ERC MENTORING EVENT

On 21st of September 2020 the Young Academy of Europe hosted an event for researchers from EU13 and Associated Countries, who were interested in applying for a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant. Through this event, we aimed to provide guidance and support to young applicants from under-represented nations by connecting them with mentors who have successfully navigated through the process.

The programme included a plenary information session, followed by three parallel sessions focusing on each ERC research domain: Physical Sciences & Engineering (PE), Life Sciences (LS), and Social Sciences & Humanities (SH). The domain-specific break-out rooms provided grant-writing advice by current YAE members who had successfully secured an ERC StG. The recordings from these sessions are available on our website.