WRITING A PROPOSAL FOR A MARIE SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE …last minute –submit early and submit often (system overwrites previous versions) ... 3 Implementation, incl. Gantt Chart max

© FFG I Austrian Research Promotion Agency I www.ffg.at

24 February 2019, Vienna

Therese Lindahl I FFG

WRITING A PROPOSAL FOR A MARIE SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE INDIVIDUAL FELLOWSHIP


Short introduction into the funding scheme

Best practice in setting up a proposal

Tips & tricks for the proposal text itself

AGENDA


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• Source and Copyright

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Therese Lindahl

Yuliya Shakalisava

© FFG I Austrian Research Promotion Agency I www.ffg.at© FFG I Austrian Research Promotion Agency I www.ffg.at

SHORT INTRODUCTION TO THE MARIE SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE INDIVIDUAL FELLOWSHIP

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The goal of the Individual Fellowships is to enhance the creative and innovative potential of experienced researchers, wishing to diversify their individual competence in terms of skill acquisition through advanced training, international and intersectoral mobility._________

MSCA Work programme 2018 – 2020, page 13

AIMS OF THE MARIE SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE FELLOWSHIP


Definition from the funding rules…

… at the date of call deadline (i.e., 11.9.2019) in the possession of a doctoral degree or at least 4 years of full-time equivalent research experience

no age restriction

nationality in most IF types not relevant

„EXPERIENCED RESEARCHER“

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Research experience is measured from the date when the researcher obtained the degree entitling him/her to embark on a doctorate – even if a doctorate was never started or envisaged.

MEASURING RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

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8 Scientific areas …

Chemistry (CHE)

Social Sciences and Humanities (SOC)

Economic Sciences (ECO)

Information Science and Engineering (ENG)

Environmental and Geosciences (ENV)

Life Sciences (LIF)

Mathematics (MAT)

Physics (PHY)

BOTTOM UP … YOU PROPOSE THE TOPIC

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Experienced researcher (= fellow)

+ host institution(s) (= beneficiary)

legal entity in the academic or non-academic sector

established in a European Union Member State or Associated Country (MS/AC)

JOINT APPLICATION

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!!! very rough answer, to get the picture

More precisely, where and how long depends

on the type of the fellowship

the mobility rule related to the fellowship

ANYWHERE, 1 – 3 YEARS

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EUROPE (MS/AC)

all member states of the European Union (MS)

and all countries associated to Horizon 2020 (AC)

Iceland, Norway, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Israel, Moldova, Switzerland, Faroe Islands, Ukraine, Tunisia, Georgia, Armenia

ALL others are called THIRD COUNTRIES (TC)

SOME GEOGRAPHY…… RELATED TO HORIZON 2020


EF Standard – standard rule: must not have resided / worked / studied in the country of the host organisation for more than 12 months in the 3 years before the deadline

RI, CAR, SE – relaxed mobility rule: must not have resided / worked / studied in the country of the host organisation for more than 3 years in the last 5 years before the deadline

Next IF call deadlines11 September 20199 September 2020

1-2 years in MS/AC (“Europe”)

Secondments in „Europe“ possible (< 6 m)

EF has four variations:

Standard European Fellowship (ST)

Reintegration Panel (RI): nationality is relevant (if not MS/AC nationality „long-term resident“)

Career Restart Panel (CAR)

Society and Enterprise (SE), with non-academic host

MOBILITY RULESEUROPEAN FELLOWSHIP (EF)

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Standard rule – applied to outgoing host: must not have resided / worked / studied in the country of the outgoing host (located in the third country) for more than 12 months in the 3 years before the deadline

Example: a GF with Austria and Canada, then check if you fulfil the rule towards Canada (and not Austria)

Next IF call deadlines11 September 20199 September 2020

Overall duration 2-3 years, split in two phases:

1-2 years in Third Country = outgoing phase

1 year in „Europe“ (MS/AC) = return phase

Secondments in „Europe“ possible

The researcher’s nationality is relevant: if not a national from „Europe“ (MS/AC), then „long-term resident“ (5 years) in „Europe“

MOBILITY RULEGLOBAL FELLOWSHIP (GF)

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© FFG I Austrian Research Promotion Agency I www.ffg.at 15

Per month:

Research-, training-, networking costs for the project EUR 800

Management- and overhead costs EUR 650

Per month:

Living Allowance EUR 4.880 Country Correction Coefficient (listed in the MSCA Work programme 2018 – 2020, page 82)

Mobility Allowance EUR 600

Family Allowance EUR 500 status at deadline

INSTITUTIONAL COSTSRESEARCHER COSTS


CALCULATING THE GRANT • Grant calculation based on fixed amounts – units multiplied by the number of months (duration) of the fellowship

• For the unit Living Allowance (EUR 4.880), a Country Correction Coefficient (CCC) is applied – 100% reference is Belgium; for global fellowships, two ccc are applied (outgoing and return phase)

• Family Allowance based on status quo at time of the deadline

• Mobility Allowance and Family Allowance can be subject to taxation – depends on the country of the host

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Additional EUR 60.000 per project possible to support researchers with special needs

Example budgets no CCC applied and incl. family allowance

EF 24 months EUR 178.320 GF 36 months EUR 267.480


NO. OF APPLICATIONS & SUCCESS RATES MSCA IF

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MSCA 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Success rates % 17.6 13.9 13.5 15 14.6

nr of evaluated proposals 7.409 8.380 8.829 8.957 9.676

nr of retained proposals 1.305 1.163 1.188 1.348 1.351

Budget in mio EUR 240.5 215 218 248.7 273 296.5 324


BEST PRACTICE TO SET UP A PROPOSAL

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THE PERFECT MATCH ?

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• Have a picture of where you stand and how you want to develop yourself with the project

• Think early about your ideal supervisor(s) –the ideal research group

• Check your eligibility for the type of fellowship and the mobility rule – if unclear: contact NCP

• If ok: get in touch with your ideal host, if they support your idea

• Once decided – don’t wait and start developing your project proposal

STARTING POINT: WHERE YOU WANT TO GO AND WITH WHOM



IDEAL PLAN FROM AN NCP’S PERSPECTIVE

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Call 2019 opens

get acquainted with the call documents – in particular, the

Guide for Applicants, which includes the template for the

proposal

Your idea for an IF

think about it: your ideal host, which fellowship type; check your eligibility and the willingness of your host to set up a proposal

Drafting application

Develop a draft of your project. See, if there is some support offer – workshops or similar. Check NCP support.

Get feedback & improve

from your supervisor, from a colleague or a friend – maybe

the institution or the NCP offers proposal reviews.

Submit your proposal

don’t risk – do not go for the last minute – submit early and submit often (system overwrites previous versions)

Evaluation results

within 5 months after the deadline

Start 11 April … spring … … summer … 11 Sept Feb 2020


SUPPORT FOR YOUR PROPOSAL IN AUSTRIA

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Yasmin Dolak-Struss

Lil Reif

Therese Lindahl (NCP)

Supervisor & administrative support from the host institution http://www.forschungsservice.at

Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG)[email protected]: 05 7755 4111https://www.ffg.at/europa/h2020/msca

http://www.forschungsservice.at/

mailto:[email protected]

https://www.ffg.at/europa/h2020/msca


SUPPORT FOR YOUR PROPOSAL IN EUROPE AND BEYOND National Contact Points in Europe

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hosting offers & handbook for IF proposalwww.net4mobilityplus.eu

to find a host - or to look for fellowshttps://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/search

Funding & Tender Portal https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/support/ncp

http://www.net4mobilityplus.eu/

https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/search

https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/support/ncp


TIPS & TRICKS FOR THE PROPOSAL TEXT

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… it is not only to describe a research project, but yourself, your career ambitions and a related training plan and to connect this to the host

… to fit everything into the limited space of 10 pages for the three main sections of the proposal

SOME CHALLENGES


THE PERFECT MATCH ?

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• Start with your CV & host’s description (section 4 and 5), laying the ground for section 1-3

• Make your CV relevant to your project, clear and easy to understand, retrograde

• Have the description of your host relevant to your project (supervisor’s scientific expertise and supervision experience, infrastructure if relevant)

• Think about what you want to learn through the project next slide

1 Excellence

2 Impact

3 Implementation, incl. Gantt Chart

max. 10 pages

4 CV of the Experienced Researcher

5 Participating Organisation(s) host (s)

6 Ethical Aspects

7 Letter of Commitment (GF only)


TYPICAL TRAINING ACTIVITIES …

• Training-through-research: individual personalised project, guidance of the supervisor / other members of the research staff

• Training for developing scientific skills: new techniques, instruments, research integrity, big data/open science …

• Training for developing transferable skills: entrepreneurship, proposal preparation, patent applications, IPR, project management, task coordination and monitoring, supervising, gender issues, exploitation of research results …

• Inter-sectoral or interdisciplinary transfer of knowledge (e.g. through secondments), if it makes sense for the project and/or your career development

• Participation in the research and financial management

• Organisation of scientific, training, dissemination events and of communication and outreach activities

• …


Follow the structure and headings as indicated in the template evaluation criteria!

Each section of part B is important – each decimal point counts!

FOLLOW THE TEMPLATE

SECTION 1

1.1 Research

1.2 Training

1.3 Supervisor and hosting

1.4 Researcher

SECTION 2

2.1 Career impact

2.2 Dissemination

2.3 Outreach

SECTION 3

3.1 Work plan

3.2 Project mgt &Risk mgt

3.3 Institutional environment


targeted at the general public to create awareness among the general public about the project and its results, implications for citizens and society

done in a way that can be understood by non-specialists

for the researcher to understand better public concern and interest

Examples

press articles

researchers’ night

blogs & videos…

targeted at peers - scientific or „the wider research and innovation community“, industry & other commercial actors, professional organisations, policymakers

to communicate research results, transfer them into other research settings, for commercial purposes or policy making

Examples

papers at conferences

publications in journals

open data…

COMMUNICATIONDISSEMINATION ≠

Section 2.3

Section 2.2


How will you communicate your

project & results to the wider public? Check with your host: Are

there some nice traditional formats, media which can

be of use for you? Is there practical support

from the institution?

DISSEMINATION & COMMUNICATION THINK ABOUT IT & CHECK WITH YOUR HOST

How will you disseminate &

exploit your project results to the

scientific community?

Be specific: to whom, how &

how often?


EXAMPLES ON SPACE USED FOR SECTIONS 1-3

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No indication in the template on the no. of pages per section – but keep in mind the weighting:

Excellence 50%

Impact 30%

Implementation 20%

Excellence1.1+1.2 vs 1.3+1.4

Impact Implementation

5 (3,5/1,5) 2 3

6 (5/1) 2 2

6 (4/2) 1,3 2,7

4,7 (2,3/2,4) 2,3 3

5,7 (3/2,7) 1,3 3


Think of the main 10 pages (section 1-3) as a whole text, to read from start to end (not jumping around)

Say all you have to say in the text – not on text outside the proposal (via hyperlink)

Find a suitable title and a catchy acronym for your project

Take the reader on board in the introduction – show relevance, state of the art and objectives

A STORY IN 10 PAGES (WITH SOME APPENDIX)

Section 1

1.1 Research

1.2 Training

1.3 Supervisor & hosting

1.4 Researcher you

Section 2

2.1 Career impact for the fellow

2.2 Disseminationto peers

2.3 Outreachto the wider public

Section 3

3.1 Work plan

3.2 Project mgt& risk mgt

3.3 Institutional environment


CLEAR VISUAL IMPRESSION

Mind minimum standards (font size / max characters per page). Use legible fonts.

See Guide for Applicants

Keep visual impression simple and calm. Not many different fonts, styles, not to much highlighting and be consistent in what you have chosen


HOW TO STAY WITHIN 10 PAGES …

If possible: present your research (methodology and approach) under section 1 already along WPs – less space needed under section 3

If you run out of space (with minimum font size etc.): be critical to your draft –are there redundancies?

Keep subchapters at a reasonable level; use bold headlines in the beginning of a paragraph instead of headlines above –gives structure, but needs less space than classical headlines next slide



IMPORTANT ASPECT A wonderful serenity has taken possession of my entire soul, like these sweet mornings of spring which I enjoy with my whole heart.

ANOTHER IMPORTANT ASPECT A wonderful serenity has taken possession of my entire soul, like these sweet mornings of spring which I enjoy with my whole heart. I am alone, and feel the charm of existence in this spot, which was created for the bliss of souls like mine.

1.1.1.1 IMPORTANT ASPECT

A wonderful serenity has taken possession of my entire soul, like these sweet mornings of spring which I enjoy with my whole heart.

1.1.1.2 ANOTHER IMPORTANT ASPECT

A wonderful serenity has taken possession of my entire soul, like these sweet mornings of spring which I enjoy with my whole heart. I am alone, and feel the charm of existence in this spot, which was created for the bliss of souls like mine.

1.1.1 SUBCHAPTER1.1.1 SUBCHAPTER

HOW TO STAY WITHIN 10 PAGES …EXAMPLE FOR SAVING SPACE


KEEP DESCRIPTION CONSISTENT AND CLEAR

Make sure that tables or figures are embedded in the text –mention them!

Consistency in terminology, i.e., what is called a workshop in the section 1, should be recognizable as workshop in chapter 3.

Be critical to figures – are they easily understandable? Do they contribute to the description?



Therese LindahlAustrian National Contact Point Marie Skłodowska‐Curie Actions

Austrian Research Promotion Agency FFGSensengasse 1, A-1090 Vienna

T +43 (0) 5 77 55 – [email protected]://www.ffg.at/europa/h2020/msca

THANK YOU!

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WRITING A PROPOSAL FOR A MARIE SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE …last minute –submit early and submit often (system overwrites previous versions) ... 3 Implementation, incl. Gantt Chart max