By Ksenia Bagrintseva, senior grant writer & ERC expert - GO
The Grants Office was delighted to host ERC Synergy Virtual Roundtable on the 17th of June. Our successful ERC Synergy laureates, along with members of the ERC Scientific Council and the ERC Synergy Evaluation panel, shared their experience and provided invaluable advice on how to succeed in this fierce competition.
The ERC Synergy grant is one of the most prestigious funding opportunities, allowing researchers to address any ambitious research problem, that cannot be tackled by a single team alone and require the expertise of two to four research groups. Therefore, each Principle Investigator (PI) in a Synergy project is equally important, indispensable, and irreplaceable, unlike in collaborative projects. Proposals are evaluated solely on the criterion of scientific excellence, which takes on the additional meaning of outstanding intrinsic synergetic effect.
Our ERC Synergy Virtual Roundtable brought together members of the ERC Scientific council (former) and ERC Synergy evaluation panel, successful ERC Synergy laureates and Grants Office experts: Margaret Buckingham, former member of the ERC Scientific Council link ; Denis Duboule, ERC Synergy panel member and laureate of ERC Synergy – 2023 link ; Gerald Spaeth, corresponding PI ERC Synergy – 2022 link ; Thomas Gregor, corresponding PI ERC Synergy – 2023 link ; Roberto Toro, laureate of an ERC Synergy -2023 link & project ; Maëlle Pichard, EU division head, Grants Office and Ksenia Bagrintseva, Senior Grant Writer, ERC expert, Grants Office.
The key messages from our experts are as follows:
Choose Your Partners Wisely: Select partners based on their expertise related to the main question of the proposal. Gender balance or geographical location is not an evaluation criterion for this type of project.
Equal Importance of Each PI: The role of each Principal Investigator (PI) in the project is equally important and carries the same weight. No one can be replaced.
Start Early: Begin preparations well in advance; even one year might not be sufficient to develop a competitive proposal.
Seek Help from a GO Grant Writer: Engaging a grant writer can make a significant difference in the quality of your proposal.
Prepare for the Interview: The interview is a crucial decision-making step. Be well-prepared and demonstrate your synergy and enthusiasm.
Even if you couldn’t attend this roundtable you have an excellent opportunity to watch the recorded session following this link.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Ksenia Bagrintseva (ksenia.bagrintseva@pasteur.fr) and the GO Europe team (GOeurope@pasteur.fr).
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