European Research Council Grants for Top Researchers from Anywhere in the World

EURAXESS Australia & New Zealand and the European Research Council (ERC), bring to you a webinar on ERC funding opportunities.

The ERC is the premier European funding organisation for excellent frontier research. It supports investigator-driven frontier research across all fields. It awards research grants to scientists and scholars from all over the world, both early-career and senior researchers, carrying out their ambitious research projects in all scientific disciplines in Europe.

An ERC Grantee will talk about her path as a researcher and her experience of applying to an ERC grant; e.g. how she wrote the proposal, how much time it took, how she prepared for the interview, etc. and will also give some personal tips to the potential applicants.

A representative from a European host institution will give an overview of the kind of services and support that they can provide to interested applicants moving from outside Europe, such as assistance in preparing the project proposal and during the whole application process, adequate administrative support, help to relocate to Europe, conditions for employment, recruitment of team members, etc.

An ERC National Contact Point (NCP) will explain briefly their role and the activities that they regularly organise to help researchers apply for ERC funding.

This free webinar is directed at post-doctoral researchers and established researchers (PhD + 2 years experience) of all disciplines and all nationalities.

Familiarise yourself with the basics and check out the ERC Classes video playlist beforehand.

Watch the Recording Below

Agenda & Downloads

• erc_basics_support_provided_by_erc_national_contact_points.pdf - Rosa Bernal Carrera, French National Contact Point for ERC

• testimony_by_erc_grantee_0.pdf - Gemma Solomon, Professor in Chemistry, University of Copenhagen

• support_provided_by_european_host_institutions_0.ppsx - Iesel Van der Plancken, International Funding Advisor, KU Leuven

• Interactive Q&A - Moderated by Nishant Shandilya, Regional Coordinator, EURAXESS Australia & New Zealand

Speakers

• Gemma C. Solomon: Gemma C. Solomon majored in Chemical Physics at the University of Western Australia before moving to the University of Sydney for her PhD in Chemistry with Prof. Jeffrey Reimers and Prof. Noel Hush. In 2006, she moved to Northwestern University, USA where she was a postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Mark Ratner until moving to the University of Copenhagen as an assistant professor in 2010 to start her independent career. She was promoted to associate professor in 2012 and professor in 2018. She has received ERC Starting and Consolidator grants (in 2010 and 2019) and has been awarded the Torkil Holm Prize from the Danish Academy for Technical Sciences (2014) and the Silver Medal from The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters (2019). In 2020 she was elected as a member of The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters. In 2022 she will start in a new role as the Scientific Director for Algorithms and Applications for a new large quantum computing programme. She has authored over 90 peer-reviewed publications, is a Senior Editor for the Journal of Physical Chemistry A/B/C and the Deputy Editor for ACS Physical Chemistry Au.

• Iesel Van der Plancken: After a PhD and 12 years of research in food technology, Iesel Van der Plancken became an international grant advisor at the Research Coordination Office of KU Leuven, Belgium in 2012. At first she focused on collaborative projects, but since 2018 she devotes her time to the support of ERC applicants and grantees. True to her training, she applies a “farm to fork” strategy, stimulating young talents in paving the way towards an ERC application, giving advice on writing the proposal, coordinating the grant preparation or incoming grant transfers and following up on the smooth implementation of the projects and the communication of their results. Especially during the tough COVID years, this personal approach proved vital. She looks forward to further broaden her horizon and to collaborate with researchers from the antipode, welcoming them to KU Leuven, the leading Belgian university in the ERC programme since its start in 2007.

• Rosa Bernal Carrera: Rosa Bernal Carrera is an experienced senior European Affairs Officer working for more than 15 years at different research institutions in France. Since 2009, she has accompanied researchers in France within the life cycle of ERC projects, from pre to post award. Her rich knowledge of the European Research Funding landscape and the ERC programme in particular, lead her towards the position of ERC National Contact Point.