One-on-one personalised ERC Grant Resubmission Writing Support: ERC Starting, ERC Consolidator, ERC Advanced, ERC Synergy

We care about the individuals and teams that we support - each one of them different - and for each, we offer a personal, individually tailored journey for ERC grant re-submission writing.

We are highly experienced working with all panels and domains and all areas of research.

For resubmissions, whilst not necessary to rewrite a new proposal,  enough work needs to be done by the applicant to:

• Fully cover the issues raised by the panel members and/or reviewers in the previous submission

• Fully cover any new potential criticism and/or concerns that could be raised by panel members and/or reviewers in the current round (which in our experience happens quite often)

• Adjust and optimise the proposal in such a way that it is consistent in clarity, consistency, and tone of voice and presents to be a coherent whole - including where in one place in the proposal is changed, it also needs to be adjusted elsewhere).

SERVICE OPTIONS INCLUDE:

• Full proposal writing (Support, Mentoring and Coaching in Refinement of the ERC proposal concept, writing Part I and II, CV and Track Record (See also below). This options is best for those who had solid concerns from reviewers in the previous submission.

• Truncated writing support: Critical review and coaching support (this is a limited version of the full writing support outlined below). This option is best for those who rated quite well in the previous submission.

• Critical review of fully written drafts: Critical review and coaching support for fully written proposal drafts (See also below).

ERC PROPOSAL RESUBMISSION FULL SUPPORT:

Stage 1:  Strengthening the proposal framework. In this phase, we work with applicants to strengthen the foundational structure for the scientific proposal, before they begin the re-writing phase. This stage includes confirming in clear and consistent terms:  what is the challenge; why is it a problem; why do we need to overcome it; what are the bottlenecks; why have they not yet been addressed; why can they now be addressed; what recent underpinning by the applicant supports this new avenue of research (also supports the validity of any hypothesis); proposal aim; objectives; workplan overview; team; collaboration; novelty of the research; impact and risk mitigation etc.

Stage 2: CV/TR. Alongside Stage 1, we coach the applicant on creating a very strong ERC 4-page CV/TR and will review and provide feedback on this over 2 iterations. 

Stage 3: Proposal Writing Phase. Once Stage 1 and Stage 2 are complete, we then coach and mentor the applicant on the full proposal re-draft, working on the draft in smaller manageable stages, prior to achieving a full and complete draft. This includes Part I (B1), Part II (B2), the Resources and Time Commitment section, and the Appendix on current and submitted grants.

Our coaching includes proposal content, structure, clarity, flow, consistency and presenting clear and balanced storytelling.

We do this through quite a lot of contact and iterations/feedback rounds.

Our in-depth feedback on drafts is highly personalised, and should we identify weaknesses in a proposal, we will always work at providing the applicant with suggestions and/or options as to how the weakness can be remedied.

CRITICAL REVIEW OF FULLY WRITTEN DRAFTS
Our draft review work is in-depth, and we provide quite substantial and in-depth feedback. Due this this, applicants can be quite overwhelmed by this form of feedback within a single round of review. As such, we do not offer ERC Starting proposal review support in a single round of review. Instead, we work with the PI over two rounds of review (first is more high-level and second is more in depth).

As this service books up very quickly closer to the deadline, applicants need to finish the proposal full draft as early as possible. 

NOTE: This service option has a few different tiers, to cater to different budgets and needs.

THE FOUNDATIONS OF OUR SUPPORT

• Our feedback on drafts is highly personalised, in-depth, direct and to the point, and should we identify weaknesses in a proposal, we will always work at providing the applicant with suggestions and/or options as to how the weakness can be remedied.

• When any of our clients interact with us, they will find us to be down to earth and approachable professionals, who have a real passion for what we do, and we understand and appreciate how busy the life of an academic can be.

• All of our work is based on a strong process-driven foundation.

• We believe in honesty and transparency, and in building strong and healthy relationships with our clients.

METHOD OF DELIVERY
Our method of delivery is via (1) personal ‘one-on-one’ online coaching and feedback sessions; and (2) online via email. The breakdown of this is individually tailored to each individual (some applicants may find online meetings more helpful, whilst others may have more of a preference for working more though email.

WHO WILL APPLICANTS BE WORKING WITH
You will work directly with either Fire Sanders or Willem Bouma, both qualified and experienced senior trainers. Both Willem and Fire have experience working with all panels and areas of research, and have worked with numerous applicants and institutions throughout around Europe and beyond. 

We have over 15 years (specifically) working on European, Dutch, German, Swiss and other national research grant proposals - and over 25 years experience with scientific promotion cases, research grant applications, interview training, review and editing of high impact research journal articles and writing nominations for prestigious prizes and awards. We specialise in what we do and offer – and ERC grant writing is no exception.