ERC Starting, Consolidator and Advanced  Grant writing foundations course

'We offer a personal, individually tailored and educationally focussed journey of excellence.'

At Whitehorne, as part of our ERC services, we share our many years of experience and expertise by coaching and mentoring future ERC applicants understanding the foundations of the ERC process and also what is required for a competitive ERC proposal.

This course has been designed for ERC Starting, ERC Consolidator, and also more senior ERC Advanced grant applicants.

The course can be run either individually, or in small groups - and is a personalised course - suited to each individual.

The course has been designed to be taken by individuals who are thinking of writing an ERC grant in the next 12-24 months and have have yet to develop up a strong concept.

The course includes:

• Introduction to ERC and ERC proposals; What are expected elements within an ERC grant, what are the ERC assessment criteria, what is involved in Stage 1 and 2, personal benchmarking, panel choice, strategies for when to best apply for an ERC (planning ahead).

• How to work towards developing up a strong concept for an ERC proposal, and the general steps involved in refining and strengthening this, what proof of concept is needed and how long does it take to develop up a concept and what elements are needed for this.

• Coaching on relevant content and presentation needed for a strong B2 document, including introduction, aim, state of the art, recent underpinning work, innovative aspects and scientific impact, objectives, workplan overview, workplan detail, collaboration, risk assessment, team, ethical aspects, outreach where applicable. Also, what common mistakes to avoid in B2.

• How to create a strong B1 synopsis from B2 (general strategy). How to best utilise sparring partners and when in the process is it best to have drafts reviewed.

• Focussing on the style needed for an ERC proposal, including how to best use references, avoiding bold and/or sweeping statements, keeping content to the point and direct, as well as avoid writing a review paper.

• Applicants will develop up their own 4-page ERC CV, including a research achievement summary and also supporting explanatory paragraphs for each selected research output.

• Applicants will also develop up a 1-page synopsis of an ERC proposal, working to enhance their grant writing skills.

• Personalised review and feedback on participant's drafts of specific course components ('homework').

We also offer ERC grant writing individual support and ERC interview support.

THE FOUNDATIONS OF OUR SUPPORT

• Preparing for an ERC grant is a challenging and time consuming process - on top of the everyday challenges of academic life. Our focus is on making this process as enjoyable and as stress free as possible - for all individuals that we work with.

• 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.
  

WHO WILL APPLICANTS BE WORKING WITH
Your course facilitators are 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 and international research grant proposals - and over 25 years experience with scientific promotion cases, research grants, 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.