MSCA and ERC grant writing for young researchers

Join a focused 3‑hour online course designed for early‑career researchers that demystifies the research funding landscape and equips you to draft competitive grant proposals!

You’ll get a clear overview of relevant funding opportunities (e.g., MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships, ERC Starting Grants), how funding agencies and calls work, and what reviewers actually value. The course highlights the key differences between writing a research paper and building a project proposal and shows practical, high‑impact approaches to develop your proposal concept quickly.

Through concise theory, real examples and hands‑on exercises you’ll learn to outline the core elements of a strong proposal. By the end, you will be able to navigate funding options with confidence and produce a compelling, well‑organized draft to increase your chances of success.

 

Topics covered

• Quick tour of top funding schemes (MSCA, ERC, national);
• How research funding agencies & calls actually work;
• What reviewers really want;
• Paper vs. proposal: avoid killer mistakes;
• Practical exercise: drafting your project in 5-10 lines;
• Final Tips for Success;
• Resources and Useful Links;

 

Target audience

This training is designed for early‑career researchers aiming for academic or industry careers who want to learn or sharpen their grant‑writing skills.

 

Biography

Dr. Paolo Simonelli holds a PhD and has extensive experience in coordinating European research projects, both in academic and private sector. With over a decade of experience as a research manager, he assists researchers in crafting successful project proposals for various national funding agencies, such as NFR and ANR, as well as European programs including ERC, MSCA, EIC, and DIGITAL. In addition to his role as a research manager, Dr. Simonelli serves as an Expert Evaluator for the European Commission and the Slovak Research Agency (Výskumná agentúra).