Since its foundation in 2007, the European Research Council (ERC) has funded frontier research within Europe. ERC funding is based on scientific excellence and aimed at introducing new concepts or creating a paradigm shift in existing research lines. Consequently, an ERC Grant is a label of excellence and a springboard for Starting and Consolidator grantees’ careers. 

Excellent research needs excellent support, an idea that has been championed continuously by EU-LIFE — the alliance of independent research institutes in the life sciences across Europe. EU-LIFE contributes to the improvement of research by influencing science policies and by developing, implementing, and disseminating good practices of research governance. This best practice exchange is done through working groups, and among them there is the Grants & Funding Strategies Working Group (GF WG).

EU-LIFE Grants & Funding Strategies Working Group, Lisbon, Portugal, 2023 .

Given the competitiveness of ERC grants, the members of the GF WG have joined forces in 2021 to train and support ERC Starting and Consolidator Grant applicants by organizing an annual ERC Masterclass. This training event stemmed from the long-lasting, prolific exchanges in the GF WG, composed of grant managers with various backgrounds who bring to the table a comprehensive knowledge of ERC funding schemes and hands-on experience in supporting researchers. 

The core team of the EU-LIFE Grants & Funding Strategies Working Group in action, Lisbon, Portugal, 2023.

The EU-LIFE ERC Masterclass is designed as a two-day online interactive workshop. On the first day, ERC experts from the GF WG provide participants with detailed insights on the ERC funding schemes, the application and review process, and the content of the different application parts, challenging them to think outside the box with short quizzes, examples, and interactive exercises. Participants also gain insight on how to build a strong CV and how to sort out the administrative part of the application. A final “elevator pitch” session is offered to help them prepare for the second day of the Masterclass.  

The second day is dedicated to interactions with EU-LIFE ERC grantees and former ERC panel members, with a testimonial session in which applicants receive experience and advice, followed by brainstorm sessions during which each applicant pitches their research idea to a mock panel composed of EU-LIFE ERC grantees and former ERC panel members. This brainstorm provides them with highly valuable feedback on their idea and their communication skills: is it ERC-worthy? Is it too broad or too narrow? Is it groundbreaking? Was it clearly conveyed? 

The feedback from participants and mock panel members has always been highly positive. All workshop attendees would recommend the training to their colleagues, and the most appreciated sessions were the testimonial and brainstorming ones, indicating that interaction with former panel members and grantees is key.  

“Understanding the type of research that is funded by the ERC and how to best present it can be tricky when applying for the first time. The Masterclass was pivotal to grasping if my research fitted the grant’s criteria and also to having tips on how to structure the project. Having the opportunity to discuss with successful applicants and previous panel members was also extremely insightful. Getting an ERC Starting Grant provided my team with a stability that allowed us to start very interesting but risky projects that we wouldn’t have been able to explore otherwise,” said Enzo Poirier, Junior PI at the Institut Curie’s Innate Immunity in Physiology and Cancer Team. 

By pooling the knowledge and experience of EU-LIFE grant officers, panel members and grantees, the added value is two-fold.

Added value of the EU-LIFE ERC Masterclass for Grant Officers and for ERC applicants.

Firstly, applicants get access to a large and varied pool of experts far beyond the members of staff of their own institutes. This is important not just from the specialized knowledge point of view, but also in terms of organizational, geographical, cultural and linguistic diversity.   

“A few EU-LIFE institutes have been organising this type of training individually for several years, but we see an important added value of organising this at an EU-LIFE Masterclass level! It allows us to pool the knowledge and experience of ERC grant officers, panel members, and grantees from across all EU-LIFE centers,” said Lieve Ongena, Senior Science Policy Manager at VIB. 

Secondly, EU-LIFE grant officers can learn from each other’s training style and get insight into the type of support provided to ERC candidates in other institutions, furthering their training and expertise. On top of that, the event fosters a culture of sharing good practices and collaboration between researchers and grant officers from different EU-LIFE institutes and beyond the alliance. GF WG members have shared their experience in different forums, such as the EARMA Conference 2024. 

“Obtaining an ERC grant is extremely competitive, and we see, unfortunately, many excellent projects that do not get funded. Therefore, it is crucial to support researchers when applying for ERC Grants, learning from the expertise of grant officers, previous grantees, and panel members from their institutes. In addition, the Masterclass represents an ideal opportunity for best-practice exchange among research managers to leverage their knowledge and day-to-day performance,” said Cristina Bartocci, Scientific Writer & Funding Specialist at Institut Curie. 

Thanks to the feedback from participants, we can continuously improve the setup of the masterclass, adapting it to the researchers’ expectations. Furthermore, difficulties related to application requirements and processes that are encountered by top-quality research institutes can be collected and presented to funders, contributing to improving ERC processes and fostering advancements across the entire scientific ecosystem by promoting greater efficiency, transparency, and inclusivity.

List of authors and affiliations (in alphabetical order):

• Cristina Bartocci, Institut Curie 
• Thomas Brandl, CeMM 
• Elena Dal Zotto, IEO 
• Esther Dorado-Ladera, EU-LIFE 
• Marijn Huiskamp, EU-LIFE 
• Elien Vandermarliere, VIB 

All images provided by EU-LIFE.