2020 Marie Curie Individual Fellowship (H2020-MSCA-IF-2020)

[Laserjunge]

Hello everyone,

thanks for hosting this nice forum.

I actually have a question regarding a resubmission:
I applied for a GF last year but got rejected (85/100). The reviews have been ambivalent (e.g. strength: great impact, weakness: usefulness), so not very satisfying. Anyhow, I would love to try a resubmission this year, but I guess it is not possible anymore because of the "max. 12 months in the respective country" restriction. Me and my family are living in the respective country now since 14 month. So I was eligible for a GF submission still last year, but not this year. I guess this restriction also applies for resubmission, doesn't it?

Is there any other ERC program that allows to pursue research outside the EU?

Good luck everybody.

[AdinaBabesh]

Hi,

Sorry to hear about this, and best of luck with the resubmissions.

Regarding the eligibility, I think you must check it with the host institution.

These fellowships are not part of the ERC program but of the MSCA program, also funded through Horizon 2020.

If you want to apply for an ERC grant, I think you can pursue research only in those non-EU countries which are associated with Horizon 2020 program, for example Israel, but not USA. I don't know about UK given the current situation.

Hope this helps,

Hello everyone,

thanks for hosting this nice forum.

I actually have a question regarding a resubmission:
I applied for a GF last year but got rejected (85/100). The reviews have been ambivalent (e.g. strength: great impact, weakness: usefulness), so not very satisfying. Anyhow, I would love to try a resubmission this year, but I guess it is not possible anymore because of the "max. 12 months in the respective country" restriction. Me and my family are living in the respective country now since 14 month. So I was eligible for a GF submission still last year, but not this year. I guess this restriction also applies for resubmission, doesn't it?

Is there any other ERC program that allows to pursue research outside the EU?

Good luck everybody.

[PetetheCat]

I think this is great advice. There are also a few places online with good writing guides and examples of reviewer comments. I also got examples of accepted and rejected reviews from my host and these were good to help me see what it is that reviewers tend to comment on and in which section. So this is worth requesting from your host.

Hey folks,
All the best to everyone.

Here's a few unsolicited "tips".

• Read the official Guide for Applicants thoroughly. Most of what you need to know is spelled out there. Trust that more than you trust this forum. There is a fair bit of misinformation here based on guesswork.

• Follow the guide and the official template for writing the proposal. This includes not just what to write, but also where to write it. Reviewers are instructed to expect certain information in certain places.

• Yes, as everyone says, luck does play a big role. The reviewers you get will matter. But then this is not specific to the MSCA IF. This also applies to every other grant your will write in your academic life. This also applies to every paper you will ever submit. So, stop thinking about the luck factor.

[nincaeli]

Hello everyone,

Somebody knows if contacts with the reserve list have already started?

I guess that official procedures for MSCA are not delayed because the coronavirus, and some people in the reserve list may also be thinking in resubmission and walking along this forum

I wish all you the best luck for this amaizing period of preparation.

Thanks in advance!

[mustdoit85]

Hello everyone,

I am here for an advice regarding re-submission of the MSCA proposal. I am in reserve list with a total score of 90.6% for the MSCA-RI panel. Most likely I won't be contacted, thus I am thinking to resubmit the proposal.
Does anybody can give me a good advice for the resubmission? Is the proposal need to be highly modified for a resubmission? I got only a weakness for all the three sections, and it was referred to the excellence part. Do I have only to modify what reviewers found weak?

Any help would be really welcome!

Thanks.

[alozzup]

Hi everyone!

I'm new to the forum, I'm in Humanities and new to the MSCA-IF, so you can imagine how I feel!
I've been reading guidelines, FAQs, blogs, and whatever source of information I could find online and I'm overwhelmed and confused. I mainly have 2 key issues I cannot find an answer to, which I hope some of you may help me with:

1) I got my PhD 2 years ago, informally approved in 2018, officially approved in Jan 2019 and I officially graduated in Oct 2019 (UK uni) - does anyone one know which date counts? Am I eligible to apply for the CAR?
2) role of supervisor - not in theory but in practice. I've found a host organisation but the supervisor clearly stated he won't have time to consistently read my work and give me feedback. I'm not too worried because I have a PhD so I should know what I'm doing by now, am I wrong? What role should a supervisor have?

Thanks to anyone who read it all and particularly to those who can help me out. Good luck to you all!

[MSCA-IF-CHEM-2020]

Hello!!!

It will be fun to share with all of you the moments of preparation and waiting for the results in the coming months!!!

[Robrad30]

Are you talking about the role of the supervisor in writing the application or the supervisors role in implementing the project?

Hi everyone!

I'm new to the forum, I'm in Humanities and new to the MSCA-IF, so you can imagine how I feel!
I've been reading guidelines, FAQs, blogs, and whatever source of information I could find online and I'm overwhelmed and confused. I mainly have 2 key issues I cannot find an answer to, which I hope some of you may help me with:

1) I got my PhD 2 years ago, informally approved in 2018, officially approved in Jan 2019 and I officially graduated in Oct 2019 (UK uni) - does anyone one know which date counts? Am I eligible to apply for the CAR?
2) role of supervisor - not in theory but in practice. I've found a host organisation but the supervisor clearly stated he won't have time to consistently read my work and give me feedback. I'm not too worried because I have a PhD so I should know what I'm doing by now, am I wrong? What role should a supervisor have?

Thanks to anyone who read it all and particularly to those who can help me out. Good luck to you all!

[PetetheCat]

For question #1 I would recommend emailing the contact point in the UK or the country you are applying to find out. For the UK this would be the UKRO: https://www.ukro.ac.uk/mariecurie
If your project is only 24 months I'm not sure it matters, as I think they might just bounce you to the regular IF panel. However, if you applied for 36 months of CAR funding and were deemed ineligible, you would be cut out of the running.

For #2, this seems a nuanced question. I am trying for a third (!!) time for the CAR with the same supervisor, having made the reserve list the first time and then having a reviewer who really took against my project idea last time. I have a good relationship with him, he has a good track record, and I will be supported appropriately. I don't know what it means to not read your work. It's not a PhD, so it's not like you will be submitting chapters. But I would certainly expect that my supervisor will read articles I'm going to submit before I send them off and will give me some feedback. It seems like you could be in a horrible situation if you have a supervisor who won't actually support you as a senior mentor, especially as if you relatively recently finished your PhD you are very much an early-stage researcher.

When the MSCA is reviewed, they look for real details on how you will be "integrated" into the host institution. E.g. which research groups will you join, what is the formal supervisory structure, and what other supports will you get at the institution. This is a real question that the reviewers look at. So you will have to figure out what this will be when you are writing. Are you going to lie about how much support you will get? This seems to go against the spirit of the MSCA, as it is supposed to be a training fellowship and the reason these questions are looked at is because they want to see that you will have support. Do you really want to be in a situation where you don't have support? I think that's a question only you can answer, which is perhaps contingent on options for alternative supervisors.

Hi everyone!

I'm new to the forum, I'm in Humanities and new to the MSCA-IF, so you can imagine how I feel!
I've been reading guidelines, FAQs, blogs, and whatever source of information I could find online and I'm overwhelmed and confused. I mainly have 2 key issues I cannot find an answer to, which I hope some of you may help me with:

1) I got my PhD 2 years ago, informally approved in 2018, officially approved in Jan 2019 and I officially graduated in Oct 2019 (UK uni) - does anyone one know which date counts? Am I eligible to apply for the CAR?
2) role of supervisor - not in theory but in practice. I've found a host organisation but the supervisor clearly stated he won't have time to consistently read my work and give me feedback. I'm not too worried because I have a PhD so I should know what I'm doing by now, am I wrong? What role should a supervisor have?

Thanks to anyone who read it all and particularly to those who can help me out. Good luck to you all!

[alozzup]

Thank you for your replies!

It turns out I'm eligible for the CAR so that's what I'll aim for. The UK office said I don't need any evidence, I only need to provide my certificate to the host institution in case of an audit.

Are you talking about the role of the supervisor in writing the application or the supervisors role in implementing the project?

Both, I'm wondering how crucial his help is in both the application process and implementing the project (eventually).

For #2, this seems a nuanced question. I am trying for a third (!!) time for the CAR with the same supervisor, having made the reserve list the first time and then having a reviewer who really took against my project idea last time. I have a good relationship with him, he has a good track record, and I will be supported appropriately. I don't know what it means to not read your work. It's not a PhD, so it's not like you will be submitting chapters. But I would certainly expect that my supervisor will read articles I'm going to submit before I send them off and will give me some feedback. It seems like you could be in a horrible situation if you have a supervisor who won't actually support you as a senior mentor, especially as if you relatively recently finished your PhD you are very much an early-stage researcher.

When the MSCA is reviewed, they look for real details on how you will be "integrated" into the host institution. E.g. which research groups will you join, what is the formal supervisory structure, and what other supports will you get at the institution. This is a real question that the reviewers look at. So you will have to figure out what this will be when you are writing. Are you going to lie about how much support you will get? This seems to go against the spirit of the MSCA, as it is supposed to be a training fellowship and the reason these questions are looked at is because they want to see that you will have support. Do you really want to be in a situation where you don't have support? I think that's a question only you can answer, which is perhaps contingent on options for alternative supervisors

I am an early-stage researcher so would like to get some feedback, but at the same time I'm a fully independent researcher so wouldn't expect to have someone constantly guiding me and reading my work as during a PhD (which wasn't even the case). What I wonder is if it's a mistake to apply with a host institution that is a good match with my project but with a supervisor that - at least at this stage - doesn't seem to want any excessive involvement in the project. He said he'll integrate me in the activities of the Dept, which is good enough for me, but I wonder if it'd be good enough for the application.
Of course I don't want to lie, nor I think I need to since the host organisation would be the perfect place to carry out my research - I'm just quite insecure about the whole process and and the supervisor's involvement, it's my first time applying for a Marie Curie and I don't even know where to start!

Congrats on making it to the reserve list on the first try and fingers crossed for this year!