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

[AndyC]

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In my opinion, and based on my previous experience with two not-granted MSCA-IF and one granted MSCA-Cofund, the lucky factor is only a determinant factor when your proposal is excellent (a score around 90.0). Is there any magical solution to get a Marie Curie? Of course there is. There are three main factors: 1) The proposal itself; 2) the supervisor/host institution; and 3) the candidate.
Regarding the proposal, it must follow the same structure that reviewers are going to evaluate, which can be seen in a lot of different tutorials. It is because when they are reviewing the proposal, they have an evaluation sheet where they tick if you have provided the correct information they are looking for. It is fundamental that you spend the same time in the three parts, Excellence, Impact and Implementation. One common mistake is that people spend more time and effort in the Excellence part. In addition they will take into account that Excellence be related with one of the challenges of the H2020 program.
Supervisor and Host Institution. Before applying to a MSCA you need to select the Host Institution and Supervisor, which is one of the more important things for a successful Marie Curie. It doesn’t matter if the Host is the best institution of the world. It doesn’t matter if the Supervisor is a Nobel laureate. What matter is the commitment between the candidate and the host/supervisor. Evaluators need to see a very strong commitment, and this is very easy to evaluate in a proposal. Never forget that MSCA is a joint application. So I strongly recommend that you select a host/supervisor that is willing to work in the proposal. If you feel that this is not the case, just change your host/supervisor. Reviewers are going to evaluate this commitment.
The candidate. The CV does matter, but not by itself. They take into account if the CV reflects your ability to become a leader in a future, according to your current experience; it is your potential to take advantage of the fellowship. So you can get a MSCA with just one paper, or be rejected with a brilliant CV. The key here is that depending of your CV and experience they are waiting one thing or another. In the case of a less experienced researcher they probably expect that excellence and training be planned by the host. In the case of a more experienced researcher, they probably expect that candidate play a more active role in the proposal (Excellence). It is easy for reviewers to see if the Excellence was a proposal from the host or from the candidate.

If your proposal meets all these requirements, then you should be allowed to play the lottery. Only in this case, the luck is a crucial factor.

I like what you have said and I agree totally. I am lucky to have the evaluation sheet from the last year I am happy to share it with you Sorry for the quality but I had to compress it a lot to make it possible to put in the forum.. First the upper part so the Excellence. In the next post the rest.

[lifmc2020]

reading this was really great thanks AndyC!

[byo001]

Is there anyone experiencing inability to login to the EU platform especially the followup section?

[AnnaMC]

For me there is no such problem. However there is a notification reading: "We are currently experiencing instability with accessing and uploading of documents in COMPASS, GMS (Grant Management Services) and AMS (Audit Management Services). The issue is under investigation."

I don't think that this is related to us. But who knows!

Is there anyone experiencing inability to login to the EU platform especially the followup section?

[AnnaMC]

Thanks for this. It is about ticking all the boxes+ luck with the evaluators.

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I like what you have said and I agree totally. I am lucky to have the evaluation sheet from the last year I am happy to share it with you Sorry for the quality but I had to compress it a lot to make it possible to put in the forum.. First the upper part so the Excellence. In the next post the rest.

[lifmc2020]

we are getting close to 50 pages! how is everyone's anxiety today?

me I'm like this with my email, knowing we won't get the result today but still jumping every time it dings

[AnnaMC]

The worst (?) thing with "THE" email is that you see the result immediately, since it is in the subject area.

[Esbesp]

The worst (?) thing with "THE" email is that you see the result immediately, since it is in the subject area.

Could any of you share the email of last year please?? Avoiding personal data of course!! I am just curious to see what I'll get once it arrives. I have like 5 different accounts in my phone so I live with fear of finding myself rejected at any moment haha. Too soon for a G&T?

[Diatosystem]

Hi!

just a short question: does your proposal have the status "Final"?

Because mine has it, but I heard other people with "submitted" or "under evaluation" status. Do you know what does it means? Is it good or bad?

Thanks!

[IFCAR-2020]

Hi!

just a short question: does your proposal have the status "Final"?

Because mine has it, but I heard other people with "submitted" or "under evaluation" status. Do you know what does it means? Is it good or bad?

Thanks!

Did you see it in the section "My Proposal (s)"? or in the Follow-up action?

If it is in My Proposal, the status "final" means that you finished the submission.

Could you check it? Thanks