2021 Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (HE-MSCA-PF-2021)

[liukank]

Hi all, I am stuck at the very beginning of the application form. There are three options to choose from for what my role is: Supervisor (main contact person), Contact person, Researcher. I am a researcher (a postdoc) and not a supervisor (which presumably is the potential boss from the host institution), but also I thought for this application the researcher/postdoc is the main contact person submitting the application. So what's this about, what should I select?

Also, any tips on the scope of the proposal, how ambitious it should be? For example, in terms of the number of publications (published articles) for a STEM project what are their expectations? (It would be lovely to know upfront if I should even bother.)

Also, do you write part B by writing "I plan to... I published..." or "Candidate plans to... Candidate published..."?

Write in first person always and try to make things sound as more real, like, "I will..." instead of "I plan..." That gives the idea you are confident about your project, it is something real, you just need the money to make it happen.

As for publications, regardless of your field, they will evaluate according to your years of experience. For instance, how many publications an average postdoc after two years of viva normally have? So it really depends on your stage of career, but from my experience, if you sell yourself well in your project, the number of publications doesn't matter much.

You select your role (researcher). There are many options because the application can be placed by your supervisor or the contact person of your host university. Normally candidates are those uploading and doing all the work, but they consider that, since an official commitment is needed from your host institution, they could/should be the ones forwarding the application.

[Sleek_IF]

I scored 4.2, 4.9 and 4.2. So yes, especially in impact, I am keeping a lot of things. But I am trying to improve everything. And now there are new templates as well. So there is even more room for changes and improvements.

Lets hope for the best.

How is it possible that you scored that high and didn't get the fellowship??? I think I am gonna faint...

I scored 4.8,4.8 and 3.8 .. still waiting in reserve list

Hi guys. Please I would need some clarification. If I organise a worship e.g hands-on on instrument usage and on journal writing, are these activities considered deliverables? Also, is the development of career development plan a milestone or deliverable?

[mscafever]

Hello everyone!

This is my first time applying for the Marie Curie. Am I the only one confused about what should go into the Gantt chart?

My biggest question is: are dissemination activities considered Milestones or Research Outputs as defined by the MSCA template?

The way I see it, dissemination activities (publications, conference papers, etc) are Research Output as defined by the template thus should not be included in the Gantt chart, BUT the person from the host institution helping me with the application told me that all the dissemination activities should go into the gantt chart. This person has been really helpful on various fronts but is not used to the MSCA format, therefore I am left torn with doubts. The thing is that if I do include all the dissemination activities in the gantt chart, it will become sensibly bigger and I will thus have to make cuts in the narrative I would not be happy about. On the other hand, if they are indeed considered Milestones, they do have to feature the Gantt chart.

In the context of my project, I do have milestones (collecting data especially) but I don't see research articles as being milestones since getting an article out takes months if not years and therefore do not qualify, imho, as " the achievement of a key result, allowing the next phase of the work to begin" (the definition of Milestone from the template). Am I completely wrong about this?

If that helps, my project belongs to the social sciences / humanities panel.

I'd be grateful for any tips or insights!

[liukank]

Hello everyone!

This is my first time applying for the Marie Curie. Am I the only one confused about what should go into the Gantt chart?

My biggest question is: are dissemination activities considered Milestones or Research Outputs as defined by the MSCA template?

The way I see it, dissemination activities (publications, conference papers, etc) are Research Output as defined by the template thus should not be included in the Gantt chart, BUT the person from the host institution helping me with the application told me that all the dissemination activities should go into the gantt chart. This person has been really helpful on various fronts but is not used to the MSCA format, therefore I am left torn with doubts. The thing is that if I do include all the dissemination activities in the gantt chart, it will become sensibly bigger and I will thus have to make cuts in the narrative I would not be happy about. On the other hand, if they are indeed considered Milestones, they do have to feature the Gantt chart.

In the context of my project, I do have milestones (collecting data especially) but I don't see research articles as being milestones since getting an article out takes months if not years and therefore do not qualify, imho, as " the achievement of a key result, allowing the next phase of the work to begin" (the definition of Milestone from the template). Am I completely wrong about this?

If that helps, my project belongs to the social sciences / humanities panel.

I'd be grateful for any tips or insights!

First thing you should do is to separate your project in work packages. Try to have at least 4. When you do this, dissemination definitely has to be a word package, therefore it has to be in your Gantt chart. Other work packages can be training, collecting data... Don't underestimate this part, I did it last year and scored low just because of it.
For each work package you should have a number of tasks, then you could have deliverables and/or milestones. In the end I think it is more of a personal choice how you interpret each, but you have to have a few of each.
I don't know where is your host institution, but if you go to the UK's NCP web page you will find a lot of material such as slides and video presentations where they give tips on how to write the proposal. The seminar of the 7th of September has a part where the lady talks especially about how to manage this part of the application to humanities applicants. However, searching for your local NCP definitely helps if your host is not familiar with the call.

[Ciba]

Hello all!

I was wondering if anyone has found a list of Deliverables for this year?

A dissemination and exploitation plan is mentioned in a foot note and I guess a final report will be due too, although it is not mentioned.
But I found no mention of the Career development plan from last year?
I thought it would be good idea to include all those given deliverables in the Gantt chart.

[mscafever]

Hello everyone!

This is my first time applying for the Marie Curie. Am I the only one confused about what should go into the Gantt chart?

My biggest question is: are dissemination activities considered Milestones or Research Outputs as defined by the MSCA template?

The way I see it, dissemination activities (publications, conference papers, etc) are Research Output as defined by the template thus should not be included in the Gantt chart, BUT the person from the host institution helping me with the application told me that all the dissemination activities should go into the gantt chart. This person has been really helpful on various fronts but is not used to the MSCA format, therefore I am left torn with doubts. The thing is that if I do include all the dissemination activities in the gantt chart, it will become sensibly bigger and I will thus have to make cuts in the narrative I would not be happy about. On the other hand, if they are indeed considered Milestones, they do have to feature the Gantt chart.

In the context of my project, I do have milestones (collecting data especially) but I don't see research articles as being milestones since getting an article out takes months if not years and therefore do not qualify, imho, as " the achievement of a key result, allowing the next phase of the work to begin" (the definition of Milestone from the template). Am I completely wrong about this?

If that helps, my project belongs to the social sciences / humanities panel.

I'd be grateful for any tips or insights!

First thing you should do is to separate your project in work packages. Try to have at least 4. When you do this, dissemination definitely has to be a word package, therefore it has to be in your Gantt chart. Other work packages can be training, collecting data... Don't underestimate this part, I did it last year and scored low just because of it.
For each work package you should have a number of tasks, then you could have deliverables and/or milestones. In the end I think it is more of a personal choice how you interpret each, but you have to have a few of each.
I don't know where is your host institution, but if you go to the UK's NCP web page you will find a lot of material such as slides and video presentations where they give tips on how to write the proposal. The seminar of the 7th of September has a part where the lady talks especially about how to manage this part of the application to humanities applicants. However, searching for your local NCP definitely helps if your host is not familiar with the call.

Tremendously grateful for all the tips, you really helped me visualise how that thing should look like. and also txs for mentioning all the NCP resources! I've had such a hard time finding resources designed for projects in the humanities.

[mscaasdfg]

Once you start the application, can you go back to edit the project name or at least the abstract?

It is so frustrating not being able to see the rest of the application before writing the abstract!

Thanks for the replies to my previous question!

[mscafever]

Does anyone know about whether or not to have been working remotely for several months (due to Covid) will be considered for the mobility? Is it possible to justify that We have got stuck more than we should have in a given County ?

Cheers,

yes you can by editing the forms available under the 'proposal form' section (not the most intuitive, I was confused at the beginning too)

best of luck!!

[Lottery Holder]

Does anyone encounter the problem of system failure when Clicking the "edit forms" button?
As list below,

An error has occurred while processing your request, please try again
ERROR: Form not processed due to: 202110021153009 T_UNKOWN_ERROR.

Cheers.

[liukank]

Does anyone encounter the problem of system failure when Clicking the "edit forms" button?
As list below,

An error has occurred while processing your request, please try again
ERROR: Form not processed due to: 202110021153009 T_UNKOWN_ERROR.

Cheers.

YESS!! Is happening with me right now!! I left a lot on information out because there are some things that my host should answer and when I came back today it was like this. Could it be a general system error? I will wait for Monday and see if it's working again, otherwise will just delete the application and start all over again.