Talk Academia

player wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 13, 2023 4:30 pm

michelef wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 13, 2023 12:08 pm

Currently there are ~120 guests... please register and share your experience!

Hi all,

Here is my MSCA experience hoping that maybe some future applicants find it helpful. I lurked a bit this forum last week, so I want to give something to the community.

I tried for first time in 2022 getting 3,8/3,8/4,4 (EF SOC) - I dedicated some weeks to the proposal with decent help from my host. I started in June, devoted little time in July and August and worked hard for 3-4 weeks before the deadline if I well remember. I got feedback from the reviewers and found it moderate at first glance, not as detailed as I expected.

I wasn't sure about if I wished to retry, I was busy until late June this year. Anyway, I decided to retry trying to follow the reviewers' comments and put as supervisor a more established scholar from the same institute (to address the comment that my initial supervisor had little experience with postdocs). I worked for 2 weeks in July 2022 and for 2-3 weeks before the deadline (10-15 hours a week; I'm freelancing, so it was tough to be fully on that). I made mostly technical changes clarifying the methodology, adding details on the skills section and polished the implementation section. The idea, institution, international collaborations, milestones and timeline were the same. I highlighted a bit 1-2 catchy points (according to my sense of trendiness anyway).
I wasn't very optimistic cause I scored low in my first try but got 4,7/4,8/4,8, earned the grant and still can't believe it.

My impression:
1) The reviewers’ feedback was valuable (maybe I was lucky, I have seen many applicants complaining about the quality of the comments).
2) The process isn’t exactly a lottery (I don’t think that someone can get this grant with a sloppy proposal) but luck plays a role with reviewers - in the 2023 ESR the reviewers loved the research idea while in 2022 they only recognized some originality in the topic [the idea was the same; I changed almost nothing in section 1.1]
3) It's hard to make a competitive application without continuous support from the host. I earned a couple of competitive grants in the past (so I wasn’t a novice), but felt that MSCA requires emphasis on some key points which don't exist in most applications and it's tough to know where to focus without good guidance. I received comments from two profs and two grant advisors. If the host doesn't help you continuously, look for another host.

This was my story in brief. Congrats to winners. Those of you who didn't win this time be strong and stay confident. Grant writing is tough. It's a pity that projects with excellent scores, even above 90/100 still don't earn funding, research makes this world more livable and interesting and EU should invest more on that.

liukank wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 13, 2023 5:38 pm

player wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 13, 2023 4:30 pm

michelef wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 13, 2023 12:08 pm

Currently there are ~120 guests... please register and share your experience!

Hi Liukank,
I am GF-SOC as well and on the reserve list. Can I ask you your total score?

Thank you for your story and huge congratulations! May I ask your total score? I'm in GF SOC and got 4,7/4,2/5 and am in reserve list with quite low chances to ever being called.

Didi wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 13, 2023 5:52 pm

liukank wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 13, 2023 5:38 pm

player wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 13, 2023 4:30 pm

Hi Liukank,
I am GF-SOC as well and on the reserve list. Can I ask you your total score?

Thank you for your story and huge congratulations! May I ask your total score? I'm in GF SOC and got 4,7/4,2/5 and am in reserve list with quite low chances to ever being called.

Pradeep89 wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 13, 2023 5:47 pm

EF-LIF with 86.6 in the reserve list. I am not sure if that even makes any sense. Why would EC put low scores like mine in the reserve list? Any thoughts?

Pradeep89 wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 13, 2023 5:47 pm

EF-LIF with 86.6 in the reserve list. I am not sure if that even makes any sense. Why would EC put low scores like mine in the reserve list? Any thoughts?