The ERC Interviews will be held in the months:
- April for the PE candidates,
- May for the LS candidates, and
- June for the SH candidates.
If invited for an interview your success rate is approximately 30%. You will receive your intermediary ranking within the panel after step 1 of the evaluation. The ranking provides you with marginal feedback on the quality of your proposal. Has the proposal ended high, for instance number 1, the challenge is to maintain this position during the interview. Or otherwise, if ranked lower, can you increase your chances at the interview.
At the time of the interview your full proposal has been reviewed by some of the panel members and some external reviewers. The interview is intended to weigh your abilities to lead and conduct the challenging proposal that you have submitted. Therefore you have to prepare your interview as best as you can.
The length of the presentation and interview vary per panel. In your second ERC invitation letter, the exact requirements of your panel are exactly stated. In most panels the presentation is 5 minutes and the questioning and answering time 20-25 minutes.
This 3-hour workshop helps you to prepare your interview from the moment you enter the building up to the moment you face the evaluation panel.
This workshop is offered as a 3 hour workshop for small groups to prevent competing candidates in the same training.
Each participant conducts a full interview and acts as member of the (mock) evaluation panel for the other candidates. The trainers make sure that no competing proposals are addressed in the same group.
Each participant has to give a presentation in conformity with his/her personal invitation letter from the ERC. After the presentation the trainers and the mock panel will have the opportunity to ask questions.
Subsequently, the trainers and the other members of the mock panel provide their feedback on how to improve the presentation and the answers. The result is that you’ll learn from the direct feedback on your own presentation and from the feedback given to others. Our experience with former interview trainings is that everyone benefits from this approach.
Training objectives
To know and understand what you can expect during the interview and to be maximally prepared.
Who should attend?
This workshop is open for those preparing themselves for an ERC interview in Brussels. Bring your own assistant free of charge who can participate as mock panel member.
Methodology
The training will be in English, with no translation. For individual appointments we will make a bilateral agreement on how the training will be conducted.
What do we need from you?
All participants are requested to send Yellow Research 1 week in advance of the training:
- a copy of the ERC letter;
- a pdf file of Part B1 and B2 of your proposal for confidential use by the trainers only; and
- a hand-out of the draft presentation
The proposal and draft presentation will be sent on a confidential basis to the trainers in order for them to prepare the training and the individual feedback.
The trainers provide feedback on: the presentation and the interview. They will highlight important aspects not well emphasized in the proposal and/or CV and any weak points in the proposal that need to be addressed.
Trainers
Lotte Jaspers and Mette Skraastad have extensive experience in pre-submission review of ERC starting and advanced grants. They have started with success to train candidates for their interview since the second call.
Their knowledge and experience in pre-submission review of ERC proposals is an important aspect of their success in this training.
Programme
The 3 hour sessions are scheduled from 9.00 to 12.00 or from 14.00 to 17.00. Please see the booking form (click on the blue button ‘Book this course’ on the top of this page) to check if your preferred time slot is available.
9.00/14.00 Short Introduction on the Interview
Individual training
Per participant 30-35 minutes are reserved for 5-10 minutes presentation and 10 minutes questions and answers followed by 15-20 minutes feedback. Other participants can attend as the “mock panel” if the presenter does not object. Between the participants is 3-5 minutes break so each participant can install his presentation.
10:30/15:30 10 minute break
Second presentation of each participant
12:00/17:00 Wrap up: Individual questions and answers
Course fee
Course fee for the workshop is 495,00 euro per participant, incl. course materials, coffee & tea and refreshments. In house training at your institution is available as a single day training for 3.275,00 excl. travel and subsistence.
Date, time, location
Date(s): 01 Jun 2012, or available as in-house event
Time: 9.00 – 12.00 OR 14.00 -17.00
Location: Yellow Research, Herengracht 495, 1017 BT, Amsterdam
Bookings
Click on the blue button ‘Book this course’ on the top of this page to book online or to download the booking form. For questions about this course, please contact Sarah Jones at jones[at]yellowresearch[dot]nl.