Postdoctoral Research with an MSCA-IF

Dr Susanne Rentzow-VasuREGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE EURAXESS ASEAN

E: asean@euraxess.net

MSCA - Individual Fellowships

• A personal fellowship to support a period of mobility

• For Experienced Researchers• Post-PhD or equivalent• No upper age or experience limit

• Fully-funded fellowships• Salary, research costs etc.

• Academic or non-academic host

Research & career development

• 1. Scientific excellence

• 2. Interdisciplinary skills

• 3. Inter-sectoral mobility

• Secondments possible to and from the non-academic sector: 3 – 6months

• Can spend up to 6 months (in total) working in anotherorganisation (ideally in another sector) in Europe.

• Opportunity to link with industry, NGO, public sector,national archive etc.

• 4. Networking

Eligibility criterion 1: Qualification

Question: What does ‘research experience’ mean?

Time you have spent conducting research in afull-time position after completion of youruniversity degree that entitles you to read for aPhD. In most countries this is the Masterdegree. However, depending on country thismay also be a Bachelor degree. You must beable to document that the work you havecarried out was research, for example,employment contract, lab results, researchoutput.

Eligibility criterion 2: Mobility

Individual Fellowships: Outgoing & Incoming

European fellowships: Global fellowships:

&

Individual Fellowships: European Fellowships

Mobility rule:

Max. 1 year in last 3

years in host country

• For Experienced

Researchers (ERs) of

any nationality

coming to or moving

within Europe

• Mobility rule applies

• 12-24 months

Mobility to / from …

28 EU Members

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,

Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic,

Denmark, Estonia, Germany,

Greece, Finland, France,

Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia,

Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta,

Netherlands, Poland, Portugal,

Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia,

Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom

16 Associated Countries

Albania, Armenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, FYROM, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Liechtenstein, Moldova,

Montenegro, Norway, Serbia,

Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine

Categories of

eligible costs

Marie Skłodowska-Curie action

Costs of researcherPER MONTH

Institutional costsPER MONTH

Living allowance

(a)

Mobility allowance

(b)

Family allowance

(c)

Research, training and networking

costs(a)

Management and indirect

costs(b)

IF(100%)

4 650 600 500 800 650

• Fellow’s Salary = Living Allowance + Mobility Allowance (+ Family Allowance)

• Estimated Gross Salary (prior to employee’s tax, social security and pension deductions)

• €55,000 p.a. (no family allowance)

• €60,000 p.a. (with family allowance)

• Excellence1

• Impact2

• Implementation3

• Researcher’s CV (5 pages max)4

• Capacities of the host(s) - Tables5

• Ethics issues6

• Letters of Commitment (GF only)7

10 pagesmax

Criterion Weighting Priority(ex-aequo)

Excellence 50% 1

Impact 30% 2

Implementation 20% 3

Evaluation Criteria

Overall threshold of 70%No individual thresholds

Individual Fellowships: Evaluation panels

8 Scientific (+3 multidisciplinary) Panels:

▪ Proposals are evaluated in 8 (+3) panels

(+ Career Restart Panel, Reintegration

Panel, Society & Enterprise Panel, only for

European Fellowships)

▪ Separate ranking list

for each panel

Individual Fellowships: European Fellowships

▪ ER applies jointly with a host

institution for funding of a research

project

▪ Host institution located in a European

Member State (MS) or Associated

Country (AC)

▪ Host Institution recruits the

Experienced Researcher (ER)

and appoints the supervisor

EF – How does it work?

Question: Can I have two postdoc contracts at the same time?

No.

The flexible starting date allows successfulapplicants to serve complete contractualobligations before starting the fellowship.

Individual Fellowships: Success rate!

(IF 2016) ~1300 grants distributed, average success rate 14%

Other Postdoctoral Fellowship Opportunitiesin MSCA

Apply for a PhD or Postdoctoral Fellowship in a MSCA-funded Research Consortium

• EC-funded research consortia in variousscientific disciplines

• Dedicated to training next generation ofscientific experts in specific fields

• PhD opportunities and PostdoctoralFellowships on offer

Application

MSCA Individual Fellowships (MSCA-IF)

1 Call per yearBudget per call ~500 million EUR

Next call opening in April 2020 with deadline September 2020

Application via online application tool (Participant Portal)

MSCA Funded PhD and Postdoc Fellowships

Several Calls throughout the year

Application directly with the research consortium

All open calls advertised on EURAXESS Jobs

Examples: Dr Lai Zon WengMarie Curie Fellow at Freiburg University inGermany from 2013- 2016.Since 2016, a Research Associate with HarvardT.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, US.Says that „ The international recognition I receiveas a MSCA Fellow is very positive. Given that thisis probably the most competitive and prestigiousaward in Europe, it opens up many doors andopportunities to meet and collaborate with someof the big players in my research field. Inaddition, I have received invitations to speak atrenowned international meetings.”

Preparing an IF application

Getting started

Preparing an IF application

Getting started

- Finding the Call for Application -

The proposal has to be submitted online via theHorizon 2020 Participant Portal. All communicationtakes places via this platform!

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/

To find the call: Type MSCA-IF in keyword search

For help with the submission see: How to submit an IF proposal tutorial

Preparing an IF application

Getting started

- Finding a Host -

25

HOW?

Individual Fellowships: Finding a Host

• Joint preparation:between the fellow (ER)and the Host Institution(supervisor: mentoringthe ER during his / herrecruitment period – ECContact Person)

• A researcher (ER) canonly submit oneproposal to oneimplementation mode.INDIVIDUAL

FELLOWSHIP

HOST INSTITUTION

FELLOW

SUPERVISOR

Remember! Individual Fellowships are a joint effort.

27

How to find an European host for your research stay

• Personal Contacts

• Congress Attendance

• Project Collaborations / Projects

• Internet Resources

• Job Fairs

• EURAXESS portal

• Net4Mobility+ Specific countries’ Expressions of Interest

Finding a host using personal contacts:

- ask your current supervisor or people from your institution to make a first contact – potential supervisors normally read e-mails from colleagues

- try to attend conferences and do networking (you do not need to be a speaker)

- use professional online research networks (e.g. ResearchGate), follow people and have a meaningful profile (supervisors check those websites)

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Finding a host using personal contacts:

• Choose Institution with more experience

• Contact your future supervisor

• Explain your motivation

• Highlight your added-value

• Agree upon proposal development stages, and practical arrangements

• Organise a visit

• Be Pro-active

Finding a host on the EURAXESS Portal:

Finding a host on the Net4Mobility+:

• Expressions of Interest (EoI) by European countries / European research institutions

• https://www.net4mobilityplus.eu/

Question: Does my host university need to be among the top 10?

No. It is more important to demonstrate thatthe host university offers the right environmentfor you to successfully complete your project.- Does it have the equipment you need?- Does it have experience in hosting MSCA

Fellows?- Does it have special mentoring programmes?- How does my profile fit with the university.

Question: Does my supervisor need to be highly accomplished?

It is important to demonstrate that the potentialsupervisor and you are a good match for you tosuccessfully complete your project.- Does s/he have experience in mentoring

postdocs (MSCA Fellows)?- Is s/he committed to the research project?- Is s/he involved in other successful research

collaborations?- Remember: very senior researchers are often

pressed for time with may commitments

Preparing an IF application

Tipps & Advice

Individual Fellowships: Important documents

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/other/guides_for_applicants/h2020-guide-appl-msca-if_en.pdf

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/wp/2016_2017/main/

h2020-wp1617-msca_en.pdf

Education

and Culture

Excellence Impact Implementation

Quality, innovative aspects

and credibility of the

research (including

inter/multidisciplinary

aspects)

Enhancing research- and

innovation-related human

resources, skills and working

conditions to realise the

potential of individuals and to

provide new career

perspectives

Overall coherence and

effectiveness of the work

plan, including

appropriateness of the

allocation of tasks and

resources

Clarity and quality of

transfer of

knowledge/training for the

development of researcher in

light of the research

objectives

Effectiveness of the proposed

measures for communication

and results dissemination

Appropriateness of the

management structures

and procedures, including

quality management and

risk management

Quality of the supervision

and the hosting arrangements

Appropriateness of the

institutional environment

(infrastructure)

Capacity of the researcher

to reach or re-enforce a

position of professional

maturity in research

Competences, experience

and complementarity of

the participating

organisations and

institutional commitment

Answer ALL the questions indicated in the application form

Question: How much time do I dedicate to each evaluation criterion?

Try to work along the lines of the weight of eachcriterion i.e. Excellence 50%, Impact 30%,Implementation 20%.

Be sure to be as precise as possible in your proposali.e. “the impact of my research will be x,y,z…”

Remember that you have only 10 pages! Uponsubmission your proposal will be turned into a PDFand the evaluator does not get to see anythingbeyond page 10!

Question: How specific do I have to be in outlining result dissemination measures?

Try to be as specific as you can. Instead of justmentioning ‘journal publications’ and ‘conferences’,mention specific journal titles and specificconferences. Do try and describe specific outreach /dissemination measures.Do keep in mind the EU’s push for open accesspublications.

Your proposal must be written in order to resolve European problems identified in EU policies

Take a look at the Horizon 2020 website to understand the issues the funding programme aims to address. Can your research project help address some of these?

Useful tips and hints

Useful tips and hints

Fellowships will be awarded to the most talented researchers as shown by their ideas and their track record, where it is a fair indicator given their level of experience.

CV presentation in 5 pages. Do not invent anything but make sure you list all your relevant skills and achievements.

Useful tips and hints

How will the fellowship be beneficial for both the fellowand host-s?

What is the commitment of beneficiary and partner organization-s to the programme?

Useful tips and hints

Present the host and supervisor skills and research competencies, but also tutoring

Focus on enhancing collaborations among participants and organisations

Useful tips and hints

Use standard and concise English

Make the text clear, well structured, and fluent

Plan an index, use short paragraphs, point out key passages, schematise the concepts

Insert only information relevant to the project

…

Eleven centres and research groups active in andrology and medical sexology have been selected: Leuven (B), Muenster (D), Leipzig (D), Barcelona (E), Rome (I), Florence (I) (these biomedical centres also have interdisciplinary connections with psychological and

psychosexological research groups and inter sectorial connections with research groups in the sectors of sociology and science of communication; complementary training described in point B2.1 will be organised in these Centres); Malmoe (S), Manchester (UK), Giessen (D), Tartu (EE), Lodz (PL) (centres with clinical and bio-molecular facilities). See also point B3 with the individual Centres description.As previously noted, these centres are already linked by a common training project under the EAA. This new research and training project will be able to make use of an already effective network. Also inserted in the Network will be the companies most involved in producing the latest generation products active in the andrological field: Serono, Organon, Ferring, Sigma Tau producing hormones and drugs proposed for therapy male infertility, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Bayer, and GSK, manufacturers of various type 5 phosphodiesterase inhibitors acting on erectile dysfunction, Johnson & Johnson, manufacturer of the forthcoming selective inhibitor of the serotonin reuptake, specifically aimed at treating premature ejaculation, Schering and Solvay, manufacturers of new testosterone formulations with innovative, specific administration methods dedicated to age-related forms of hypogonadism. Part of the complementary training describe in point B2.1 will be organised by experts from these pharmaceutical companies.List of involved CentresMalmö (S), University of Lund, Department of Urology Malmö, Chairman Prof. Aleksander Giwercman Manchester (UK), Department of Endocrinology, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Chairman Prof. Frederick Wu Tartu (EE), Department of Urology, Tartu University Hospital, Chairman Prof. Margus Punab Leuven (B), Department of Endocrinology, University Hospital, Chairman Prof. Dirk Vanderschueren Muenster (D), Institute of Reproductive Medicine University of Munster, Chairman Prof. Eberhard Nieschlag Giessen (D), Department of Dermatology, Justus-Liebig University of Giessen, Chairman Prof. Andreas Meinhardt Leipzig (D), Department of Andrology and Dermatology, University of Leipzig, Hans-Juergen Glander Lodz (PL), Department of Andrology and Reproductive Endocrinology, Medical University of Lodz, Chairman Prof. Krzysztof Kula Barcelona (E), Fundacion Puigvert Andrology Service, Clinica de la Santa Creu, Chairman Prof. Osvaldo RajmilRome (I), Department of Medical Physiopathology, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Co-Chairmen Prof. Andrea Lenzi and Prof. Franco Dondero

LATEST TIPS....

Better one table than thousand words…

HOW TO WRITE A WINNING PROPOSAL FOR INDIVIDUAL FELLOWSHIPS (IF) EVIDENCE FROM EVALUATION SUMMARY REPORTS

Read this!!

Question: Where can I get support?

Contact the National Contact point in the country ofyour host institution

Make sure to work closely with the Grants Officeand/or Research Support Office at your host institution(i.e. get help with developing your budget, answerethics questions etc.)

Remember: MSCA-IF are highly prestigious anduniversities want to secure as many fellows aspossible!

Online resources

MSCA website:

http://ec.europa.eu/msca

MSCA on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Marie.Curie.Actions

Participant Portal:

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/

EURAXESS European Researchers Mobility Portal:

http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess/