University of Pisa organizes training sessions for ERC applicants

Photo: University of Pisa LinkedIn page.

With Starting@UNIPI, the University of Pisa wants to increase the participation of young researchers in the Starting Grant of the European Research Council. The goal is to identify the best ideas and help the applicants to transform them into  competitive proposals for the ERC-StG-2024.

The call Starting@UNIPI was officially presented on Friday, February 10 during the event "Starting@UNIPI: la ricerca inizia da Pisa", dedicated to the ERC-Starting Grant call and held at "Le Benedettine" Conference Center in Pisa. The day's agenda, videos and presentations are available at this link.

The support will be given by a consulting agency selected by the University of Pisa and it will consists of an extensive and interacting review of:

• PI’s CV and scientific profile;
• Research idea and its presentation.

This support will be integrated with that given by the “Unità Promozione e Progettazione della Ricerca”.

Recipients are researchers who meet the requirements of the ERC-StG-2024 call and are interested in presenting a proposal choosing the University of Pisa as the host institution. It is not required to have an on-going contract with UNIPI.

Submission procedure
The application consists of:

1. an administrative form about the Principal Investigator (PI);
2. the CV of the PI (to be presented with a specific template);
3. the research idea, (to be presented with a specific template);
4. the "Letter of Commitment" from an UNIPI department, selected by the applicant, where to carry out his/her research activities.

All completed forms must be sent to [email protected] in pdf.

Proposal evaluation
The evaluation will be carried out by a committee consisting of expert reviewers on the three ERC domains. Up to a maximum of 15 proposals will be selected, of which a maximum of 5 will be reserved for researchers who, at the deadline of the present call, do not have an on-going contract with the University of Pisa. Proposals are evaluated based on the criterion of scientific excellence and the PI’s profile, in line with ERC-StG-2024 criteria.

Timelines

• Call opening: Monday, February 27, 2023
• Application deadline: Friday, April 7, 2023 11:59 p.m.
• Evaluation of applications: by May 2, 2023
• Start of support: late May - early June 2023

For the proposals funded by the ERC Starting grant with UNIPI as host institution

• The PI is eligible for a permanent position at the University of Pisa, according to the current legislation.
• The PI will be accompanied by the central office of “Servizi per la Ricerca” throughout the negotiation phase with the ERCEA and, subsequently, in the management and reporting of the project in collaboration with the host Department.

For the proposals admitted to the second step of the ERC-StG evaluation but not funded
The PI, if a RTDA/RTDB researcher or a professor at the University of Pisa, can apply to the BIHO call for alternative funding.

For information and submission of proposals
Unità Promozione e Progettazione della Ricerca
[email protected] 

Allegati:

•  Bando_StartingUNIPI_EN_1.pdf
•  Bando_StartingUNIPI_ITA_1.pdf
•  Allegato_1_Bando_StartingUNIPI_1.docx
•  Allegato_2_Bando_StartingUNIPI_1.docx

This article was first published on 27 February by University of Pisa.