Webinar: How to Get Marie Curie Individual Fellowship

OnMay6th,EURAXESSChinahelditsfirstwebinartitled:HowtoGetMarieCurieIndividualFellowship.

The2020callforMarieSkłodowskaCurieActions(MSCA)IndividualFellowships(IF)hasopenedinAprilandwillacceptapplicantsuntilSeptember9th.EURAXESSChinaisgladtoprovidehelpandinstructionstoalltheChineseandEuropeanresearchersinterestedinthisopportunity.

The webinar started with comprehensive presentation by Halldor Berg, CountryRepresentativeofEURAXESSChina,whoprovidedanoverviewaboutEURAXESSandtheEuropean Research Area, before exploring in the fellowships offered by MSCA toindividualresearchers,therequirementsforapplicants,howtopreparetheapplications,whotorefertoreceiveadditionalsupport.

EURAXESSisaninitiativeoftheEuropeanCommission(EC),theexecutivebranchoftheEuropeanUnion.EURAXESShasahubinChina,whichhelpsresearchersbasedinChinatoconnectwithEurope,toreachEuropeaninstitutionsandtoreturntoEurope,andin

general supports andfacilitates mobilitytowardbothEuropeandChina.EURAXESSChinacancountonanetworkof4000people.

EURAXESS belongs tothe EuropeanResearch Area (ERA),which is a system ofscientific research

programmesintegrating theresources of the EUMember States (MSs)

andoftheassociatecountries.

ERArepresentsanexcellentarea for research,producing thehighest-quality researchoutputsintheworldandbeinghomeofnumerousNobelPrizewinners;it isalsoveryvastandcomplex.Againstthisbackground,EURAXESScanprovideguidancetonavigatethroughERA’sjungle.

EURAXESS has three main pillars: the portal, a network of centres and EURAXESSWorldwide.EURAXESSportalisawebsiteadministeredbytheEC,whichoffersalotofinformation,andhasthebiggestjobsandfundingplatforminthewholeworld.Itisagoodplacetostartlookingfornewopportunities.

ThecentresarelocatedalloverEuropeandsituatedineveryEUcountry,withtheaimtohelpresearcherscomingfromabroadfindtheirwayinEurope.ItisalsopossibletovisittheportalofaspecificEUcountryandfindtherelatedinformation.

Finally,EURAXESSWorldwidehasofficesincountriesaroundtheworldwhereresearchactivities are particularly significant. One of these is China,where an office has beenestablishedsince2009.ThepurposeofEURAXESSChinaistohelpChineseandEuropeanresearcherstomovebetweenEuropeandChina,supportEUresearchinstitutionstofindcounterpartsinChinaandviceversa,providetoolsandinformationtoobtainfundingandjobs,createopportunitiesfornetworking,sharingofintelligenceandexperiences.Thisisrealised through its website (https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/worldwide/china),publicationsandalsobyorganisingevents,suchasthe“ResearchersNights”.

Movingtothegrants, theyarebuiltontwopillars: the initiativeswhichfallundertheschemeofHorizon2020(H2020),andtheupcomingHorizonEuropestartingfrom2021;thefundingschemesofalltheindividualEUMSsandassociatedcountries.

H2020 is largest funding scheme existing in the world, but it is relatively small ifcomparedtotheschemedoftheindividualcountriescombined.PartofthisschemearetheindividualgrantsofprogrammeslikeMSCAandoftheEuropeanResearchCouncil(ERC);institutionscollaborationsbasedonnetworksliketheResearchandInnovationStaffExchange(RISE),largeH2020projects,andtheChina-EUco-fundingmechanism.

The ERC represents the ground breaking idea for researchers, including youngresearchers at the beginning of their career. MSCA is one of the biggest fundingprogrammes, which has funded more than 130,000 researchers so far. It supportsworldwideandcross-sectormobilitythatimplementsexcellentresearchinanyfield.TwodifferentfellowshipsarecoveredbytheMSCAIF:

- EuropeanFellowships:designedtosupportinternationalmobilitywithinorintoEurope, dedicated to experienced researchersof anynationality andprovidingfundingforresearchersandinstitutions;

- Global Fellowships: meant for European nationals or long-term residentsmovingfromEuropetoathirdcountryandback.

TheMSCAfocusonthreepillars:training,careerdevelopmentandmobility.Fouraretheprogrammesthatfallundertheseactions:RISE,InnovativeTrainingNetworks,Cofund,andIF.ThewebinarcontinuedexploringtheIFprogramme.

TheMSCAIF iscurrentlyopenandapplicationscanbesubmitteduntilSeptember9th2020. It is designed for individual researcherswhohold a PhD at themoment of theapplication–thereforeonlyexperiencedresearchersareeligible;thereisnoagelimitorexperiencelimitforapplicants.

The application is submitted jointly with an institution, and cannot be submittedwithoutthiscondition.Intheresearcher’spreparationoftheapplication,thefirststepis

therefore to identify the institutionwilling to host him/her. If theapplication is successful, the IF willcoverone-ortwo-yearfullfellowshiptodoresearchintheEU.

Theapplicantneedstocomplytothemobility rule,meaning he/shemustmove into a different country to theone where he/she is based. Theapplicantcannotchooseascountryofdestination that inwhichhe/shehasmore than 12 months during thepreviousthreeyears.

TheGlobalFellowshipsaremostlydedicatedforEUresidentstomovetotherestofworld.Throughthisscheme,ChineseinstitutionscanattractresearchersfromtheEU,underthatconditionthatthefellowswillreturntoEuropeforaperiodofoneyear.

TheEuropeanFellowshipswerethemainfocusofthewebinar,beingtheoneofmajorinterest to Chinese researchers. They support mobility into Europe, or from one EUcountrytoanotherone.

ChineseresearcherscanapplytotheMSCAIFfromChina,asthewholeprocessisonline.The first step would be to decide where they want tomove within the EUMSs andassociatecountriesandfindaninstitutioninthatcountrytosupporttheirapplication.Itisadvisabletostartcontactinginstitutionswithwhichtheapplicantalreadyhasdirectofindirectconnection.Otherwise,theapplicantneedstodosomenetworkingjobandusesocialskillstofindaninstitutiontosupportitsapplication.

Colleaguescanrepresentaresourceofconnectionstostartfrom,butothertoolsexist.Forexample,theEURAXESShostingdatabasecanbeusedtoselecttheinstitutionswillingtohostIFfellowsbasedonthecountryandresearchareaofinterest.

EURAXESS China is happy to support this process and also disseminates informationfromEuropeaninstitutionswishingtohostChineseresearchersthroughthisprogramme.Asamatteroffact,theinstitutionsparticipatingintheMSCAIFreceivefundingfromtheEUtohostresearchersandthereforebenefitfromit.Theinstitutionwillsignacontractwiththeresearcherandpayhim/herdirectly.Hostinginstitutionsincludeprivateandpublicuniversity,noprofitresearchorganisations,butalsonon-academic institutions,such as companies, NGOs, hospitals, etc. The portal is accessible by clicking here:https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/hosting/search/field_is_eu_founded/h2020-marie-sk%C5%82odowska-curie-actions-867

Thereare fourtraditionalpanels toapply,plusanewly introducedone;mostof theattendeeswillprobablyapplythroughthefirstpanel:thestandardEF.

- ThereintegrationpanelismeantforthosewillingtoreturntotheEUfromathirdcountry;

- The society and enterprise panel is for those who apply with non-academicinstitutions.

- Thewideningfellowshipisthenewestandisdedicatedtocountriesthattendtobelessattractive.TheaimofthispanelistohelpspreadexcellenceandclosetheresearchandinnovationgapwithinEurope.Thesecountriesgetextrafundingandapplicantshaveahighersuccessratetoobtainthefellowship.

Secondments are also a possibility during the European and Global fellowships:researcherscanworkparttimeforafewmonthsinanotherinstitutionsforaperiodofuptothreeorsixmonthsdependingonhowlongthefellowshipis.Boththemainhostandsecondinstitutionneedtobepartoftheapplication.

TheMSCAIFapplicationismorethanajustresearchproject:excellenceisnottheonlyelementconsideredintheevaluation.ThepurposeofIFincludesalsotheresearcher’smobilityandtraining.Theseelementsneedtobeconsideredandwellexplainedinthewritingoftheapplication,becausetheywillbepartofthe

Thesalaryoffered isquitecompetitive,butoneneeds toremember that thenumbersindicatedarewithouttaxes,anddifferentcountriesapplydifferenttaxes,sothenetsalary

variesaccordingtothelocaltaxsystem.Inaddition,otherallowancesareavailabilitytosupportmobilityandfamilyrelocation.

Thehost institutionsreceivefundingtosupportresearch,trainingandnetworkingforthefellowsandtocovermanagementandoverheadcosts.

Theapplicationconsistsoftenpageswhichneedtoelaborateonthreemainelements:excellence,impact,implementation.Fivemorepagesarededicatedtotheresearcher’sCVandthefinaltablesaretobefilledbythehostorganisations.

The submission is only and everything can be accessed via EU participant portal:https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/msca-if-2020.

On the participants portal, a guide for applicants is available, also including proposaltemplates. It can be accessed under the “H2020 Calls” section by looking forH2020-MSCA-IF-2020;fromthepagethanopens,theapplicantneedstoclick“Conditionsanddocuments”ontheleft-sidemenu.Theguidewillbeunderpointnumberfive.

Theapplicationisformedbytwopartsasshownbelow:

PartBisthemajorpartoftheapplication,including10pagesabouttheresearchproject.After thesubmission, theapplicationwillbeevaluatedby threeexperts in the fieldofcompetence,belongingtooneoftheeightdisciplinarypanelsestablished:

- Chemistry;- Physics;- Mathematics;- LifeSciences;- EconomicSciences;- InformationSciencesandEngineering;- SocialSciencesandHumanities;- EnvironmentandGeosciences.

It is useful to consider which panel the applicant would like the application to bereviewedby,especiallywhenpreparinganinterdisciplinaryproject.Intheevaluation,excellencewill count up to 50%; impact up to 30% and implementation up to 20%;therefore,noneofthesepartscanbeforgottentoobtainagoodevaluation.Thesectionscouldbeelaboratedinfivepages,threepagesandtwopagesrespectively.

It is good to know that any applicationwill be evaluated and applicants will alwaysreceiveafeedback,evenifnotsuccessful.Thiscandefinitelybeapluswhenapplyingforasecondtime.

The section about impact is related to the potential effect on the society and on theapplicant’sresearchcareer;theimplementationsectionneedstoshowhowcoherentandeffectiveistheworkplanandhowrealisticisthedevelopmentplan.

TheresultsoftheapplicationsarenormallypublishedaroundFebruaryofthefollowingyear.SuccessfulapplicantswillbeabletosigntheircontractsbyMay2021andstartinJune.ItisalsopossibletopostponethebeginninguntilMay2022.

Finally,applicantswhowillnothavebeenselectedcantryagainin2021.Itisadvisabletosubmittheapplicationandgetafeedback,toeventuallytryasecondtime.

Thesuccess rate is normally between15 and18%, but Chinese applicants aremoresuccessful,witharateofalmost24%,whichhasbeenincreasinginthelastyear.

FurtherhelpcanalsobeprovidedbyNet4mobility:anetworkthatwillhelpapplicantsfrom the country of destination. The National Contact Points could go over theapplicationsandprovidefeedbackonhowtomakeitbetterbeforethesubmission.Theycanrelyonexpertsandproveextremelyhelpful.

ThepresentationwasfollowedbythetestimonyfromDrHuangHe,MSCAFellowatLudwigMaximilian University of Munich. Dr Huang shared insights of his experiences both asapplicant,aswellasresearcherlivingandworkinginGermany.