Talent@UniPD: Call Starting Grant 2024

The Talent @UniPD programme is a scouting initiative promoted by the University of Padua, which aims at identifying outstanding candidates for the “European Research Council - ERC Starting Grant 2024" call, funded under the European Commission Framework programme Horizon Europe, with deadline on 24 October, 2023.

Selected participants will be supported at each stage of their ERC proposal preparation and submission.

What does the ERC fund?

The ERC mission is to encourage the highest quality research in Europe through ambitious and competitive funding, and to support investigator-driven frontier research across all fields, on the basis of scientific excellence. Projects shall be written with a Host Institution of an EU Member State or Partner Country.

Who can apply?

The call is open to Principal Investigators (PIs), of any age and nationality, who have defended their first PhD thesis within a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 7 years prior to 1 January 2024. Extensions are possible, e.g. in case of maternity or paternity leave, long-term illness, national military service, clinical training, natural disaster, when seeking asylum.

What is the profile of an ERC Starting Grant Principal Investigator (PI)?

PIs are should have already shown evidence of potential for research independence and capacity to carry out original research, for example by having produced at least one important publication as main author or without the participation of their PhD supervisor in major international peer-reviewed scientific journals. The results obtained by the PI must be detailed in his/her CV.

Other recurring features of PIs funded by the ERC may consist in:

a record of invited presentations in well-established international conferences;
international prizes/awards;
research periods spent in top-rated institutions;
award of research grants as PI;
figures for bibliometric indicators (e.g. h-index, number of attracted citations, etc.), that are above average in the candidate's research field.

a record of invited presentations in well-established international conferences;

international prizes/awards;

research periods spent in top-rated institutions;

award of research grants as PI;

figures for bibliometric indicators (e.g. h-index, number of attracted citations, etc.), that are above average in the candidate's research field.

How to apply?

If your profile matches the above-mentioned requirements and you intend to choose the University of Padua as Host Institution for your ERC grant application, please fill in the application form available at this link https://forms.gle/21osiXWAnCdmrV5FA and submit it by June 5^th, 2023, 1 p.m. (Italian time zone), including the following documents:

All documents will be treated confidentially.

Any incomplete application and/or CV and track record that are non-compliant with the provided templates will not be considered.

CV and track record

Proposal of max. 4.000 characters (spaces included) of your project idea

‘Commitment of the PI’ form, duly signed

All documents will be treated confidentially.Any incomplete application and/or CV and track record that are non-compliant with the provided templates will not be considered.

What support is offered by the University of Padua International Research Office to selected candidates?

Successful participants, after approval from their hosting Department, will benefit from a variety of consulting services, at the different stages of their ERC Starting Grant 2024 application:

A) Proposal Writing

CV and project proposal enhancement through focused meetings with experts;
Support during each stage of the proposal preparation (part B1 and B2) and full review of draft proposal;
Budget definition and resources justification.

The candidate will be responsible for contacting the host Department with adequate advance to obtain the letter of commitment, signed by the Director of Department, in due time.

B) If your proposal is retained for step 2 of the ERC evaluation process and you are invited to the interview

Support in the interview preparation and mock interview coaching carried out in collaboration with a qualified expert team.

C) If you are funded by the ERC and carry out your project at UNIPD

You will be offered a variety of benefits, which are set according to the University current regulations.

You may be offered a tenure track position or permanent position at the University of Padua and a set of benefits determined by current regulations. The position offered to ERC awardees will be agreed with their Hosting Department.
You will be supported in the negotiation phase with ERCEA and in the management and reporting of the project, in cooperation with the Hosting Department.

D) If your project has received an "A" score, but it is not funded due to the limited budget of the ERC

The University of Padua offers the possibility to apply for alternative funding under the Supporting TAlent in ReSearch @University of Padua - STARS Grants Programme (Wild Cards category).

Successful participants, after approval from their hosting Department, will benefit from a variety of consulting services, at the different stages of their ERC Starting Grant 2024 application:A) Proposal Writing

CV and project proposal enhancement through focused meetings with experts;

Support during each stage of the proposal preparation (part B1 and B2) and full review of draft proposal;

Budget definition and resources justification.

The candidate will be responsible for contacting the host Department with adequate advance to obtain the letter of commitment, signed by the Director of Department, in due time.B) If your proposal is retained for step 2 of the ERC evaluation process and you are invited to the interview

Support in the interview preparation and mock interview coaching carried out in collaboration with a qualified expert team.

C) If you are funded by the ERC and carry out your project at UNIPDYou will be offered a variety of benefits, which are set according to the University current regulations.

You may be offered a tenure track position or permanent position at the University of Padua and a set of benefits determined by current regulations. The position offered to ERC awardees will be agreed with their Hosting Department.

You will be supported in the negotiation phase with ERCEA and in the management and reporting of the project, in cooperation with the Hosting Department.

D) If your project has received an "A" score, but it is not funded due to the limited budget of the ERCThe University of Padua offers the possibility to apply for alternative funding under the Supporting TAlent in ReSearch @University of Padua - STARS Grants Programme (Wild Cards category).