Project preparation schedule

24-18 months before a potential deadline

• familiarise yourself with the current ERC Work programme, the Information for Applicants, the Guide for Reviewers for the given call and type of grant, and the evaluation criteria (in the section Apply for a grant under each call)
  
  
• watch the how-to videos of the ERC Classes
• find out about your potential panel and its current and past members (search here)
  
  
• scan through the FAQs on the ERC website
• find out what support your home or host institution offers
  
  
• get acquainted with successful projects (at the CAS and in general)

Every year in autumn (mid) November)

• visit the National Information Day for ERC Grants – you will get information about ERC projects, the project structure, the evaluation process, etc.

18 to 12 months before the deadline

• start writing the 1^st draft
  
  
• present parts of your project and get feedback from academic colleagues and laypeople (experts from other disciplines), consult, and improve your CV, track record (e.g., the CAS librarians can help prepare the list of publications, citation quotient, etc.)

by April in the year of the call´s deadline

• have a precise draft of the project, abstract, CV and track record ready by April to apply for the workshops with the Expert Group
  
  
• prepare a presentation – consult the graphic, visual and linguistic aspects
  
  
• try to present in front of experts and laypeople (make a video recording)

Every year in spring (application in April, workshops in May, June, September)

• sign up for preparatory workshops organised by the Expert Group (EG) to support applicants in ERC calls:
  
  
  • 1^st workshop: five-minute presentation of the main research idea, the project and you as a researcher (see two documents Workshop: How to present your proposal and Evaluation criteria)
    
    
  • 2^nd workshop: practice evaluation of project proposals and discussion with ERC grantees (the applicant will try out the role of an evaluator, then one project within each scientific area is discussed)
    
    
  • 3^rd workshop: feedback on part B1 of the applicant's project proposal (discussion with EG)
    
    
• If you are not accepted to the workshops, it is not an obstacle to applying for a grant!

Submission of the project itself

• get acquainted with the detailed instructions in the ERC grants presentation (pp.17-28)
• reconsider submission in view of the risks of poor evaluation

1^st Round of Evaluation and Results

• familiarise yourself with the timeline and progress of project evaluation in the Information for Applicants brochures for each type of grant (Apply for grant on the ERC website)

Mock interviews

• for those who have advanced to the 2^nd round of the evaluation of their projects, the Expert Group prepares mock interviews for applicants for Starting, Consolidator and Advanced grants
• familiarise yourself with the supporting materials Mock interviews: What to consider when preparing your presentation a Mock interview: Examples of questions (both are here)

2^nd – 3^rd round of evaluation – interviews

• according to the type of grant and the schedule and progress of project evaluation in the Information for Applicants brochures for individual types of grants (Apply for grant on the ERC website)