Proposal,grantandCVwri2ng

1C.Ceccarelli‐IPAG

C.CeccarelliIns2tutedePlanétologieetAstrophysiquedeGrenoble

TYPESOFPROPOSALS

2C.Ceccarelli‐IPAG

1‐Proposalstoobserveattelescopes:22mesperyearandpertelescopeUsually<2pagesofscien2ficcase+technicalsheet

2‐Proposalstogetmoney:UsuallyonceperyearNa2onalagencies:dependingonthecountrytherecouldbemoresourcesoffunding(inFrance:Na2onalFrenchAgency,bilateralfunding,Na2onalProjects…)Europeanagencies:FP7ITN(Ini2alTrainingNetwork)orInfrastructures..ERC‐EG(EuropeanResearchCouncilEarlyGrants)orESF(EuropeanScienceFounda2on)networks…Usually>10pages

3‐Proposalstogetaposi8on(fellowshiporpermanent):UsuallyonceperyearNa2onalandEuropeanAgencies(likeabove)+MarieCuriefellowships(nowforadvancedPost‐Docs)

WHATYOUNEEDTOKNOWABOUTCOMMITTEES

3C.Ceccarelli‐IPAG

Commibeesarecomposedofhumanbeings.1‐Asmosthumanbeings,commibeemembershavetheirownopinionsandidiosyncrasies,andtheymaybewrong.Some2mestheopiniondivergealsowithinthepanelmembers.

2‐Reading50proposals(orevenlessforthatmaber)andaderwardswritereportsisnotfun:ittakes2me,andittakes2mefromourscience2me.Itisrarelyarewardingac2vity.

3‐Mostcommibeemembersdonottakepleasureinrejec2ngproposals.

4‐Commibeesareusuallycomposedofaboutahalfdozenpeopleormore,changingevery2or3years(some2mespeoplejustchangehatandkeepsigngonthesame/anothercommibee,true…).Therefore,thereisamedia2onandmodera2onaspectwhichisimportant,inthebadandinthegood.

Ifyourproposalgetsrejecteddonotfeeldiscouragedandfrustrated.Submitagain:thecommibeemayhavechangedormaybeberreceiveyourproposal.

VERYGENERAL(ANDOBVIOUS)SUGGESTIONS:Thereisnotamagicformulathatensuressuccess.Butthefollowing

sugges2onshelptoincreasetheprobabilityofsuccess.

4C.Ceccarelli‐IPAG

1‐Howtheproposaliswri?enisveryimportant

Beclear.Donotusejargon,verylikelynotmorethan1or2membersofthecommibeewouldunderstandit.Writeforanastronomernotinyourspecificdiscipline.Useshortandeasytoreadsentences.

Makethemainidea/messageoftheproposalclear(andappealing)inthefirst4lines…ok,halfpage.

Ithelpswri2nganoutlineoftheargumentsand/orlogicsyouwanttodevelop,beforestar2ngwri2ng.

Ifyouwanttoconveyamessage/informa2on,itshouldbecrystalclearandunderstandableattheFIRSTreading.Donotcountontherefereetoreadbetweenthelinesortounderstandsubtlemessages.

Ifaninforma2onisimportantfortheproposal,provideallusefulinforma2onintheproposal.Donotcountontherefereetolookforit,noteveninpublishedar2cles.(ifyoudon’tbotherwhyshouldthereferee?)

Strictlyfollowtherequestedformatfortheproposalandthepagelimits.

VERYGENERAL(ANDOBVIOUS)SUGGESTIONS

5C.Ceccarelli‐IPAG

2‐Rushneverhelps

Takethe2metowriteyourproposal.Evena2pagesproposalneedsmorethan2days(especiallysoifyou’renota“veteran”)!Startin2me!

Re‐readyourproposaladeratleast1nightofrest.Donotsendproposalsthathaveobviouslynotbeenre‐read(manytypos,inappropriatecutandpaste..).Ithurtstheproposal,evenifitisawonderfuloneinthesubstance.Itshowsalackofrespectforthecommibeemembersthatvolunteeredtheir2meandeffort.

Asksomeonetoreadyourproposalandgiveyoufeedback(forexamplewhethershe/heunderstoodwhatyoupropose…).

Donotsubmittheproposal30secondsbeforethedeadline!(andbtwcheckwhenthedeadlineis…)Manyproposalsarenowsubmibedviaweb‐basedsystems:adeadlineisadeadline,plusorminus1second!

VERYGENERAL(ANDOBVIOUS)SUGGESTIONS

6C.Ceccarelli‐IPAG

3‐Askforwhatyouneed

Askforwhatisreallyneededforyourproject(2meormoney),notmorenorless,andjus2fyit,carefully.

Getinformedwhatistheaverageapprovedrequestofsuccessfulproposals.Staywithinthislimit,donotoverdo.

Don’trunaderallopportuni2es.Selectthecallsthatarereallyinteres2ngforyou.Wri2ngproposalstakes2meandenergy,andmayendupbeingfrustra2ng.

Itisalsoimportanttounderstandthatyougetajoband/orpromo2onnotbecauseyou’vewribensomanyproposalsbutratherbecauseyou’vewribenpapers.

VERYGENERAL(ANDOBVIOUS)SUGGESTIONS

7C.Ceccarelli‐IPAG

4‐Thecontent…ma?erstoo

Besurethattheproposedprojectisnovelandthatithasnotbeenalreadycarriedoutorisbeingcarriedoutbyanothergroup.Searchcarefullytheliterature.Inquireoldercolleagueswhetherasimilarprojectisalreadyinprogresssomewhereelse.

Becarefultociteotherpeople’sworkcorrectly.Donotoveremphasizewhatyouhavedoneandhowgreatyouare.Considerthat90%ofastronomersthinkthattheydeservetheNobelprize.It’shighlyprobablethatoneofthemsitsinthecommibee.

Mypersonalopinionis:donotrushader“àlamode”.Abit,ofcourseyes,buttoomuchdoesn’tpayoff.

Nowadaysprojectsdeclaringaguaranteedoutputoftheproposedresearchhaveamuchhigherprobabilitytobeapproved.Highrisk/highgainproposalsareusuallyadver2sedbyagenciesbutinprac2cetheyarerarelyapproved.

Putforwardanyweaknessandjus2fyit.Donotcountontherefereeoverlookingit.RecallMurphy’slaw…

WHYPROPOSALSAREREJECTED

8C.Ceccarelli‐IPAG

Reason Whattodo

Theproposaliswrong. Gobackandthinkagainwhatyouwant.

Theproposalisunclear. Re‐writebeberthemessage.

Theproposalisinthe“grey”area,where80%ofproposalsare.

Detailsmaber.Anydetailcanmaketheproposalslideonthegood/badside.

Thegoalistooambi2ousandtheproposalseemsrisky.

Withtheincreasinglyreducedbudgetscommibeesarehesitanttogive2me/moneytoriskyproposals.Emphasizetheresultsthatwillbeobtained,whatevertheyare.

Theproposallacksoriginality. Re‐thinkyourproject.Readliteraturebeber.

Itisconsideredafishingexpedi2ons. Definethespecificgoalsbeber.

SOMEEXAMPLES:1)ERC‐EG(EureopeanResearchCouncil:earlyGrant)

9C.Ceccarelli‐IPAG

  PROPOSALSforfundingupto1.5MEuros.Callonceperyear.Successrate<1/10.

  Informa2oncanbefoundonthesiteoftheERC.  Reservedforyoungresearchers(lessthan6yearsfromPhD).  Commibeeformedby12persons,represen2ngalldisciplinesin

astronomy.Thecommibeeisfor6yearsandthenameofthemembersarepublic(onthewebsite).

  Selec2onobtainedin2steps.  Inthefirststep,theCVanda5pageprojectsynopsisisconsidered(fora

totalof<12pages).Theproposalisreadbyatleast3members.Theevalua2onisbasedontheCVoftheproponentandtheproject,withaboutthesameweight.About30%oftheproposalspassthisfirststep.

  Inthesecondstep,atleast3membersplusother3externalrefereesreadthefullprojectof15pages(plusagaintheCV).AgainCVandprojectweighalmostthesame,withtheprojectheremaybemore.Inaddi2on,thecandidatesareinvitedforaninterview.About30%passthisstep.

  Intheend,notmorethan10%ofproposalsareselected.

SOMEEXAMPLES:2)InterferometerIRAMPdB

10C.Ceccarelli‐IPAG

  PROPOSALSforobservingattheIRAMmminterferometerPlateaudeBure.Calltwiceperyear.Successrate~1/6.

  Informa2oncanbefoundonthesiteoftheIRAMins2tute.  Opentothewholecommunity.  Commibeeformedby12persons,represen2ngallsubjectsinmillimeter

astronomy.Thecommibeeisfor3yearsandthenameofthemembersarepublic(onthewebsite).

  Selec2onobtainedin1step.  Theproposal(<2pageswithscien2ficcase+technical)isreadby5

members.Beforethecommibeemee2ngapre‐ra2ngiscarriedoutbyeachreferee.Inprac2ce,ifevenonlyonerefereedoesn’tliketheproposalthechancesfortheproposaltopassareverysmall.

  Intheend,notmorethan20%ofproposalsareselected.

CONCLUSIVEREMARKS

11C.Ceccarelli‐IPAG

DONOTBEDISCOURAGEDIFYOURPROPOSAL/APPLICATIONISREJECTED.Donottakenecessarilyitasjudgmentofyourqualityasresearcher….(ofcourse,theotherapproachofthinkingthateverybodyelseisstupidandyouaretheunrecognizedgeniusisalsowrong!)

Wri2ngproposals/applica2onsisnotawasteof2me:yougainvaluableexperience.

STAMINAPAYS(butwith“intelligence”!)

CVWRITING

12C.Ceccarelli‐IPAG

ThereareseveralwebsiteswithCVtemplates:pickoneyoulike.

NameBornProfessionaladdressTelephoneAddressemail

Educa2on&Awards

Employment

Teaching

Professionalresponsibili2es

1

Fieldofresearch–briefdescrip2on

Refereedpublica2ons

Oralpresenta2ons

Posterpresenta2ons

Funding

Languages

Skills(computer,laboratory….)

2

EXAMPLE

Hint:inthelists,startwiththepresentratherthanwithyourfirstyearofexistence

CVWRITING:Thereisnotamagicformulathatensuressuccess.Butthefollowing

sugges2onshelptoincreasetheprobabilityofsuccess.

13C.Ceccarelli‐IPAG

1‐HowtheCViswri?enisveryimportant

Beclear.Donotusejargon,verylikelynotmorethan1or2membersofthecommibeewouldunderstandit.Writeforanastronomernotinyourspecificdiscipline.Useshortandeasytoreadsentences.

Ifyouwanttoconveyamessage/informa2on,itshouldbecrystalclearandunderstandableattheFIRSTreading.Donotcountontherefereetoreadthroughthelinesortounderstandsubtlemessages.

Ifaninforma2onisimportantfortheCV,provideallusefulinforma2onintheproposal.Donotcountontherefereetolookforit,noteveninpublishedar2cles.(ifyoudon’tbotherwhyshouldthereferee?)

StrictlyfollowtherequestedformatfortheCV,ifany,andthepagelimits.

CVWRITING

14C.Ceccarelli‐IPAG

…ANDDONOTSENDCV.pdforcv_engl.pdf!

Doyouimaginethemoodoftherefereereceiving50CV.pdffiles???(youarenotimprovingyourposi2oninthelist!)