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| The ERC Workshop last month |
Last month we held a workshop on applying to the
European Research Council. As well as getting an overview from
UKRO, we heard from
Dr Tracy Kivell, who won a Starting Grant in 2013, who talked about her experience of applying to the ERC.
The Project
Tracy is a paleoanthropologist, who looks at fossil remains to understand human evolution and development. Her €1.6m ERC-funded project,
‘GRASP’, examines two million year old hand bones to try and resolve two key questions in the field: did the earliest humans still use their hands to climb trees, and when did they start using tools.
The project uses innovative methods, including internal structural analysis using high-resolution microtomography (microCT).
Why Apply?
Tracy applied to the ERC in 2012, five years after getting her PhD. She was motivated to apply because her vision - and the research questions she was seeking to answer - required a large and complex project which was unlikely to be funded elsewhere.
Furthermore, the time was right for her. She had been at the
Max Planck Institute, but neither her publication record nor her funding success were huge. However, she had had two high impact papers, including one as lead author that had made the cover of
Science. In addition she was looking for a way to move back to the UK, as her partner was at
UCL.
Writing the Application
‘Understanding the
Participant Portal requires a degree in engineering’, Tracy joked, but her underlying point was well made: give yourself time to prepare and understand what’s required. But understanding the Portal was only the beginning, and Tracy mapped out a series of points to consider when preparing a bid.
