Proposal outline – 10 pages...2017/06/15 · Transferable skills training, for example training in: • entrepreneurship, • proposal preparation to request funding, ... YouReCa

1

Proposal outline – 10 pages

B.1 Excellence 5 pages

1.1 Quality and credibility of the research/innovation action 3 pages

1.2 Quality and appropriateness of the training and of the two way transfer of knowledge 1 page

1.3 Quality of the supervision and of the integration in the team/institution 0,5 page

1.4 Capacity of the researcher to reach or re-enforce a position of professional maturity 0,5 page

B.2 Impact 1,5 pages

2.1 Enhancing the potential and future career prospects of the researcher

2.3 Quality of the proposed measures to exploit and dissemination the results

2.4 Quality of the proposed measures to communicate the action activities to different target audiences

B.3 Implementation 3,5 pages

3.1 Coherence and effectiveness of the work plan 2 pages

3.2 Appropriateness of the allocation of tasks and resources

3.3 Appropriateness of the management structure and procedures, including risk management

3.4 Appropriateness of the institutional environment (infrastructure)

Proposal writing: training,transfer of knowledge,supervision

2

Proposal writing: training, transfer of knowledge

B.1 Excellence

1.1 Quality and credibility of the research/innovation action

1.2 Quality and appropriateness of the training and of the two way transfer of knowledge 1 page

1.3 Quality of the supervision and of the integration in the team/institution

1.4 Capacity of the researcher to reach or re-enforce a position of professional maturity/independence

B.2 Impact




B.3 Implementation

3.1 Coherence and effectiveness of the work plan




Fellow

What new

knowledge will

you learn from

your host?

Two way transfer of knowledge

Host

How does the host

benefit from the

knowledge that you

already have?

3

Fellow

What new

knowledge will

you learn from

your host?

Two way transfer of knowledge

Host

How does the host

benefit from the

knowledge that you

already have?

Your training plan

Easy to write, yet many applicants do a poor job!

Designing your training plan

Step 1:

Where do you want to be in 2, 5, 10 years from now?

4


Step 1:


Step 2:

Assess your CV and identify your

strengths and “knowledge gaps”

� Research

� Skills

Gap analysisVitae Researcher

Development

Framework

5


Step 1:


Step 3:

Write a training plan that allows you to

gain new knowledge to fill these gaps.

Step 2:



� Research

� Skills

Your training plan should include

‘Training through research’

= your main training which you obtain by executing your own individual research project (as described in section 1.1) under guidance of your supervisor and potentially also other staff members at the host institution.

• What new methods, techniques will you learn,

• What new knowledge will you gain,

• …?

6

Your training plan should include

Transferable skills training, for example training in:

• entrepreneurship,

• proposal preparation to request funding,

• patent applications, management of IPR, take up and exploitation of research results,

• project management, task coordination

• supervising and monitoring,

• communication and outreach skills,

• …

Quality is in the detail of the information provided.

YouReCa offers skills training

• Workshops on competitive proposal writing, management of research projects, including financial and personnel management, exploitation of results

• Workshops on writing skills for research publications, including good publication practice guidelines and bibliometric analyses

• Courses on presenting research orally, communicating research to non-specialists

• Training in academic English, language courses

• Training in statistics and methodology

• Courses on leadership skills, coaching, time and self-management, assertive communication, collaborating with colleagues and supervisor, networking, …

7

Your training plan may also include

• Hands on training, new techniques, …

• Structured training courses

• Exchanging knowledge through (intersectorial) visits and secondments

• Invitation of visiting researchers

• Involvement in the organisation of activities or organizing your own activity, e.g. events, exhibitions, …

• Taking part in the research and financial management of your project

• Attendance of international conferences and workshops

• Training dedicated to gender issues

• Teaching

• Supervision of BSc, MsC and/or PhD students

ExampleKnowledge gap: you have little or no experience in teaching and in your research domain, it is crucial to have teaching experience to be appointed as a professor.

Training objective: to gain teaching experience e.g. by teaching part of a course of your supervisor.

I will be teaching part of a course at KU Leuven.

Teaching will be one of my training objectives as I do not yet have teaching experience despite the fact that this is crucial for obtaining a permanent position. Therefore, I will co-teach the ‘History of science’ course module together with my supervisor, which will include the planning, designing and teaching of four course lectures, formulating exam questions and correcting exams.

8

ExampleKnowledge gap: you have little or no experience with communicating about your research.

Training objective: to successfully execute the communication plan that you have designed for this project.

The YouReCa programme at the KU Leuven offers transferable skills training to young researchers. I will benefit from this by participating in one or more courses, e.g. on communication.

Communication is a crucial and integral part of this project. I have outlined a communication strategy (see section 2.3) but I have little experience in this area. My training will therefore include modules on the use of social media and speaking for non-expert audiences, offered by KU Leuven during their yearly ‘Let’s talk Science Summer School’.


Step 1:


Step 3:



Quality is in visionand the detail of the

information provided.

Step 2:



� Research

� Skills

9


Step 1:


Step 3:



Quality is in visionand the detail of the

information provided.

Step 2:



� Research

� Skills

Step 4:

Personal Career Development Plan

Fellow

What new

knowledge will

you learn from

your host?

What should you describe in your training plan?

Host

How does the host

benefit from the

knowledge that you

already have?

10

Knowledge transfer from the applicant to the host

Explain what your supervisor, your research group, your collaborators will learn from the (research) expertise that you already

• How will you contribute to the ongoing research at the host institution,

• What about supervision of (PhD) students,

• What about co-publications with other member of the groups,

• What about lectures for specified audiences,

• …?

Quality is in the detail of the information provided.

Proposal writing: supervision

B.1 Excellence


1.2 Quality and appropriateness of the training and of the two way transfer of knowledge

1.3 Quality of the supervision and of the integration in the team/institution 0,5 page


B.2 Impact




B.3 Implementation





11

Qualifications and experience of the supervisor(s)

Write a short bio about your supervisor, including

• the level of experience on the research topic

• main international collaborations

• experience in supervising/training of PhD researchers & postdocs

• participation in projects, publications, patents, …

• H-index, …

This section should be complementary to section 5, you may refer to part 5 e.g. for the most important publications to avoid duplication.

Make sure this part is not a copy of what you would put in a cv. Personalize it, make it relevant for this proposal.

Hosting arrangements

= what will be done to integrate you into the research group

Examples:

• Participation in weekly/monthly meetings of the research group

• Participation in weekly/monthly journal clubs

• Supervision of BSc, MSc or PhD students & collaboration with other group members, copublications

• Collaboration within the network of your supervisor

• Teaching

• …

12

Proposal writing: selling yourself


B.1 Excellence





B.2 Impact




B.3 Implementation





B.4 Curriculum vitae

13


1.1 Career possibilities

why the research is important for your career (new method,

hypothesis, concept, …)





1.4 Capacity of the researcher to reach or re-enforce a position of professional maturity/ independence

your experience so far

your development during the fellowship

14

Capacity to reach or re-enforce a position of

professional maturity/ independence

Demonstrate that your experience so far combined with the experience that you will gain during this project will contribute to reaching a position of professional maturity.

• Describe your major achievements and explain how they will be important for this project.

• Point out past mobility, important publications (impact factor, citations, explain briefly why they are important), teaching experience, demonstrate independent thinking and leadership qualities, …

• Explain how the proposed research, training and your host will contribute to your further professional development

• Gap analysis, Personal Career Development Plan





2.1 Enhancing the potential and future career prospects of the

researcher

why the fellowship is important for your career after the

fellowship




15

Enhancing the potential and future career

prospects of the researcher

Describe the added value of the fellowship on your future career opportunities. Think about:

• Which new competencies and skills will you acquire?

� Research skills and transferable skills

� Consult your training plan in 1.2

• How will new research skills improve your employability and career prospects in and outside academia?

� What career trajectories do envisage where these skills could be beneficial?



• How will new transferable skills be important for your future career?

� Management experience <> leading your own research group

� Supervision experience <> supervising your own students

� Grant writing skills <> important throughout your career, ERC application

� …

16



• How will this fellowship make you a better, more independent researcher, allowing you to create research output of a better quality?

• How will you contribute to the knowledge-based economy and society?

• How will perhaps your future employer benefit from this fellowship?



• Enhanced cooperation and stronger networks, new collaboration opportunities

• Experience of working in another environment

• Widening of your research perspective over disciplinary borders and sectors

• Publishing independent from your PhD supervisor

17






researcher


fellowship




4 Curriculum vitae

details of your career so far

Curriculum vitae

= standard academic and research record

• Maximum 5 pages

• Assessed throughout the 3 evaluation criteria

• Information between part A and B should be fully consistent.

• Applicants without a doctorate: use template to justify Full-Time Equivalent Research Experience

• Any research career gaps and/or unconventional paths should be clearly explained.

18

Curriculum vitaeUse your CV to ‘sell yourself’ to the evaluators!

You may add an opening paragraph that summarizes your track record and includes your major achievements

• Show your professional background to the evaluators (work, education, training, experience).

• Anything that makes you stand out should be highlighted (prizes, awards, publications as a first or last author, …)

• Underline your other qualifications and capabilities such as leadership qualities, your capacity to acquire new knowledge, experience in dissemination, exploitation and communication activities, …

• If you refer to a personal website: make sure the information on the website is up to date.

Curriculum vitae

List of achievements, and this may include, if applicable:

1. Publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals, peer-reviewed conference proceedings and/or monographs of their respective research fields, indicating also the number of citations (excluding self-citations) they have attracted.

� Clearly identify yourself when there are several co-authors

� Highlight publications without (PhD) supervisor(s)

� Indicate papers that you have supervised

� Citations, without self-citations, impact factor, …

19

Curriculum vitae


2. Granted patent(s).

3. Research monographs, chapters in collective volumes and any translations thereof.

4. Invited presentations to peer-reviewed, internationally established conferences and/or international advanced schools.

5. Research expeditions that the experienced researcher has led.

Curriculum vitae


6. Organisation of International conferences in the field of the researcher (membership in the steering and/or programmecommittee).

7. Examples of participation in industrial innovation.

8. Prizes and Awards.

9. Funding received so far

� Explain who the funder is

� Show competitiveness by adding success rates

10. Supervising and mentoring activities.

20






researcher


fellowship




4 Curriculum vitae

details of your career so far

Proposal writing: implementation

21


B.1 Excellence





B.2 Impact




B.3 Implementation





Appropriateness of the allocation of tasks and resources

Explain why the tasks are appropriate to achieve the project objectives

Explain that your work plan is also ‘credible’ and feasible in terms of the resources (budget and personnel) that are available:

Personnel (= you):

• Justify why time allocated for tasks (refer to Gantt chart) is appropriate in terms of the number of person-months available

• If applicable, include other resources than own person-months e.g. technicians and others needed to achieve the objectives

22

Appropriateness of the allocation of tasks and resources

Budget:

• Explain how the budget available for the research, training and networking costs (800 euro / person-month) is sufficient to cover the costs associated with all the activities included in your work plan.

• If the budget is not sufficient (e.g. you will conduct expensive experiments), explain how you have or will secure additional funding to ensure the successful execution of your project.

(Infrastructure at your host institution and, if relevant, partner organisation(s) should not be discussed here but in section 3.4).


B.1 Excellence





B.2 Impact




B.3 Implementation





23

Management structure and progress monitoring

• Regular meetings with your (co-)supervisor, secondmentsupervisor, research group, …

� We recommend that you meet with your supervisor at least twice a month, in some research domains more frequent meetings are recommended.

� With others, less frequent meetings

� If you are unable to meet in person, you may include Skype calls or other ways to engage with each other.

• Progress monitoring tool = Personal Career Development Plan

� Deliverable (e.g. month 3), regular milestone and deliverable throughout your fellowship

Management structure and progress monitoring

• Describe your financial management strategy

� See text example that we provide

The overall administrative and financial management of the project will

be handled by the Research Coordination Office and the Financial

Monitoring Office. They have extensive experience in managing external

grant and contract income. This project will be assigned a dedicated

finance assistant who will set up the budget in line with the eligible cost

categories and who will monitor expenditure to ensure that only eligible

costs are claimed for. I will manage my research, training and networking

budget under the guidance of Prof/Dr X, in accordance with the terms

and conditions of the grant agreement, the University’s Financial

Regulations and the University’s Purchasing Office Procurement Guide.

24

Risk management

• Identify all the risks associated with the execution of your work plan, for example

� New technique that may not work

� Experiment that may fail

� Permission/access that you may fail to obtain

� Operational risks such as supervisor becomes unavailable

� …

• Provide an alternative strategy in case the risk indeed occurs.

• List all these risks in a table

• Do not draft a project with a ‘high’ risk in the early phase. In case this risk indeed occurs, you may not be able to execute the remainder of the project and evaluators may find that this undermines the feasibility of your project.


B.1 Excellence





B.2 Impact




B.3 Implementation





25

Institutional environment: infrastructure

(Briefly) describe the tasks and commitments of the KU Leuven and, if relevant, partner organisation(s).

Describe the infrastructure, logistics, facilities offered in as far they are necessary for the project.

• Describe the research infrastructure and facilities available at the host and, if relevant, partner organisation(s).

� In your research group and beyond

� Strongly focus on the research infrastructure that is needed for your project and avoid too general descriptions

� If needed, explain how you will have access

� This section should be complementary to section 5

Institutional environment: facilities and support

• Briefly describe other facilities and support that are available to you at the KU Leuven and, if relevant, partner organisation(s), as far as these facilities are relevant for your project.

� Training (YouReCa, refer to section 1.2)

� Leuven Research and Development = technology transfer office

� Career development

� Human Resources

26

Section 5: Capacity of the participating organisations

Table, maximum one page per beneficiary and one page per partner organisation

Section 5: Capacity of the participating organisations

Documents

Proposal outline – 10 pages...2017/06/15 · Transferable skills training, for example training in: • entrepreneurship, • proposal preparation to request funding, ... YouReCa