Department of Materials, ETH Zürich, Laboratory for Polymeric Materials, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2022 Oct 4;61(40):e202206303. doi: 10.1002/anie.202206303. Epub 2022 Aug 26.
European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grants are arguably the most competitive grants in Europe and their prestige is fully justified considering that they (i) allow focus on a high risk/high gain project through generous funding of 1.5-2 million Euros, (ii) they can enable the foundation of a new academic group and earn the submitting principal investigator a professorship, and (iii) they serve as a highly reputable award that can either facilitate tenure/promotion or assist in securing a subsequent academic position. However, the journey to getting one is far from easy. In this Viewpoint Article, I will discuss my first two unsuccessful attempts to secure an ERC Starting Grant and how the lessons learned during the process led me to ultimately secure a grant upon my third attempt.
欧洲研究理事会（ERC）启动资助可以说是欧洲最具竞争力的资助之一，考虑到它们：(i) 通过慷慨的 150 万至 200 万欧元资助，允许专注于高风险/高收益项目；(ii) 它们可以使新的学术团队成立，并为提交的主要研究员授予教授职位；以及 (iii) 它们是一个享有盛誉的奖项，可以帮助获得终身教职/晋升，或有助于获得后续学术职位。然而，获得资助的过程远非易事。在这篇观点文章中，我将讨论我前两次申请 ERC 启动资助失败的经历，以及在这个过程中学到的经验教训如何使我在第三次尝试时最终获得了资助。
