All training sessions and workshops are scheduled to be given digitally, via MS Teams. You will be timely informed if this changes.
Erasmus Research Services (ERS) runs a yearly cycle of training sessions open to all researchers wishing to write a funding proposal. The training sessions are hosted by an experienced grant advisor or an external trainer.
We aim to provide researchers with the knowledge and tools necessary to approach a grant application with confidence – from getting acquainted with eligibility requirements to practising interview and presentation skills. After each training, useful materials such as slides, handouts or annotated templates will be shared with the participants via email.
Below is a calendar of all training currently on offer. To sign up for any of the following training sessions, please send an email to grantstraining@eur.nl specifying the session(s) you are interested in as well as your name and school. You will then receive an email confirmation and further practical information.
Please note that our training offer is currently expanding – visit this page periodically or check in with your grant advisor for updates. Want to request a training not currently on offer? Then please send your request to grantstraining@eur.nl.
Individual grants training sessions
Training dates and descriptions
We offer three VENI training sessions. To sign up for any of the following training sessions, please send an email to grantstraining@eur.nl with your name and school.
The VENI briefing session is open to all EUR researchers who are planning on submitting a VENI pre-proposal. Participants will gain insights on how to approach the application process, the eligibility and assessment criteria as well as how to best structure a VENI pre-proposal.
This training session is open to all EUR researchers who are planning on submitting a VENI pre-proposal. It will provide expert guidance on how to approach the narrative CV (‘academic profile’) section when preparing a VENI pre-proposal and offering hands-on advice on how to turn a classic bullet-point CV into a compelling and cohesive narration.
This training session is open to all EUR researchers who were invited to submit a VENI full proposal. It will provide tips and tricks on each section of the VENI full proposal application form and, when possible, insights based on the results of previous rounds of applications.
We offer various VIDI training sessions. To sign up for any of the following training sessions, please send an email to grantstraining@eur.nl with your name and school.
This training session is open to all EUR researchers who were invited to submit a VIDI full proposal. It will provide tips and tricks on each section of the VIDI full proposal application form and, when possible, insights based on the results of previous rounds of applications.
This training session is open to all EUR researchers who are planning on submitting a VIDI proposal. This briefing event will provide general information about the scheme, the application and the evaluation processes. Also, two academic colleagues who have written successful proposals and have experience with evaluating Dutch Research Council proposals will join the event to talk about their personal experience and the views of evaluators.
This training session is open to all EUR researchers who are planning on submitting a VIDI proposal. It will provide expert guidance on how to approach the narrative CV (‘academic profile’) section when preparing a proposal and offering hands-on advice on how to turn a classic bullet-point CV into a compelling and cohesive narration.
All researchers invited for an interview for a VIDI grant will have the opportunity to sign up for a day-long interview training, hosted by an expert external trainer and coordinated by ERS. The interview training will be organised in small groups. It will teach participants how to improve their presentation skills – from delivering one’s message effectively to performing under stress and answering tricky questions.
We offer one VICI training session. To sign up for the training session, please send an email to grantstraining@eur.nl with your name and school.
This training session is open to all EUR researchers who are planning on submitting a VICI proposal. In the first hour, general information about the scheme, the application and the evaluation processes will be provided. When possible, an academic colleague who has written successful proposal will join to talk about their personal experience. In the second hour, participants will learn the difference between various parts of the pre-proposal and receive tips on how to best structure them.
We offer one NWA-ORC training session. To sign up for any of the following training sessions, please send an email to grantstraining@eur.nl with your name and school.
This training is aimed at researchers who are considering applying for an NWA-ORC call. It will provide potential NWA-ORC applicants with information on how to address the impact plan, theory of change and outlook approach, looking at examples and giving suggestion on how to start tackling these issues in a proposal. The training will be given by Monique Nijkamp from Hezelburcht.
We offer three ERC Starting Grant & ERC Consolidator Grant training sessions. To sign up for any of the following training sessions, please send an email to grantstraining@eur.nl with your name and school.
During this event general information about the scheme, the application and the evaluation process will be given. Also, academic colleagues who have written successful ERC proposals and have experience with evaluating ERC proposals will share their personal experience and the views of evaluators.
Yellow research will offer an in-house training on the actual writing of the various sections of an ERC proposal. They will explain how to write a convincing proposal in terms of proposal structure, language and content.
All researchers invited for an interview for an ERC grant will have the opportunity to sign up for a day-long interview training, hosted by an expert external trainer and coordinated by ERS. The interview training will be organised in small groups. It will teach participants how to improve their presentation skills – from delivering one’s message effectively to performing under stress and answering tricky questions.
We offer two ERC Advanced Grant training sessions. To sign up for any of the following training sessions, please send an email to grantstraining@eur.nl with your name and school.
This event is open to all who are submitting the proposal for the 2024 deadline. Participants will learn the difference between various parts of the proposal, receive tips on how to best structure them, and when possible, get insights based on previous rounds of applications.
All researchers invited for an interview for an ERC grant will have the opportunity to sign up for a day-long interview training, hosted by an expert external trainer and coordinated by ERS. The interview training will be organised in small groups or individually, depending on availability. It will teach participants how to improve their presentation skills – from delivering one’s message effectively to performing under stress and answering tricky questions.
To sign up for the offered MSCA-PF (Postdoctoral Fellowship) training sessions, please send an email to grantstraining@eur.nl with your name and school.
This briefing session is open to both EUR researchers who would like to apply for a MSCA-PF with a host institution abroad and researchers from abroad who would like to join EUR as their host institution. The session will offer an overview of the MSCA eligibility and assessment criteria, as well as guidance on how to structure a successful application.
In this Q&A session, researchers working on a MSCA-PF proposal will have an opportunity to hear about the evaluation criteria directly from a MSCA evaluator and/or a laureate (depending on availability), who will share their insights and tips on what makes a proposal stand out. Plenty of time will be left to participants to ask their own questions.
Date: Autumn 2023 (exact date to be decided)
Starting and end time: To be decided
Location: online (Teams)
Language: English
Are you looking for research opportunities that fit your interests and do you want to optimise your application to fit the funder’s requirements? Are you wondering if your idea has been addressed in other projects and what type of funds are relevant for your expertise? Join us for a hands-on session on “How to use Research Connect & Impacter in your research” to find out all the details. There will be ample opportunity to ask questions.
- RESEARCHconnect is a funding search engine that gives access to the latest and most relevant funding opportunities available for researchers. In this session, you will learn how to make the best of the engine interface, search functionalities, alerts and sharing tools.
- Impacter is an online tool that gives feedback on the societal impact paragraph of the research proposal. It also provides an overview of similar funded research and gives an overview of the main ingredients of a good proposal. In this training session, you will learn how the Impacter tool works and how to get the best out of it for the funding application.
- EUR has a subscription to both tools and can be used free of charge by all EUR employees.
Programme and speakers:
- Introduction by Anca Miclea-Făciu, Expert on EU Research collaborative grants, Erasmus Research Services
- Presentation Research Connect by Aldo Cavalcanti, International Business Development Manager RESEARCHconnect
- Presentation Impacter by Paul Tuinenburg, Director Impacter
- Q&A
Registration for the event
At this moment the exact date and time for this event are still to be decided and you can't register for this event yet. This page is updated frequently, so be sure to regularly check this page for the most up-to-date information.
This session is open to all researchers, who are interested in learning more about funding opportunities on the Dutch and European level. This session will provide general information about various schemes, ranging from international mobility schemes to gain experience at the international top institute abroad to the individual and collaborative funding options at national (NWO) and European level to educational grants such as Erasmus+.
We are organising workshops and thematic group meetings tailor made for the needs and expectations of the researchers in each school. The main goal is to encourage participation in collaborative research projects, to facilitate inter and cross faculties cooperation and exchange of ideas in order to identify and pursue relevant funding opportunities in the EU Horizon Europe research and innovation program. For more information about the sessions planned for your school, please contact us at grantstraining@eur.nl.