Research Funding Officer ERC (0,8 - 1,0 FTE)

Introduction

In this new role, as ERC Research Funding Officer at Engagement and Research Services (ERS), you will be embedded within an existing inter-faculty team of grant advisors focusing on individual grants and complement that team with your expertise in ERC grants. You will help to implement the EUR EU research strategy, by devising and implementing a talent support programme, in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, guiding the research staff towards acquiring ERC grants. You are a key advisor to the faculties and partner to the grant advisors within the university, who you guide in implementing the right strategies, policies and procedures to maximise its success in ERC grant acquisition.

Job description

Your main objective is to accelerate the growth of research talents applying for ERC funding at EUR.

In this collaborative role there is an opportunity to create and ideate existing approaches. You implement a new support package aimed at ERC candidates, and together with the faculty grant advisor, you support the development of proposals offering substantive feedback to enhance the quality of submissions. You initiate and coordinate activities aimed at nurturing research talents with a view to future submissions and play a pivotal role in the development of internal policy and processes related to grant applications.

You will work full-time within the ERS Grants team, a team consisting of Grant Advisors from across the university, who work together on building support infrastructure, enabling cross-faculty projects, delivering grants trainings to researchers across the university and mutual learning.

Your responsibilities will include:

1. ERC proposal development support
   • Design and implement 2 year mentoring programme (alongside faculty-level policy and strategy) which will target talent in collaboration with Faculty Grant Advisors, Vice-Deans Research and ERS Head of Grants.
   • In conjunction with faculty-level grant advisors develop internal proposal timelines and milestones.
   • Organise and run mock interviews.
   • First point of contact to applicants who join the mentoring programme.
2. ERC application advice
   • Support the structure and content of proposals.
   • Advise on case for support, impact/vision statements, B1/B2 organisation, CV/track-record presentation and work plan coherence.
3. Liaison with finance, and HR
   • Coordinate with faculty project controllers on realistic budgets, cost descriptions.
   • Coordinate with HR on employment and contracting plans for PI/team members.
4. Training, outreach & capacity building
   • Design and deliver training workshops, masterclasses and written guidance for grant advisors and prospective applicants.
5. Monitoring, intelligence & continuous improvement
   • Setup a network of ERC experienced peer researchers from across the university to act as mentors within the mentoring programme.
   • Monitor ERC calls, policy changes and evaluation trends.
   • Compile lessons learned and success metrics.
   • Advise institutional leadership on capacity building and strategic target areas.

Job requirements

Essential competencies and experience:

• Academic background: Educated to Doctoral level (or equivalent experience) with demonstrated understanding of the academic research environment.
• ERC & EU funding knowledge: Practical knowledge of ERC calls, evaluation criteria and the Funding & Tenders Portal and grants tool workflows. (Candidates who have worked in Grants offices, or as a research manager are preferred).
• Proposal development: Proven track-record and demonstrable experience coaching academics on high-level grant writing, preparing competitive proposals, or previously serving as a reviewer/advisor for major competitive grants.
• Communication & training skills: Proven ability to design and implement a new programme/imitative. Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Experience running workshops, delivering mock interviews and producing user guidance.
• Attention to detail & quality assurance: Strong proofreading skills and comfort with formatting, templates and meeting strict page/format constraints.

Desirable skills and attributes

• Experience with ERC evaluation process (time spent at a funding agency an asset).
• Multilingual (English C1 required; Dutch an advantage).
• Proactive, service-oriented mindset with the ability to work under pressure to tight deadlines.
• Familiarity with research information systems and submission platforms.

Employment conditions and benefits

We offer you an internationally oriented and varied job in an enthusiastic team, with excellent working conditions in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU).

The start date of this position is 1 January 2026 and you will be based at campus Woudestein in Engagement & Research Services (ERS). This position is for 0.8 fte - 1 fte. The salary is dependent on your experience and knowledge and ranges from a minimum of € 5.705 to a maximum of € 7.297 gross per month Scale 12 on a fulltime basis (38 hours), in accordance with the CAO-NU. The contract is offered for a period of 1 year and can be converted into an employment contract for an indefinite period if suitability is proven and if continued in the same position, if (financial and/or organizational) circumstances remain the same.

Everything else we offer you; you can find below!

- Everything you need for a good work-life balance: the option to work from home in consultation with your manager, 41 days of paid leave with a 40 hour contract, 8% holiday pay and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus, and a significant discount on a subscription for our on-campus sports centre!

- Sustainable, inclusive and diverse work environment with an open culture, where you can be yourself and we pay attention to each other and to the world around us. Make the most of our bicycle budget, or join networks such as Young@EUR, FAME or QuEUR.

- Time and space for your development in the broadest sense: development days and a personal career budget and free access to our university library.

- Good pension with ABP that EUR contributes 2/3rds towards, discounts on various collective insurances with Zilveren Kruis Achmea, Loyalis, and Allianz, and compensation for travel, working from home and home internet use.

- Are you currently combining your job with parenthood, or do you want to do so in the future? EUR offers partially paid parental leave and fully paid additional birth leave for partners, and our campus features a daycare (daycare not paid for by EUR).

- Moving to the Netherlands for your job with EUR? Then you may be eligible for the 30%-ruling if you meet the requirements of the Belastingdienst (Dutch tax agency), and with our Dual Career Programme we will also help your partner find the right job for them.

Employer

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) is an internationally oriented university with a strong social orientation in its education and research, as expressed in our mission ‘Creating positive societal impact’. EUR is home to 4.100 academics and professionals and almost 33.000 students from more than 140 countries. Everything we do, we do under the credo The Erasmian Way – Making Minds Matter. We’re global citizens, connecting, entrepreneurial, open-minded, and socially involved. These Erasmian Values function as our internal compass and create EUR’s distinctive and recognizable profile. From these values, with a broad perspective and with an eye for diversity, different backgrounds and opinions, our employees work closely together to solve societal challenges from the dynamic and cosmopolitan city of Rotterdam. Thanks to the high quality and positive societal impact of our research and education, EUR can compete with the top European universities. www.eur.nl.

Faculty / Institute / Central service

Engagement & Research Services (ERS) advances excellent research and engagement to maximize positive societal impact. ERS creates conditions for transparent, inclusive, collaborative, and impactful research through strategic and operational expertise. 

We provide pathways for talents to reach their full potential and we advance fruitful collaborations, enabling Erasmus University to be a front runner in embedding excellent research in society. The following areas of support are embedded within ERS: Business Development, Grant Support, Legal Counsels, Open Science, Research Data Management, Ethics Review and Research Intelligence. ERS is a relatively young service department within Erasmus University Rotterdam and is steadily building and extending its service portfolio. ERS provides support to all faculties of Erasmus university Rotterdam (occasionally to Erasmus University Medical Center).

Additional information

You can find more information about the EUR on our website www.eur.nl.

For more information about this vacancy, please contact Angela Noble via angela.noble@eur.nl.

Applying

Please submit your application, consisting of a motivation letter and CV, before the vacancy closing date.

The selection procedure consists of two interview rounds. First round of interviews will take place on January 15th, second round of interviews are scheduled on January 22nd.

We look forward to receiving your application.

Persons of all gender identities or expressions, sexual orientations, religions, ethnicities, ages, neurodiversities, functional impairments, citizenships, or any other aspect are welcome to apply and join the EUR community.