The Department of Materials Science has decided to support young researchers and PhD students in preparing ERC Starting Grant proposals. Being awarded this grant is a mark of absolute excellence and provides substantial financial support to conduct innovative and independent research for up to 5 years. Furthermore, the preparation and submission of such proposals is a highly valuable exercise for acquiring skills in the conception, structuring, and writing of any project. Therefore, it was decided to organize training sessions focused on drafting ERC Starting Grant proposals. Two meetings were aimed at introducing the ERC Starting Grant scheme, clarifying what it entails and its context, as well as providing general tips on how to approach the drafting process. Three subsequent meetings were then dedicated to each of the main sections of the Application Form (Parts A, B1, and B2). The University (Milano-Bicocca) Grant Office supported the initiative with a session covering budget and administrative aspects. Of significant interest were three discussion sessions with past Grant winners (Dr. Di Liberto, Prof. Di Valentin, and Prof. Picozzi), who shared their experiences and offered useful personal insights. Finally, Prof. Pacchioni, a former member of the ERC evaluation panels, made an important contribution regarding the selection process of project proposals.
At the end of the series of meetings, a consulting phase began for the iterative review of the proposals by the initiative's coordinators: Dr. Carmen Canevali for the chemistry field and Dr. Anna Marzegalli for the physics field.
Overall, the initiative saw a good level of participation and will be repeated in the coming years.