The Oportunius Program is an initiative promoted by the Xunta de Galicia, through the Axencia Galega de Innovación, which aims to generate opportunities for excellent research personnel who want to develop their scientific career in Galicia by strengthening the access options and benefits associated with the European Research Council (ERC) grants. Econet, a company specialized in public funding, collaborates with the initiative since 2014, helping in the preparation and advice of applications.

What types of European Research Council (ERC) grants are there and what are their main characteristics?

ERC grants are open to researchers of any age, career stage and nationality, with three main individual schemes (Starting, Consolidator and Advanced Grants), a group scheme (Synergy Grant) and a scheme (Proof of Concept) to explore the commercialization or social potential of results obtained within ERC projects.

Its main purpose is to provide attractive long-term funding to support excellent researchers and their research teams in conducting innovative and ambitious research, leading to advances at the frontiers of knowledge and setting a clear and inspiring goal for frontier research across Europe. Importantly, excellence is the sole evaluation criterion of the ERC: excellence at project and principal investigator level.

What is the impact of this support for a researcher?

The main impact of receiving an ERC grant is the financial support it provides, allowing researchers to carry out their "dream" projects independently. In addition, receiving an ERC grant provides prestige and recognition, as they are highly competitive and internationally recognized, also giving visibility to the principal investigator (PI) and his or her host organization. Finally, they have a scientific impact, as they are projects that push the boundaries of knowledge and often lead to innovative discoveries and breakthroughs in various fields, contributing to the overall scientific and societal impact.

What conditions must be met to apply for an ERC grant and what aspects must be taken into account before deciding to participate in a call for proposals?

The only conditions to apply for an ERC grant are to have a Host Organization, and to meet the range of years to obtain the thesis for each of the existing typologies. 

As for the aspects to be taken into account, the first thing is to assess the idea, that it has an impact beyond the state of the art and that it is at the frontier of knowledge. Beyond the idea, and since these are such competitive calls, it is important to assess the curriculum vitae of the principal investigator, reviewing the CVs of past winners and taking the time to choose the appropriate evaluation panel, which can be decisive. 

What are the phases of the selection process?

The ERC evaluation process consists of two main phases: a first one where there is a remote evaluation of the B1 section of the proposal, and from which up to a maximum of 44 proposals go to phase 2. In phase 2 of the evaluation (remote), the complete proposal is evaluated (part B1, B2 and budgets) and the principal investigators are interviewed, which is currently usually done remotely. The selected proposals will come out of this phase, and everyone will receive the evaluation report, which is of great value for resubmission. It is important to note that there are penalties for resubmission depending on the evaluation obtained. 

They collaborate with the Oportunius program, promoted by the Xunta de Galicia through the Axencia Galega de Innovación. In your experience training and advising candidates, what are the main aspects you focus on and what are the keys to successful proposals?

At Econet we are specialists in European public funding and our mission is to achieve the best return for our clients. We collaborate with Oportunius since the beginning of the program since we participated in its design back in 2014, because at that time, the return of Galicia in the ERC program was quite low compared to other Spanish regions. 

After almost 10 years of supporting candidates, much progress has been made in the positioning of Galicia, starting with the fact that researchers have a better knowledge of the aid and of their own situation with respect to previous beneficiaries thanks to the training provided and the individual reports offered in the framework of Oportunius. Once the decision is made, the main thing is to prepare the proposals in time and take advantage of the different support resources available, not only those of Oportunius but also those existing at the national level, such as those provided by the National Contact Points. 

An important reflection we should make is to think about our idea and why, being so groundbreaking, it has not been done before; why it is you and not someone else the right person to do it and why now is the ideal time to do it. By reflecting this in your application and ensuring that you meet the requirements, you will have a better chance of being chosen.

What strengths and opportunities do you think Galicia offers to develop an excellent scientific career?

Galicia is an attractive territory to develop the professional potential of people, especially in the scientific field, since we have a broad R&D&I ecosystem where there are the 3 universities, but also important research centers and technology centers. In addition to the potential of our entities, which in itself is a strength, as evidenced by the fact that we already have 36 ERCs in Galicia, the Xunta de Galicia, through the Axencia Galega de Innovación, makes available to researchers several support actions, such as the Oportunius program itself.