Dear Visitor,
welcome
to the platform for my worldwide consulting activities on research
funding and proposal writing. As you will see below, I have a two-prong
approach: (1) very practical in-house seminars for Graduate Schools and (2) very much hands-on individual consulting by skype up to the deadline without office hours.
As trained physicist and chemist I used to be a scientific coworker of the Max Planck Society - and as sideline advised on research funding topics. I was pretty good at this, and thus continued this line after my official retirement. Much to my surprise I discovered a niche - apparently no one else in the German consulting system offers the very practical palette of information and straight application assistance (which is quite different to the cost-free support by KoWi and the National Contact Points).
These days I lecture for all kind of (German) organizations worldwide on funding opportunities, and coach scientists to successfully apply for grants from German, Israeli and European funding organizations - especially the Marie Curie and ERC Actions of the Horizon 2020 programs of the European Commission. Here a recap of my portfolio, you find more details in the Service List 2020.
SEMINARS:
1. A day-long seminar geared towards German Graduate Schools
on the wide variety of funding opportunities, starting at DAAD /
DFG and passing through foundations, H2020 and NATO to the
international possibilities (German or English, slides in English).
Sample agenda
2. A one- or two day seminar for international young scientists on research funding opportunities, and the tricks and pitfalls to consider to be successful in their applications. These seminars are usually part of status meetings of funding agencies in Asia, Africa or South America - sometimes coupled with subsequent individual consulting. Sample agenda
3. A variable-time, but very much hands-on seminar for excellent scientists on the points to consider when applying for a Starting (StG), Consolidator (CoG), Advanced (AdG) or Synergy Grant (SyG) of the European Research Council (ERC). Sample agenda
4.
A
variable-time, but very much
hands-on seminar on the points to consider when applying for any of the
offers in the Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions (MSCA), particularly the
Individual Fellowships (IF) and Innovative Training Networks
(ITN).
5. A
seminar (3-8 hours) preparing scientists for the interview phase of ERC
StG, CoG and SyG applications. This interview training is
very
personal, and resembles in parts the
seminars offered in Germany by KoWi
or the Max Planck Society.
PERSONAL
ASSISTANCE:
By e-mail and Skype I
accompany an individual
scientist as her/his personal "devil's advocate" during the process of
improving an application to the ERC, the Marie Curie Program,
the
German
"Wissenschaftsrat" or the Israel Science Foundation.
For successful ERC StG, CoG and SyG customers from
abroad this usually includes coaching for the
interview
phase in
Brussels (currently there is no interview phase for AdG
applicants, but it is planned for Horizon Europe).
The research topics of my customers cover a wide range - from the natural sciences to clinical studies and political sciences. In their interest I strive to design all our communications - be it webinars, pre-established SOPs, e-mail or skype - to assure an outstanding level of quality. It is my aim and pride to offer thoughtful solutions, thus enabling my clients to be successful.
At a time when success requires far more than 90 out of 100 points all of my clients appreciated the confidential and very critical personal pre-evaluation - at a very reasonable financial investment. If necessary, please contact me for testimonials.
SUCCESS:
No
one can guarantee success, but I think the figures speak for
themselves: in the last two years 50 % of my AdG customers got
the
grant, 50 % of my CoG sustomers got to the interview phase
- as well as more than 50 % of the StG customers. Last year 75 % of my MSCA candidates were successful.
COSTS:
For individual
consulting I charge a very
reasonable hourly academic rate (in 15 min units) retained in time
sheets. Both sides can cancel the contract on short notice.
Please inquire about the fixed rates for national and
international seminars.
This is, and will remain, a fairly simple-structured site providing
basic information. I have neither time nor interest to develop a very
elaborate version - especially as most of my customers contact me
because of word-of-mouth recommendations.
You
will find some information about myself and the support I offer for
universities, "Fachhochschulen", independent research institutions and
individual scientists in the attached (outdated) flyer. Please note
that, in general, I tend not to consult for scientists in industry or
commerce.
If you have a particular question or need please do not hesitate to contact me at office@icck.eu.