coaching & workshops

An Overview

Personal development is increasingly recognised as an important aspect of advancing a career. In companies successful staff receives extensive support to develop their essential skills, however for a variety of reasons in academia staff frequently neglect support, even if it is provided internally.

The expertise biolution has acquired from supporting researchers for 20 years is extensive. We are working with academic institutions throughout Europe and based on our international research background we have a deep understanding of the academic world. If you are interested to develop scientific excellence within your institution and reinforce your internal support systems to increase the chances of your staff to successfully compete for external funding you might turn to us.

Our expertise informs our proposal writing support, but we are also happy to share this expertise in workshops and trainings with researchers and realise this is an effective approach to develop grantsmanship at institutions.

ERC Interview Coaching

Successful ERC applicants receive not only substantial financial support, but their visibility as the top tier of Europe’s researchers provides a significant boost to their career. After all the ERC claims that scientific excellence is the sole selection criterion. But how is excellence measured and what is it anyhow? Have you got what it takes?
ERC-panels generally are doing a great job at selecting excellent research projects. But you as an applicant should remember scientific excellence is generated by outstanding individuals who conceive, plan and implement their visionary ideas. Our coachings are highly individual and we aim to develop with you in a stepwise process your slide deck, your oral presentation and some set pieces for the Q&A session. This process has been designed to enhance your performance during the interview, giving the panel not only an informative, well-structured and cohesive overview of your proposal, but also experience you as a coveted high-potential with a clear vision how to become a leader in your field.
If you have made it to the ERC-interview stage, congratulations! Remember that many national contact points provide excellent trainings and also some institutions support their ERC-applicants very effectively. However, if you find yourself in a place where such programs are lacking we are happy to step in. We have a clear vision how successful ERC applicants need to present themselves at the interview. Our track record on proves that our customers effectively communicate at the interview that they got what it takes to implement an ambitious ERC-project as a high potential in their field of research.

make the right impression

We take a very individual approach to our coaching sessions, considering your specific requirements. Usually they are conducted remotely and structured into four phases. Each phase should be initiated by a zoom session and then followed up by at least one more session. 

If you are interested please get in touch and we can set up a zoom meeting to take this further and answer any questions you may have.

PHASE 1

General set-up
What to expect during the interview
Development and revision of slide deck
Story-telling techniques

phase 2

How to prepare
Presentation tips
Develop the oral presentation
Strategies for answering questions
Use of framing

phase 3

Exploring self-presentation
Review of potential answers
Developing set pieces
Address problems and insecurities

phase 4

Mock interviews
Review of potential answers
Self-presentation
Technicalities

workshops

Within our core expertise of proposal support we are continuously engaged in providing guidance to academics in developing their research careers. We have reviewed dozens of outstanding proposals, providing us with a unique sense for success factors in various funding schemes. Our experience from two decades working with outstanding researchers has culminated in a deep understanding of the skills required to develop scientific excellence, succeed in academia, but also in a very personal approach to impart this knowledge effectively. Our workshops are focused on advancing the competitiveness of administrative and research staff at Austrian Research Institutions for competitive funding schemes.

If you are interested to receive support in for your upcoming interview or developing a workshop for you and your staff, contact us today and we can help you make the right impression.

TAILORED workshops
 

Our consultancy services are closely linked to the workshops we offer. In general, we cover a wide spectrum of natural sciences, but are firmly rooted in our core expertise in the Life Sciences. 

 

We offer workshops for:

  • academic staff with a tailored workshop about proposal writing to provide motivation for what is often an arduous and lengthy process.
  • administrative staff to develop an effective in-house team to provide effective support for the application and implementation of externally funded projects.
 

Feel like you need a boost?

 

If you’d like to know more about our training and coaching workshops, get in touch today and we can guide you through the process.

"Invaluable help and support"

"Invaluable help and support covering from the ‘concept’ to the ‘writing’. Helping to drive a ‘good idea’ to a ‘fully competitive project’, being able to learn on how to design and write a grant application to be successful. Fully recommended."

Fatima Crispi
Hospital Clínic de Barcelona · Servicio de Medicina Materno Fetal Consultant and senior researcher

"highly motivated team of biolution"

“The SYMPATH cycle event was a great success, not least due to the highly motivated team of biolution.”

Prof. Achim Schneeberger, MD
AFFiRiS AG, Vienna, Austria Coordinator of SYMPATH

"very happy that biolution assists us"

“We are very happy that biolution assists us in the public outreach elements of our successful ITN “ALKATRAS”, in particular in the design and maintenance of our website.”

Dr. Suzanne Turner
University of Cambridge, UK Senior Lecturer

"important contributions"

“I enjoyed working with Stefan Grünert of biolution, who made important contributions to the funded proposal of our Ludwig Boltzmann Institute.”

Prof. Kaan Boztug, MD
CeMM, Vienna, Austria Director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Rare and Undiagnosed Diseases

"We found a competent partner "

“With biolution we found a competent partner in Life Sciences, who took care of all aspects to organize the event for GEHC – selection of venue, registration, billing, travel arrangement, catering, filming etc. We were very satisfied, with the services provided and will engage biolution next time again.”

Florian Koelle, DI
GE Healthcare Europe GmbH, Life Sciences, Austria Teamleader Biacore Systems DACH & PL

"specific, helpful and valuable"

“We have worked together with biolution on several EU project proposals, and their input has always been very specific, helpful and valuable”.

Mag. Dr. Carolin Auer
Medical University of Graz, Austria Head of Unit for Research Management

"absolutely essential"

“The support by biolution was helpful during stage one of the call, but absolutely essential to obtain our H2020 grant in stage two.”

Prof. Henry Völzke, MD
University Greifswald, Germany Coordinator of EUthyroid

"extensive skill and experience"

"We faced several unexpected challenges during our project, and I am grateful biolution was always there to support us with their extensive skill and experience."

Prof. Gabor Kovacs, MD
Coordinator of DEVELAGE, Medical University Vienna, Austria
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