ERC StG Mentoring Event 2025 - Focus on the Oral Interview Process - PE Mock Oral Interview Panel

On September 25, 2025, from 14:00 to 16:00 CET, the Young Academy of Europe (YAE), in collaboration with the Academia Europaea (AE) Budapest Knowledge Hub, hosted an online event on Zoom for researchers worldwide who are interested in applying for the next round of the European Research Council’s (ERC) Starting Grant (StG). One of the main goals of this event series is to promote wider participation among researchers from EU13, Associated Countries as well as outside of Europe. The online event consisted of two parts. The second part of the event focused on providing insights into how oral interview panels work and how interviewees should present their project and answer questions from the evaluation panel. Although these were only mock interviews and panels, we believe that they offered an important opportunity for applicants to gain key insights into what makes a successful ERC application and a better understanding of the evaluation process. We had three parallel sessions by domain, featuring as interviewees YAE members who have received an ERC StG, and expert panel members with relevant expertise in oral interview evaluation. Physical Sciences and Engineering (PE) domain interviewees: Toma Susi (ERC StG obtained in 2017, panel PE5, Project title: ATMEN – Atomic precision materials engineering) and Monica Morales-Masis (ERC StG obtained in 2019, panel PE8, Project title: CREATE – Crafting Complex Hybrid Materials for Sustainable Energy Conversion). Panel members: Steve Evans (MAE, University of Cambridge), Nicoletta Liguori (FYAE, IFCO), Linn Leppert (FYAE, University of Twente), Jovana Milic (FYAE, University of Turku), Sara Nocentini (FYAE, LENS), Mihály Pósfai (MAE, University of Pannonia), Wolfgang Tress (FYAE, Zurich University of Applied Sciences), Péter Vancsó (Centre for Energy Research, HUN-REN), Gianvito Vilé (FYAE, Polytechnic University of Milan), Ina Vollmer (Utrecht University). The first part was a plenary information session with welcoming remarks from Katalin Solymosi (Outgoing Chair, YAE and Vice Academic Director, AE Budapest Hub) followed by a presentation from Alban Kellerbauer (FYAE, MAE, Head of Unit ‘Support to the Scientific Council’, ERC Executive Agency) about the latest changes in ERC’s 2026 and 2027 Work Programmes. The presentation was followed by a Q&A session moderated by Anna Kuppuswamy (YAE Vice-Chair). Finally, in a prerecorded pitch, Eörs Szathmáry (MAE, ERC Advanced and Synergy Grant Holder, former ERC Advanced Panel member and Synergy Panel Vice-President, Parmenides Foundation, Eötvös Loránd University) provided useful tips and insights for ERC oral interviews. The video of the plenary part of the event is available here:    • ERC Starting Grant Mentoring Event 2025 - ...   Videos of the mock oral interview breakout sessions are available here: SH mock oral interview panel:    • ERC Starting Grant Mentoring Event 2025 - ...   LS mock oral interview panel:    • ERC Starting Grant Mentoring Event 2025 - ...   PE mock oral interview panel:    • ERC StG Mentoring Event 2025 - Focus on th...   For more details on the event see: https://yacadeuro.org/4th-erc-startin...