European calls to attract talent are an excellent opportunity for research staff looking to join the UDC research community. The work of the OCPI focuses on calls under Pillar I - Excellent Science of the European Union's research framework programme, Horizon Europe.

Specifically, we focus on the European Research Council (ERC) calls in all its modalities and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), with special emphasis on the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships (MSCA-PF).

The OCPI provides a comprehensive service that includes:

• Advice and strategic guidance: We work together with the research staff from the initial ideation phase of the proposal, guiding in the maturation of the project idea and its adequacy to the call.
• Assistance in proposal preparation and editing: We help research staff to develop strong proposals, to clearly articulate research objectives and methodology, and to ensure that all key aspects are well covered.
• Proposal review: We review proposals for consistency, accuracy and compliance with evaluation criteria.
• Support in budget preparation and administrative management: We assist in the preparation of the project budget and take care of the administrative management, ensuring that deadlines and formal requirements are met.
• ERC interview preparation: We offer assistance in the preparation of presentations and ERC interview questions, providing guidance on the best strategies for answering questions and highlighting the strengths of the proposal.