My ERC ExperienceDanupon Nanongkai

Assistant Professor

Theoretical Computer Science Group,

KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden

ERC Starting Grant 2017

Facebook note on this topic in Thai: https://goo.gl/JfbSLf

Homepage: https://goo.gl/041pt4

Plan

1. My Background

2. Why I applied - ERC Grants from a Researcher’s Perspective

3. My ERC Experience

4. ERC Grants & Thailand

Please feel free to ask questions at anytime.

Congratulations

Prof. Parinya Chalermsook

Aalto University, Finland

ERC Starting Grant 2018-2022

and thanks for some input for this talk

1. My Background

Born in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand ~6 years in Bangkok Triam Udom + Kasetsart U. (Comp. Eng.)

2011: PhD, Georgia Tech, USAResearch: Theoretical Computer Science

Postdocs: U. Vienna (Austria) & NTU (Singapore) & Brown (USA)

Since 2015: Assistant ProfessorKTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden

(Theoretical Computer Science Dep.)ERC Starting Grant 2017

2. Why I AppliedERC Grants from a Researcher’s Perspective

ERC Grants – quick overview

• Types: Starting, Consolidator, Advanced

• Generous, Long-Term• Starting Grants: 1.5M Euro (~60M Baht) / 5 years

• Ambitious frontier research• High-risk/high-gain

• Immediate applications – not a focus

• Investigator-driven/bottom-up• No predetermined priority

• Free to identify new opportunities in any field

• One criteria: Excellence• of the researcher and project

* Ambitious* Bottom-up* Research Excellent

Can you apply from Thailand?

• Researchers from anywhere in the world can apply

• Have to spend 50% working time in Europe • Can still work 50% in Thailand

• Examples: (1) 50% Norway + 50% India (2) 50% Finland + 50% Canada

• What if you are bonded? • I hope regulations in Thailand can be flexible for

this great opportunity.

More on this later.

50%

Why I applied for an ERC Grant

• Applied in 2014 as postdoc from Singapore.

• Had a crazy idea that is risky and needs many people and many years to execute. • I want to answer long-standing questions in two

fields by bridging the two.

• Hard to convince experts in one area to work on the other.

• ERC is a unique opportunity to pursue this idea• I can build my own team of PhD students.

• Enough support & security to try bold research ideas

Picture: Mike O'Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge under constructionThis file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Other advantages

• Recognitions: Many institutions/people view ERC grants as awards.

• Security: No worry about grants & job for 5 years• If you move, the grant follows you

• Easier to negotiate for work conditions

• Opportunities for networking & training

• Easier to attract strong people to your group

In Short: Unique opportunity to

• Conduct a high-risk/high-gain project

• on frontier research

• with generous & long-term support.

And you can still spend a lot of time working in Thailand.

3. My ERC Experience

3.1 Attempt #1 (2014)

Attempt #1 (2014)

• Was a postdoc in Singapore + USA.• +1.5 year postdoc at U. Vienna

• Thought to have an “ERC profile” (borderline)

• E.g. 5 papers in top venues (FOCS/STOC). Many won with similar profiles.

• Spent ~2.5 full working months• I decided to apply 5 months before deadline• Spent half of each day working on proposal

• Difficulties: • Had to plan for 5 years. • Needed second plan in case my ideas fail. • Location: Could not attend training sessions in Europe. Hard to get

advices/comments from experienced colleagues in Europe.

Result – Fail in Step 1 & Banned for 2015

• Reviews were done in 2 steps

• New rule in 2014: Fail with grades B or C Cannot apply for 1-2 years

• I got B• Application is of high quality but not

sufficient to pass to Step 2 of the evaluation

• Ranking range: 35%-44%

• Dear authorities: Please consider eliminating the ban. Also, please consider using external reviewers in Step 1.

Lesson – Make CV that sells

• Later I was told that CV was most important in Step 1.

• Panel members may not know your research field well. In theoretical computer science, the most

important venues of publications are conferences and not journals. STOC and FOCS are widely recognized as the most prestigious conferences in the field worldwide. I have published X papers in FOCS and STOC …

The followings are five selected papers. …

The followings are five selected papers. …

My application in 2014

Improvement in 2016

Disappointing, but …

• Had productive years• Partially by following my ERC plan

• Got a position at KTH, Sweden, 2014• Complimented for clear research plan

• Got grant from Swedish Research Council 2015• Ideas from ERC proposal help

Lesson: Applying for ERC grants is a good chance to think ahead and get feedbacks.

3.2 Attempt #2 (2016)

My background then (early 2016)

More experience than 2014:

• Was at KTH for >1 year

• Had successfully advised PhD students

• Got Swedish Research Council Grant 2015

• Participated training sessions by KTH

Stronger profile:

• E.g. 5 9 top papers (FOCS/STOC)

• Made good progress on research proposed in Attempt #1

KTH

Step 1 – Proposal

Spent less time: ~1 month

Built on proposal from Attempt #1

• Some parts were, e.g., done

More help:

• Had more time to get feedbacks, ask questions

• More mentors (esp. people next door)• Feedbacks, old applications, etc.

Result: Pass (top 24%)

Step 2 – Interview

My Panel (PE6 - Computer Science and Informatics)

• Presentation + Question (10 + 15 min.)

• Panel members: Unknown Top Computer Science Experts

• Possibly no expert in my field (Theory CS)

Challenges

• Present your project to general audience

• Answer technical questions from experts

• Answer broad/vague questions from non-experts Picture source http://wowvectors.com/illustration/business-vector-presentation/It islicensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Interview Preparation

Overall: 1 full month. Bugged people. Made slides minimal.

One month before: Training by Swedish Research Council

• Practiced with former panel members, didn’t prepare well

• Comments: Confidence, Slides too technical/dense

The rest one month (full time):

• Practice: >10 with everyone I know, countless on my own

• >20 major revisions of slides

• Challenge: Time limit

One week before: Individual trainer arranged by KTH

• Positive feedbacks. No major comments.

• Comments: Must know exactly what to say in each slide.

First version

Last version

The Interview Day in Brussels

• Arrived in Brussels the night before

• Nervous, but manageable

• Could answer most questions confidently• Luckily, very few unexpected questions

• “No matter what happened, I have done my best.”

* Why you?* Why now?* What if this idea fails? * What is the main challenge of the project?* Isn't the way you do the same as what everyone does?* Your project is very broad. Can you give me something that is not in the scope of this project?* How will you find right students

Sample questions (some are from others)

Result – Granted

“The Panel has recommended your proposal for funding at a sufficiently high position on the rank list to allow actual funding.”

(Complaints) The methodology is sketchy. Hard to judge the timescale since no work plans are provided.

(PI) There are extremely few researchers in the entire world who could put together and implement this kind of a research program.

The proposal clearly demonstrates that the PI has got novel insights that go beyond current and future research directions.

(Project) The project will probably not meet all of its detailed goals, but this kind of a research program will definitely have a long-lasting impact.

(Concern) To me the main uncertainty is the recruitment of excellent PhD students with the right background.

Sample comments

3.3 Six months with the grant

Challenge: Recruitment

• Started recruiting PhD students 6 months before the project started• Took 3-4 months + countless interviews to find each student

• Current PhD student was invaluable• Pushing the project forward + helping new students

• Next challenge: Make sure the team succeeds.

(Also: Handling bureaucracy.)

4. ERC Grants & Thailand

ERC Grants & Thailand

• ERC grants might be useful for Thai researchers and Thailand• Chance for high-risk/high-gain research (exists such funding in Thailand?)• Recognitions to researchers and their organizations

• Possible supports for ERC candidates• Have flexible regulations – Can bonded Thai researchers work half-time abroad without hassels?• Let the young focus on research (e.g. small teaching load)• Connect with host instutitions, experienced people• Prepare future candidates (e.g. visiting research fellowships by Poland, Estonia, etc.)

• Collaboration with ERC grantees• e.g. International Arrangement fundings (by US, Japan, China, etc.)

• ERC as a grant model• investigator-driven/bottom-up• No priorities set by politicians.

Conclusions

• An ERC grant gives a great opportunity to conduct a high-risk/high-gain project on frontier research.

• It also brings recognitions and other benefits.

• How can Thailand benefit from this opportunity?

Thank you

Acknowledgement: There are many people who have been helpful in the process: Parinya Chalermsook, BunditLaekhanukit, Thatchaphol Saranurak, Jittat Fakcharoenphol, Christoph Lenzen, Per Austrin, Johan Håstad, Jakob Nordström, Dilian Gurov, Monika Henzinger, Sayan Bhattacharya, Sebastian Krinninger, Fei Chen, Philipp Haller, Gopal Pandurangan, Peter Robinson, Dimos Dimarogonas. I apologize that I did not manage to mention everyone in this talk and apologize if I miss anyone.