Right on the deadline, I submitted my ERC Starting Grant application. Obviously I chose Trento as host and, albeit much less obviously, “TRENTO” as acronym.* It was a huge amount of work and, I won’t lie, I know the chances of even just making it to the interview stage are meager to say the least. However, I have decided that I will openly report the outcome of the evaluation here in this news section, for a simple reason: in academia there is a tendency to only discuss one’s successes, whereas openly talking about one’s insuccesses is considered somewhat of a “taboo”. I hope that by openly discussing a (likely) failure/insuccess, I will help normalizing this type of discussions which, while often done in oral form, are rarely done in written form - I believe this can only make for a healthier community (I’ll note I have been prompted also by Natalie Hogg’s excellent blog, which I regularly read and highly recommend, and which does not shy away from openly discussing lack of success). So, regardless of the outcome, I will get back with an update on this in March, while in the meantime enjoying a deserved break!
*Just because it already worked once: my successful Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship application, which would have been hosted by the University of Padova had I not declined it, indeed had “PADOVA” as acronym.