ICT25 / Submission Process and Applicant Response Phase

About the Submission Process 

• As projects undergo assessment by international reviewers, all proposals must be written in English.
• The length of the proposal is determined by character counts and page limits in case of uploads in the Funding Portal.
• Character counts include spaces.
• Please write precisely and address the required criteria, while also providing sufficient detail to allow an evaluation by international peers.
• The proposal will be reviewed by 3-4 external international reviewers very specific to the topic of your proposal. Please keep in mind that you are writing the proposal for both the expert reviewers and a comprehensive interdisciplinary jury.

Applicant Response Phase (22nd - 29th of August 2025)

The purpose of the applicant response step is to allow the core team to correct any factual errors or conceptual misunderstandings in the external peer reviews. The applicants should respond directly to reviewer comments in a constructive manner.

Scope of applicant response

As much as possible, the applicant response should refer to parts of the full proposal where the reviewer’s concerns are already addressed. Only where necessary and appropriate, should references to peer-reviewed publications in order to correct any factual inaccuracies in the reviews be provided. In addition to providing the DOI, applicants should clearly specify the section (figure, data, text) of the publication that supports their response. Pictures, graphs, or other documents themselves cannot be inserted or attached.

• New information, including new research results and methods, should not be provided.
• Applicant responses should not include references to any new awards, appointments, or publications that may have occurred since the submission of the full proposal.
• Both the scientific workplan and CVs are assessed as at the time of the full proposal submission, and therefore no updates should be provided. Such additional information will not be considered by the jury members.
• Response should be clearly presented, objective and concise. The limit of 3,000 characters (with spaces) applies for all teams. Thus, only include information that clearly addresses the points of the reviewer.

Process for applicants

• Applicants will be given 7 calendar days to respond to the peer reviews (22nd to 29th of August). 
• All core team members will receive an email notification from the Funding Portal when the applicant response phase is open.
• Core team members are therefore strongly advised to regularly check their provided email address during the indicative time period.
• All core team members will have access to the anonymized reviews for their proposal and have the opportunity to edit the response.
• Only the PI&C can submit the final applicant response. Please note that this must be submitted by the specified time and date.

What will happen to the applicant response?

• The applicant’s response will be provided to the panel after the panel has received all external reviews and prior to the panel meeting to determine funding.
• Applicant’s responses will not be viewed by the external reviewers.
• The jury panel will be briefed about the scope of permitted responses and informed to ignore responses that fail to observe these guidelines. Panel members will consider how well applicants have addressed any concerns raised by the reviewers and will consider additional valid evidence provided within the response.
• Please note that the jury panel are permitted to both up- and downgrade their evaluation of proposals based on the content and quality of the applicant response.
  
• Please note that, depending on its content and quality, the applicant response maycan potentially have potential positive andand/or negative consequenceseffects foron the evaluation of the proposal by the jury panel. 

Submission of a response to reviews is not compulsory. However, the jury panel will be informed that all teams were provided with the opportunity to respond to reviews.