Our most initial communications with new researchers working on Horizon 2020 or ERC grant proposals include an overview of the expected evaluation process for each respective grant. Such an overview is based on our experience working with countless grant applications and allows us to track winning grant proposals and note a repeating structure for success. It often happens, during such initial communications, that a researcher will comment on a peer or colleague whom did not follow the

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... regular practice and recommendations and nevertheless was awarded with the grant they were after. It is exactly at this point that we want to make an important distinction between such 'winning' grants exceptions and those that won as well but followed the more customary paths. In this post, we'll address this issue, refer to its "distorting effect", and offer our recommendations for success.