Should I or we appear in the text? New!

A proposal is not a scientific paper and you may allow for a somewhat more personal style. You may add strength to your application by saying I or we. In particular in the sections where your describe your idea and your previous research leading up to the idea it may be ok to say: "I did, we saw, we want to investigate further….etc". If you are going to promote yourself as the PI it may be safe to show that you are in charge by being personal.

There may be cultural differences and Scandinavians may be more direct and personal than other Europeans so do not overdo in any way. COST proposals should be anonymous and they say: “Avoiding pronouns such as “I”, “we”; rather use “the Action”. In all Horizon 2020 proposals including ERC I and we may be ok.

There may be cases where you want to avoid being personal or naming persons/institutions e.g. in not highlighting competing research or findings that may take the focus away from your message. Then you say: One has found… or It has been shown… with a reference.

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