International Cooperation

SAS-UPJS ERC Visiting Fellowship Grants - Call open until 30.9.2021

“Fellowships to Visit ERC Grantee” is a European Research Council (ERC) initiative which aims at fostering higher involvement and better success rate for researchers from EU countries which have considerably lower representation of scientists in ERC calls. The ERC encourages national and/or regional authorities and organisations to set up visiting fellowship programmes to fund potential candidates for the ERC’s calls to visit the teams of existing ERC-funded Principal Investigators. Such schemes will allow the selected candidates to strengthen their research profile and vision in an internationally competitive research environment before applying for an ERC grant.

The aim of the "SAS-UPJS ERC Visiting Fellowship Grants" programme, which is a part of the ERC initiative, is to encourage and support researchers from the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS) and from the Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice (UPJS) to apply for the ERC grants, to give them the opportunity to share experience with ERC projects Principal Investigators and their research teams, to learn the best practices in successful project preparation and management. The scheme should result in increasing number of applications, in their better quality and higher success rate.

Duration and available funds

For applicants from SAS

Duration of the project is 1 to 3 months. The amount of available funds is up to €12,000 per project (up to €4,000 per month). It covers travel expenses to the country of the host institution (return trip), local travel expenses, accommodation costs and living allowances during the fellowship for applicants who are employees of the SAS institute or centre.

For applicants from UPJS

Duration of the project is 1 to 4 months. The amount of available funds is up to €12,000 per project (up to €3,000 per month). It covers travel expenses to the country of the host institution (return trip), local travel expenses, accommodation costs and living allowances during the fellowship for applicants who are employees of the UPJS.

Eligibility criteria

The “SAS-UPJS ERC Visiting Fellowship Grants” is open to researchers regardless of their specialization or field of study. The potential applicant must:

• be an employee of the SAS institute or centre (for applicants from the SAS) or UPJS (for applicants from UPJS),
• have a quality of research and outputs close to ERC criteria,
• submit a plan for a research stay including an outline of the future ERC research project proposal,
• submit a letter of invitation of the ERC project Principal Investigator and the host institution,
• accept a commitment to submit a research project proposal in any of the ERC calls within 24 months after the fellowship completion. The planned research must be conducted at the SAS institute or centre (for applicants from the SAS), or at the UPJS (for applicants from the UPJS),
• failure to meet the fellow’s obligation to apply for an ERC grant within 24 months from the date of the fellowship’s completion will result in the requirement to return all of the funds.

Evaluation and selection - SAS

Each proposal will be evaluated by two foreign internationally recognized reviewers. The selection will be made by the SAS Commission for the Evaluation of International Projects or by the ad hoc commission created by the Presidium of the SAS. The final decision on awarding the grants shall be made by the Presidium of the SAS.

Evaluation and selection - UPJS

Each proposal will be evaluated by two foreign internationally recognized reviewers. The selection will be made by the UPJS Internal Grant System Commission, which will be supplemented ad hoc by domestic experts from the relevant disciplines based on the decision of the Rector of the UPJS. The final decision on awarding the grants shall be made by the Rector of the UPJS.

Call for proposals for the period 2021 – 2022

The Slovak Academy of Sciences and the Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice announce the call for applications under the “SAS-UPJS ERC Visiting Fellowship Grants” for the period 2021 – 2022. The call is open to researchers from all disciplines. The main criterion is the excellence of research and the potential of the applicant to receive an ERC grant.

Submission of proposals for applicants from the SAS

Proposals must be submitted on the attached application form electronically to dolna@up.upsav.sk, printed and signed copy to PhDr. Ľudmila Dolná, PhD., Department of International Cooperation. The deadline for submitting is 30 September 2021. Structure of an invitation letter is available in documents for download. The list of ERC principal investigators who are willing to accept applicants for their research stay is available on request.

Contact person and further information for the SAS

PhDr. Ľudmila Dolná, PhD.

Odbor medzinárodnej spolupráce

Úrad SAV

Štefánikova 19

814 38 Bratislava

Tel.: +421 2 57510 179

E-mail: dolna@up.upsav.sk

Submission of proposals for applicants from the UPJS

Proposals must be submitted on the application form electronically via the CCVaPP UPJS portal (http://portal.ccvapp.upjs.sk/grantcalls). The applicant is obliged to deliver the generated, printed and signed confirmation of the application for financial support to the CCV and PP UPJS Project Support Department, or to the filing office of the UPJS Rectorate within two working days from the day when the application was submitted. The deadline for submitting is 30 September 2021. Structure of an invitation letter is available in documents for download. The list of ERC principal investigators who are willing to accept applicants for their research stay is available on request.

Contact person and further information for the UPJS

Ing. Ivan Pezlar

Koordinátor podpory projektov rámcových programov

Centrum celoživotného vzdelávania a podpory projektov

Oddelenie podpory projektov

Univerzita Pavla Jozefa Šafárika v Košiciach

Šrobárova 2

041 80 Košice

Tel: +421 55 234 1276

E-mail: ivan.pezlar@upjs.sk