Fostering balanced brain circulation – ERA Fellowships

Call Updates

Sep 16, 2022 5:08:46 PM

Dear applicants,

1.  Due to a technical limitation of the submission procedure, applicants from Greece (as applicants from the Outermost Regions of France and Spain (Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Réunion, Mayotte, Saint-Martin, and the Canary Islands) did not have access to the call specific question asking them whether they wish to be considered for the funding opportunity under the ERA Fellowships. Applicants from the concerned territories will be contacted after the call deadline to provide a reply to the ERA-Fellowships call specific question.
2.  Due to the same technical limitation of the submission procedure, applicants from Luxembourg have had access to the ERA Fellowship call specific question. As Luxembourg is not an eligible widening country, their application will not be taken into consideration for the ERA-Fellowships call.

The ERA Fellowships team

Jul 11, 2022 12:52:20 PM

A revised Guide for Applicants version 1.2 is now available under "Topic conditions and documents", with minor modifications listed on pages 7, 8, 9 under "History of changes". 

May 31, 2022 5:16:01 PM

Dear applicants,

The ERA Fellowships call (HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-TALENTS-04) uses a simplified submission procedure together with the 2022 call for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions - Postdoctoral Fellowships (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01-01). ERA Fellowship applicants submit their proposal to the “European Fellowships” action (HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF) under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions - Postdoctoral Fellowships (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01-01) and can be considered for the ERA Fellowship funding if they opt-in to the ERA Fellowship call.

In practice this means that applicants for the ERA Fellowship call are asked in section ”5 - Other questions” of the proposal submission form whether or not they wish to be considered for the funding opportunity under the ERA Fellowships call.

Additional details can be found in the Postdoctoral Fellowships Guide for Applicants 2022.

https://rea.ec.europa.eu/funding-and-grants/horizon-europe-marie-sklodowska-curie-actions/horizon-europe-msca-how-apply_en#postdoctoral-fellowships--call-2022

Due to a technical limitation of the submission procedure, applicants from the Outermost Regions of France and Spain (Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Réunion, Mayotte, Saint-Martin, and the Canary Islands) do not have access to the call specific question asking them whether they wish to be considered for the funding opportunity under the ERA Fellowships. Applicants from the concerned territories will be contacted after the call deadline to provide a reply to the ERA-Fellowships call specific question.

Eligible ERA Fellowships proposals with a host organisation located in an eligible Widening Country and who passed all the thresholds will be ranked in the ERA Fellowships call, in case they fail to receive funding under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions - Postdoctoral Fellowships call.

The ERA Fellowships team

Fostering balanced brain circulation – ERA Fellowships

TOPIC ID: HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-TALENTS-04-01

Programme: Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON)
Call: Fostering balanced brain circulation – ERA Fellowships (HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-TALENTS-04)
Type of action: HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Type of MGA: HORIZON Unit Grant [HORIZON-AG-UN]
Deadline model: single-stage
Planned opening date: 12 May 2022
Deadline date: 14 September 2022 17:00:00 Brussels time

Topic description

ExpectedOutcome:

This action will build on the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 action (HORIZON-MSCA-PF-2022). The target group are host organisations located in Widening Countries.

Project results are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:

For supported ERA Fellows:

• Increased set of research and transferable skills and competences, leading to improved employability and career prospects of fellows within academia and beyond;
• New mind-sets and approaches to R&I work forged through interdisciplinary, inter-sectoral and international experience;
• Enhanced networking and communication capacities with scientific peers, as well as with the general public, that will increase and broaden the research and innovation impact;

For participating organisations in the Widening Countries:

• Increased alignment of working conditions for researchers in accordance with the principles set out in the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers;
• Enhanced quality and sustainability of research training and supervision;
• Increased global attractiveness, visibility and reputation of the participating organisation(s);
• Stronger R&I capacity and output among participating organisations; better transfer of knowledge;
• Regular feedback of research results into teaching and education at participating organisations.

For Widening countries:

• Increased attractiveness for researchers to entities in widening countries, by providing competitive grants and spreading attractive working and employment practices;
• More postdoctoral researchers attracted to widening countries.

Scope:

Fellowships should be provided to excellent researchers[1], undertaking cross-border mobility either to or between EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries. Applications are expected to be made jointly by the researcher together with a beneficiary in the academic or non-academic sector located in a Widening Country.

ERA Fellowships should take place in a Widening Country. Fellowships are open to researchers of any nationality who wish to engage in R&I projects by either coming to Europe from any country in the world or moving within Europe to a Widening Country.

Secondments

Researchers receiving an ERA Fellowship may opt to include a secondment phase, within the overall duration of their fellowship in any country worldwide. The secondment phase can be a single period or be divided into shorter mobility periods. Secondments cannot exceed one third of the standard fellowship duration and should be in line with the project objectives, adding significant value and impact to the fellowship.

Placements in the non-academic sector

ERA Fellowships can provide an additional period of up to six months to support researchers seeking a placement at the end of the project to work on R&I projects in an organisation from the non-academic sector established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country. While this possibility is also available to fellows recruited in the non-academic sector, such a placement should be implemented at a different non-academic host organisation established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country. The request for such a placement should be an integral part of the proposal, explaining the added-value for the project and for the career development of the researcher, and will be subject to evaluation. It must be substantiated by a Letter of Commitment from the European non-academic organisation hosting the secondment[2]. This incentive aims at promoting career moves between sectors and organisations and thereby stimulate innovation and knowledge transfer while expanding career opportunities for researchers.

Training activities

The training activities implemented under the ERA Fellowships should include training for key transferable skills[3], foster innovation and entrepreneurship, (e.g. commercialisation of results, Intellectual Property Rights, communication, public engagement and citizen science) and promote Open Science practices (open access to publications and to research data, FAIR data management, etc.).

Career Development Plan

In order to equip ERA Fellows with skills that enhance and expand their career opportunities inside and outside academia, a Career Development Plan should be established jointly by the supervisor(s) and the researcher. In addition to research objectives, this plan should comprise the researcher's training and career needs, including training on transferable skills, teaching, planning for publications and participation in conferences and events aiming at opening science and research to citizens. The Plan has to be submitted as a project deliverable at the beginning of the action and can be updated when needed.

Specific Topic Conditions:
The expected EU contribution depends on the number of person-months requested. For the applicable unit contributions, see specific conditions for the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships at the end of the MSCA Work Programme part.

[1]The part of the MSCA Work Programme referring to synergies with the Euratom Research and Training Programme 2021-2025 does not apply to the ERA Fellowships.

[2]In the grant agreement, the non-academic host organisations must participate as associated partners.

[3]As an illustration, Eurodoc published a list of such transferable skills at: http://eurodoc.net/skills-report-2018.pdf