Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions (MSCA) Individual Fellowships (IF) University of Jyväskylä 10.5.2016 Satu Huuha-Cissokho 2 ACADEMY OF FINLAND
Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Innovative Training Networks, ITN Cofunding of regional, national and international programmes COFUND Research and Innovation Staff Exchange RISE Funding for doctoral training networks Applicants academic or non-academic sector actors based in different countries Open recruitment of doctoral students to the network Co-funding of (national) doctoral and fellowship programmes (max 50 %) Applicant is a single organisation or a network, which already has existing doctoral or fellowship programmes Open recruitment of doctoral students, international peer review of fellowships Short-term exchange of existing staff members (max 12 months/person) Salaries are not covered Inter-sectoral and international (third countries) co-operation Individual Fellowships IF Researchers Night Applicant is an individual researcher together with host organisation From Europe to any country, from any country to Europe For experienced researcher: PhD degree or at least four years of research experience after MSc Support for organizing public events targeted to general public to stimulate interest in research careers Europe-wide event every September Applicant is an individual organisation or a consortium 3 ACADEMY OF FINLAND
Individual Fellowships (IF) Objective enhance the creative and innovative potential of experienced researchers wishing to diversity their individual competence in terms of skill acquisition through advanced training, international and intersectoral mobility provide opportunities to acquire and transfer new knowledge, work on research and innovation in a European context (EU/AC) or outside Europe Scope individual, trans-national fellowships awarded to the best or most promising researchers of any nationality to any country in the world Includes mechanism for return and reintegration of researchers from outside Europe who have previously worked in Europe Expected Impact strengthen the contact network of the researcher and the host organisation catalyse the development of researcher s career and enhance and maximise their contribution to the knowledge-based economy and society 4 ACADEMY OF FINLAND
IF European and Global European Fellowships Global Fellowships 5 ACADEMY OF FINLAND
Associated countries (ACs): Iceland Israel Norway Moldova Albania Switzerland Bosnia and Herzegovina Faroe Islands FYR Macedonia Ukraine Montenegro Tunisia Serbia Georgia Turkey 6 ACADEMY OF FINLAND
IF European and Global European Fellowships Duration between 12 and 24 months Host organisation = target organisation, situated in EU/AC For all nationalities without limitations Secondments in EU/AC possible Global Fellowships Duration between 24 and 36 months 12-24 months outgoing phase in TC + 12 months mandatory return period in EU/AC Host organisation in EU/AC, partner organisation in TC For all EU/AC nationalities without limitations, for TC nationalities longterm residence (5 yrs) in EU/AC required Secondments in EU/AC possible 7 ACADEMY OF FINLAND
IF European and Global Minimum country participation in an IF project European Fellowships Beneficiary (applicant) Obligatory: 1 beneficiary located in EU or AC Partner organisations Optional: partner organisation(s) in EU or AC (for secondments) Global Fellowships Obligatory: 1 beneficiary in EU or AC Obligatory: 1 partner organisation in third country (non-eu, non-ac) Letter of Commitment required Optional: partner organisation(s) in EU or AC (for secondments) 8 ACADEMY OF FINLAND
Individual Fellowships For experienced researchers = must at the deadline for the submission of proposals, be in a possession of a doctoral degree or have at least four years of full-time equivalent research experience after obtaining the degree which formally entitles to embark on a doctorate (in Finland Master s degree) Beneficiary = Host organisation located in EU/AC: academic or non-academic sector organisation, international organisation (e.g. university, research institute, large company, SME, industrial organisation, NGO) recruits the researcher Partner organisation(s) host the researcher during secondments: located in EU/AC in Global Fellowships: third country organisation which host the researcher during outgoing period 9 ACADEMY OF FINLAND
Individual Fellowships Mobility rules 1. For European Fellowships: The researcher must not have resided or carried out his/her main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the beneficiary for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the call deadline (exception: refugees) 2. For Career Restart, Reintegration or Society & Enterprise Panel The researcher must not have resided or carried out his/her main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the beneficiary for more than 36 months in the 5 years immediately before the call deadline 3. For Global Fellowships The researcher must not have resided or carried out his/her main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the third country where the initial outgoing phase takes place for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the call deadline (exception: refugees) 10 ACADEMY OF FINLAND
Individual Fellowships Academic sector Public or private higher education establishment awarding academic degrees; public or private non-profit research institutes whose primary mission is to pursue research. Non-academic sector Any socio-economic actor not included in the academic sector e.g. industry, business, SMEs, government, civil society organisations (NGOs, trusts, foundations), museums, hospitals, cultural institutions 11 ACADEMY OF FINLAND
Individual Fellowships Secondment or not? Mobility between organisations is considered an asset for personal and career development of researchers. Mobility between academic and non-academic sector is encouraged where this further advances research or innovation. During the project researcher may be seconded to an additional partner organisation located in EU/AC. Secondments must significantly contribute to the impact of the fellowship. The applicants are advised to consider carefully whether the research would be advanced by a secondment, and whether it should take place in the academic or non-academic sector. Secondments possible only in EU or AC! Duration of secondments max 3 or 6 months (depends on the duration of the fellowship) One or several stays, in one or several organisations Secondments are different from short visits! 12 ACADEMY OF FINLAND
Individual Fellowships Key features Bottom-up approach (any research field freely chosen by the applicant) Concrete plan of training-through research at the host organisation Career Development Plan (however not included in the proposal) The researcher is expected to implement the research/innovation activities also by means of organising/taking part in training courses, workshops, summer schools, seminars, conferences etc. aimed at sharing knowledge, acquiring new skills and developing careers Multi/interdisciplinary expertise, inter-sectoral experience, transferable skills Appropriate supervision and support provided by the supervisor(s). Regular meetings between the supervisor and the researcher are expected. Secondments in EU/AC possible (often in the non-academic sector), maximum duration 6 (3) months 13 ACADEMY OF FINLAND
Individual Fellowships Career Development Plan Objective to develop and significantly widen the competences of the researcher, particularly in terms of multi/interdisciplinary expertise, intersectoral experience and transferable skills The plan comprises researcher s training and career needs, including training on transferable skills, planning for publications and participation in conferences. High-level plan which will act as a reference for the researcher to monitor the progress of work, training and publications, and to take corrective measures when needed. Training activities may include e.g. training-through research, hands-on training activities, intersectoral or interdisciplinary transfer of knowledge, research and financial management of the action, organisation of scientific, training and dissemination events 14 ACADEMY OF FINLAND
Individual Fellowships Submission of the proposal Proposal consists of: Part A (fill in online forms) and Part B (in two separate pdf files following the given structure) Proposal should be prepared by the applicant researcher in liaison with the applicant organisation which is represented by the supervisor. It is possible both to the researcher and the supervisor to create, modify and submit the proposal in SEP 15 ACADEMY OF FINLAND
Financial regime Researcher unit cost (EUR) Institutional unit cost (EUR) Living allowance Mobility allowance Family allowance Research, training and networking costs Management and indirect costs 4650* 600 500** 800 650 * Adjusted with a country correction co-efficient (FI: 116,6 %) ** The family status of the researcher will be determined at the deadline of the call (will not be revised during project) Note: For global fellowships the ccc of the destination country will be applied Adjusted amount will not change in case of secondments 16 ACADEMY OF FINLAND
IF: Evaluation of proposals 8 scientific panels for EF and GF: Chemistry (CHE), Social Sciences and Humanities (SOC), Economic Sciences (ECO), Information Science and Engineering (ENG), Environment and Geosciences (ENV), Life Sciences (LIF), Mathematics (MAT), Physics (PHY) Career Restart panel (EF-CAR) Multidisciplinary panel to EF applicants who wish to resume research in Europe after a career break, e.g. after parental leave, working outside research etc. (duration of career break at least 12 months immediately prior to the call deadline) Reintegration panel (EF-RI) Multidisciplinary panel to EF applicants to researchers who wish to return and reintegrate in a longer term research position in EU/AC (must be national or long-term resident of EU/AC). The researcher must move or have moved from a third country directly to the EU/AC where the beneficiary is located. Society & Enterprise Panel (EF-SE) Multidisciplinary panel dedicated to career opportunities for researchers seeking to work on R&I projects in an organisation from the non-academic sector. (ear-marked 10 M budget) 17 ACADEMY OF FINLAND
IF: Evaluation of proposals Each proposal will be assessed independently by at least three experts chosen by REA Proposals may be evaluated remotely An expert will be designated as the proposal rapporteur Proposals will be verified for their compliance with the operational capacity of the beneficiary (if lack of operational capacity the proposal may be rejected) Proposals will not be evaluated anonymously Evaluation of proposals against the IF evaluation criteria applying weighting factors Evaluation scores will be awarded for each of the three criteria. All of the separate elements of each criterion will be considered by the experts in their assessment. 18 ACADEMY OF FINLAND
Award criteria: IF Excellence (50 % weighting) Impact (30 % weighting) Implementation (20 % weighting) Quality and credibility of the research/innovation project; level of novelty, appropriate consideration of inter/multidisciplinary and gender aspects Enhancing the potential and future career prospects of the researcher Coherence and effectiveness of the work plan Quality and appropriateness of the training and of the two-way transfer of knowledge between the researcher and the host Quality of the proposed measures to exploit and disseminate the project results Appropriateness of the allocation of tasks and resources Quality of the supervision and of the integration in the team/institution Capacity of the researcher to reach or reenforce a position of professional maturity/independence Quality of the proposed measures to communicate the project activities to different target audiences Appropriateness of the management structure and procedures, including risk management Appropriateness of the institutional environment (infrastructure) 19 ACADEMY OF FINLAND
Timetable and budget of the current call Individual Fellowships (IF) Budget of the 2016 call 218.5 M of which 29 M reserved for GF, and 10 M for S&E panel Publication of call 12 April 2016 Deadline for submission of proposals 14 September 2016, 17:00 CET Evaluation of proposals October-December 2016 Information on the outcome of the evaluation February 2017 Indicative date for the signing of Grant Agreements May 2017 20 ACADEMY OF FINLAND
Statistics IF 2015 call Total number of proposals Finnish host organisations Topic Code Evaluated % Retained for Funding % Success Rate Reserve List Evaluated % Retained for funding Success rate % Reserve list MSCA-IF-2015-EF 7404 88,4% 1053 90,5% 14,2% 266 89 76,7% 9 10,1 % 3 MSCA-IF-2015-GF 976 11,6% 110 9,5% 11,3% 50 27 23,3% 3 8,1 % 1 TOTAL 8380 100,0% 1163 100,0% 13,9% 316 116 12 10,3 % 4 21 ACADEMY OF FINLAND
Some tips for a winning proposal Contact all the institutions you are applying with early Read all the call documents carefully, particularly Guide for Applicants, follow all the guidelines carefully, provide all the required information, respect the structure of Part B Consider the role of the non-academic sector participants (SME, industry, NGOs, public administration) Provide a convincing concept and work plan (training-through research, career development, researcher-supervisor meetings) Make use of the expertise of your supervisor or colleagues who have already received funding from MSCA Consider the evaluation criteria. Does your application give sufficient details for all the evaluation criteria? 22 ACADEMY OF FINLAND
For more information contact your MSCA NCP Satu Huuha-Cissokho MSCA National Contact Point (NCP) Academy of Finland satu.huuha-cissokho@aka.fi Tel. 029 533 5075 Hanna Vuorinen MSCA National Contact Point (NCP) Tekes hanna.vuorinen@tekes.fi Tel. 029 505 5649 23 ACADEMY OF FINLAND