CO-FUNDING OF REGIONAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMES – H2020-MSCA-COFUND-2015

Planned Opening Date – 14-04-2015
Budget – €80,000,000
Deadline Date – 01-10-2015
Objective:
The COFUND scheme aims at stimulating regional, national or international programmes to foster excellence in researchers’ training, mobility and career development, spreading the best practices of Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions.
This will be achieved by co-funding new or existing regional, national, and international programmes to open up to, and provide for, international, intersectoral and interdisciplinary research training, as well as transnational and cross-sectoral mobility of researchers at all stages of their career.
Scope:
Each proposal funded under the COFUND scheme shall have a sole participant that will be responsible for the availability of the necessary matching funds to execute the proposal.
Participants submit multi-annual proposals for new or existing doctoral programmes or fellowship programmes that may be run at regional, national or international level. The evaluation is organised in two different panels: A) Doctoral programmes and B) Fellowship programmes. Support cannot be awarded to researchers who are already permanently employed at the host organisation.
Expected impact:
The COFUND scheme will on a voluntary basis exploit synergies between European Union actions and those at regional and national level, as well as with other actions at international level. The scheme will have a leverage effect on regional, national or international funding programmes for early-stage researchers and experienced researchers. This impact is expected to extend to:
1. enabling the relevant regional, national and international actors to contribute significantly to the development within their own setting of high quality human resources, by introducing and/or further developing the trans-national dimension of their offers;
2. increasing the numerical and/or qualitative impact, in terms of supported researchers or working/employment conditions;
3. combating fragmentation in terms of objectives, evaluation methods and working conditions of regional, national or international offers in this area.

INDIVIDUAL FELLOWSHIPS (IF) – H2020-MSCA-IF-2015

Planned Opening Date – 12-03-2015
Budget – €215,000,000
Deadline Date – 10-09-2015 17:00:00 (Brussels local time)

Objective:
The goal of Individual Fellowships is to enhance the creative and innovative potential of experienced researchers wishing to diversify their individual competence in terms of skill acquisition at multi- or interdisciplinary level through advanced training, international and intersectoral mobility.
Individual Fellowships provide opportunities to acquire and transfer new knowledge and to work on research in a European context (EU Member States and Associated Countries) or outside Europe. The scheme particularly supports the return and reintegration of researchers from outside Europe who have previously worked here. It also develops or helps to restart the careers of individual researchers that show great potential, considering their experience.
Scope:
Support is foreseen for individual, trans-national fellowships awarded to the best or most promising researchers for employment in EU Member States or Associated Countries, based on an application made jointly by the researcher and host organisation in the academic or non-academic sectors.
Fellowships are either European Fellowships or Global Fellowships. European Fellowships are held in EU Member States or Associated Countries and are open to researchers currently within and outside Europe. The country where the European Fellowship is held is subject to the rules of mobility. Global Fellowships are based on a secondment to a third country and a mandatory 12 month return period to a European host. The country where the Global Fellowship secondment takes place is subject to the rules of mobility, whereas the return phase is not.
Return and reintegration of researchers into a longer term research position in Europe, including in their country of origin, is supported via a separate multi-disciplinary reintegration panel of the European Fellowships. For the reintegration panel, there shall be mobility into Europe.
Support to individuals to resume research in Europe after a career break, e.g. after parental leave, is ensured via a separate multi-disciplinary career restart panel of the European Fellowships. To qualify for the career restart panel, researchers must not have been active in research for at least 12 months immediately prior to the deadline for submission.
Researchers receiving an Individual Fellowship may opt to include a secondment phase in Europe, notably in the non-academic sector, within the overall duration of their fellowship. For a fellowship of 18 months or less, the secondment phase may last up to three months. For a fellowship of more than 18 months, the secondment phase may last up to six months. The secondment phase can be a single period or be divided into shorter mobility periods. The secondment should significantly add to the impact of the fellowship.
A Career Development Plan should be established jointly by the supervisor(s) and the researcher. In addition to research objectives, this plan comprises the researcher’s training and career needs, including training on transferable skills, planning for publications and participation in conferences.
Expected impact:
• Individual Fellowships are expected to add significantly to the development of the best and most promising researchers active in Europe, in order to enhance and maximise their contribution to the knowledge-based economy and society.
• The action will also strengthen the contact network of both the researcher and the host organisation.
• The fellowship will contribute to realising the full potential of researchers and to catalysing significant development in their careers in both the academic and non-academic sectors.
• Some researchers will be resuming a research career in Europe after a break, or reintegrating within Europe after living abroad.

MARIE SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE RESEARCH AND INNOVATION STAFF EXCHANGE (RISE) – MSCA-RISE-2015
Planned Opening Date – 06-01-2015
Total Call Budget – €80,000,000
Deadline Date – 28-04-2015
Objective:
The RISE scheme will promote international and inter-sector collaboration through research and innovation staff exchanges, and sharing of knowledge and ideas from research to market (and vice-versa) for the advancement of science and the development of innovation.
The scheme fosters a shared culture of research and innovation that welcomes and rewards creativity and entrepreneurship and helps to turn creative ideas into innovative products, services or processes.
Scope:
RISE involves organisations from the academic and non-academic sectors (in particular SMEs), based in Europe (EU Member States and Associated Countries) and outside Europe (third countries).
Support is provided for the development of partnerships in the form of joint research and innovation activities between the participants. This is aimed at knowledge sharing via international as well as inter-sectoral mobility, based on two-way secondments of research and innovation staff (exchanges) with an in-built return mechanism.
The organisations constituting the partnership contribute directly to the implementation of the joint research and innovation activities by seconding and/or hosting eligible staff members.
The proposed research and innovation activities should exploit complementary competences of the participants, as well as other synergies, and enable networking activities, organisation of workshops and conferences to facilitate sharing of knowledge, new skills acquisition and career development for research and innovation staff members.
Activities can focus either on one dimension of mobility (intersectoral / international), or include a combination of both.
Exchanges can be for both early-stage and experienced researchers’ levels and can also include administrative, managerial and technical staff supporting the research and innovation activities of the proposal.
Support for the exchanges between institutions in the EU Member States and Associated Countries covers only inter-sectoral secondments.
Exchanges with institutions from third countries can be inter-sectoral secondments as well as secondments within the same sector.
No secondments between institutions located in third countries or within the same EU Member State or Associated Country can be supported.
Expected impact:
• Research and innovation activities under RISE are expected to build or enhance new and existing networks of international and inter-sectoral cooperation. They will significantly strengthen the interaction between organisations in the academic and non-academic sectors, and between Europe and third countries.
• In terms of knowledge sharing and broad skills development, they will better align different cultures and expectations, with a view to a more effective contribution of research and innovation to Europe’s knowledge economy and society.