Deadline: 03-Jun-2020
The Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Lithuania has launched a call for proposals to promote collaboration and coordination of energy research in the Nordic and Nordic-Baltic regions through mobility and networking grants for PhD students and researchers.
The aims and objectives of PhD and researcher mobility projects are:
- to develop, facilitate and create frameworks for collaboration and cooperation between research groups at higher education institutions, research institutions or industry in the Nordic and Nordic-Baltic regions;
- to offer mobility support to PhD-students and researchers and to facilitate the creation of useful networks which bring added Nordic/Nordic-Baltic value to national research work.
The key areas of research should be within: digitalisation, energy markets, energy storage, green transport, bioenergy or CCUS and energy infrastructures. They welcome all academic approaches, e.g. engineering, natural science, social science, economics, or law; as well as interdisciplinary approaches in methods, e.g. modelling, demonstration, desktop studies, experiments, or surveys (non-exhaustive lists of approaches).
Funding Information
NOK 9.7 million is available under this call. Of this, NOK 2.7 million is reserved for partners in Nordic-Baltic projects. The purpose is to support research projects with a duration of up to four years. A maximum of NOK 1.5 million is available per project for the entire project period (maximum four years).
Funding for the PhD and researcher mobility projects is targeted towards research groups at higher education institutions in the Nordic countries, their autonomous areas (Åland, Faroe Islands, Greenland) and the Baltic countries (Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia). Projects must be led by higher education institutions, but applicants are encouraged to include partners from industry and non-governmental partners where relevant. The higher education institutions must be formally recognised by the competent national authorities and must offer research-based education at PhD level.
The support can be used for the following:
- planning and preparatory measures while setting up a Nordic or Nordic-Baltic network, summer school, seminar, or similar activities;
- support for mobility of PhD students, researchers and/or in connection with networking.
It is possible to seek funding for projects involving one, all or any combination of mobility/networking activities.
Rates
The grant instalments are defined based on the number of students and researchers and can be adjusted within the total maximum grant of NOK 1.5 million. The consortium may use the grant on any relevant activity within the project. There are no fixed grants for students, and the consortium is free to decide how to allocate the grant in the best way possible.
The grant for the implementation of a project is allocated annually. The grant amount is based on the following rates:
- For researchers and PhD students travelling for research abroad, the maximum rate is NOK 18 000 per month for singles and NOK 33 000 per month for families. Reasonable travel costs may be covered.
- Daily rate per participant per workshop and summer schools is NOK 1 500. For invited speakers to workshops and summer schools the rate per invited speaker is NOK 10 000 for workshops (1-3 days) and NOK 30 000 for summer schools (1-2 weeks).
Eligibility Criteria
General Criteria
- To be eligible for funding, proposals must satisfy the following requirements:
- The project is to be research-based and target one of the 6 key areas of energy research.
- For Nordic projects, all partners eligible for funding must be based in a Nordic country or their autonomous areas.
- For Nordic-Baltic projects, one of the following criteria must be met:
- The higher education institution coordinating the consortium is based in a Baltic country;
- At least two of the participating higher education institutions are based in a Baltic country.
- The coordinating institution must be an approved higher education institution.
- Letters of commitment signalling the institutional commitment of all participating partners must be provided together with the full proposal.
- Proposals must be submitted electronically through the Application Portal by the call deadline.
- All proposals must be written in English and follow the structure set out in the application form available on the Application Portal.
- Projects start-up must take place before end-2020.
PhD mobility criteria:
- The project must comply with current national regulations in order to ensure that it meets the requirements for activities within a PhD degree in the participating countries.
- The project is to include student mobility periods of 6-12 months in at least one other Nordic country, autonomous area or Baltic country.
Researcher mobility criteria:
- The project is to include researcher mobility periods of up to six months in at least one other Nordic country, autonomous area or Baltic country.
For more information, visit https://www.norden.lt/en/programmes/call-for-proposals-involving-nordic-or-nordic-baltic-phd-and-researcher-mobility-and-network-activities/