Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowships (IIF)

Overview

Top-class researchers from Third Countries are welcome to work on projects in Europe. This helps to develop research cooperation between Europe and other parts of the world – to everybody’s benefit.

Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowships are specially designed to encourage these moves.

Who can apply?

Researchers of any nationality active or recently active in Third Countries are eligible for an IIF. That means countries that are neither EU Member States nor Associated Countries. To apply, you must have either a doctoral degree or at least 4 years’ full-time equivalent research experience, after obtaining a degree permitting you to embark on a doctorate. But that is the minimum. The more experience you have, the better will be your chances of being accepted for this action.

Your application for an IIF should be made in liaison with the organisation or institution that would be willing to host you in Europe. Host organisations can be universities, research centres or companies.

What does the funding cover?

IIF funding is provided for a research project which will transfer knowledge into your host organisation and building or enhancing collaborations between Europe and the rest of the world. The research project will also allow you to advance your career. Financial support is provided for 12-24 months (full-time equivalent).

Funding allows you to:

join a European research team that doesn't have your experience
establish a collaboration through a research project with your lab or your country
gain new knowledge in a European lab.

Your IIF may also cover a return phase of up to one year. This will be spent back in your country of origin, applying the experience that you have gained. To qualify for a return phase, you must be from one of the International Cooperation Partner Countries. If you want a return phase, you must include details of it in your initial application. And you must specify the potential return host organization in your country of origin

Which topics can be funded?

All areas of scientific and technological research that are of interest to the EU may be eligible for IIF funding. But there is one exception: research areas covered by the EURATOM Treaty cannot be funded.

Who decides?

IIF proposals are selected in an open competition. Selection is through transparent, independent peer review, based on excellence using a series of predetermined criteria.

How to apply

Funding decisions for Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowships (IIF) are made on the basis of proposals submitted following calls published by the Research Executive Agency (REA).

The sequence of steps is summarised in this flow chart:

1. Proposal preparation and electronic submission

For each call a dedicated call page is set up. Published calls can be found through 'Find a call' in the left navigation on this page.

To prepare and submit a proposal for a Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship you will need the complete Information package which is available from the call page.

The Guide for Applicants contains the essential information to guide you through the process of preparing and submitting a proposal. Proposals are submitted electronically via the Commission's Electronic Proposal Submission Service (EPSS) before a strictly-enforced deadline.

The Information package also comprises the People Work programme which provides a detailed description of the action, its objectives and scope, the eligibility criteria, the EU contribution and the evaluation criteria.

Guides for Applicants and Work programmes are revised each year, so make sure you refer to the latest version before preparing your proposal.

The Guide and the Work programme are essential reading. However, you may also wish to consult other reference and background documents, particular those relating to negotiation and the grant agreements, which are available from the 'How to manage my project' page.

2. Proposal evaluation

The REA evaluates all eligible proposals in order to identify those whose quality is sufficiently high for possible funding. The basis for this evaluation is a peer-review carried out by independent experts. The results of the evaluation will be made available on the call page.

3. Negotiation and Selection

The REA then negotiates with some or all of those applicants whose proposals have successfully passed the evaluation stage, depending on the budget available. If negotiations are successfully concluded, grant agreements providing for an EU financial contribution are established with the participants.

Application: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/dc/index.cfm?fuseaction=UserSite.FP7DetailsCallPage&call_id=396&act_code=mca&ID_ACTIVITY=12

Source: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/mariecurieactions/iif_en.html

Please quote Scholarization.blogspot.com on your application when applying for this scholarship