The European Commission are running a final round of funding under the Marie Curie Fellowships.  They help academic staff in different countries to develop their experience, or bring new expertise to Institutions. The three types of fellowships are open to all kinds of research areas.

IIF –International Incoming Fellowships -Experienced researchers outside the EU carry out high level research in an EU institution for 2-3 years –These are useful if you know someone from outside Europe that you would like to bring to the UK to work at the University.

IEF-Intra-European Fellowships for Career Development – Experienced researchers develop a long term training plan enable them to advance significantly in their career. They go to a host organisation in Europe for 12-24 months. An interesting way for Staffordshire University to get involved with these might be if you know someone in another European country that you would like to get over to the UK.

IOF –International Outgoing Fellowships for Career Development – Experienced researchers carry out high level research in countries outside of the EU for up to three years. These projects might be of interest if you feel you wish to work in a different country for a number of years, you will need to know where you want to work.

You have until 14 August 2013 to apply.

Applicants will need a clear project idea, as the EU is looking for quite detailed bids. However, if your project idea is well defined, it is a relatively straightforward application process.

The funds do not cover University overheads. It is essentially a flat rate payment to the staff doing the exchange and flat rate payment for a management fee.

Staffordshire University has not made as much use of these funds as we could have done, we don’t have any applications in the pipeline at the moment, whereas Keele University are looking at submitting fourteen bids! The External Projects Team is able to support with bid writing, but advise that you start working it up as soon as possible, if you are interested in applying please email externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk. If you don’t think you are ready to apply for this round it is expected that similar funding opportunities will be available next year in the in new Horizon 2020 programme.

Further details: http://ec.europa.eu/research/mariecurieactions/about-mca/actions/index_en.htm