SFIAR Young Scientists Mobility Grants with MENA Countries (Up to 5’000 CHF)

Deadline: December 31, 2019

The Swiss Forum for International Agricultural Research (SFIAR) invites applications for the Young Scientists Mobility Grants with MENA Countries. Mobility grants allows researchers and students to build personal contacts and relationships, which represent the foundation of fruitful and long-lasting collaborations between institutions.

The State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) has commissioned the HES-SO as Leading House for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The mandate will last from 2017 to 2020 and its overall goal is to develop scientific collaborations between Switzerland and countries of the MENA region.

The “young scientists’ mobility grant” will target:

• Developing individual capacities (human capital),
• Fostering scientific progress and innovation (scientific prospects),
• Establishing or enhancing networks between young researchers (networking).

Grant

This call allows funding of approximately 26 mobility grants, subject to the number of applications received as well as compliance with the criteria for evaluation and selection.

The maximum amount for a mobility grant is 5’000 CHF.

Eligibility

• The following countries have been identified as priority countries for the first phase of the LHMENA: Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates.
• Mobility grants can be awarded to young scientists who hold a Bachelor or Master’s degree but no PhD yet, and with not more than 6 years of professional research experience.
• The call is open for activities in all scientific disciplines and fields of research. Activities may include field work and/or an internship in relation to the applicant’s research project.
• Host researchers must be permanently employed principal investigators at a university or research institute in their respective country
• The applicant’s mobility visit should have a minimum duration of 4 weeks and the amount not more than CHF 5,000 per grant.

Criteria

Applications will be evaluated by the Leading House MENA on a rolling basis according to the following criteria (not listed in order of priority):

• Conformity with the “Young scientists mobility grant” Programme’s aims;
• Suitability of the candidate and the host supervisor for the proposed project;
• Benefit of proposed exchange for cooperation between the MENA countries and Switzerland, synergies between the two involved research organisations (previous contacts between the groups are considered an advantage);
• Quality of the proposal.

Application

The application form must be completed by the Swiss main applicant, both in the case of hosting a MENA young scientist in Switzerland or sending a Swiss scientist to countries of the MENA region.

The Swiss main applicant must be permanently employed at a Swiss federal or cantonal university, university of applied sciences or university of teachers’ education, or a public research institution.

The application should include:

• Completed application form
• Supporting/nomination letter from the supervisor at the sending institution, explaining also why an exchange with a specific scientist in the host country is planned
• Acceptance letter from the supervisor at the host institute.

Applications shall be submitted in electronic format only. Please email your full application to the Leading House MENA: lhmena@hes-so.ch.