PF: Who can be included as an associated partner in a Postdoctoral Fellowships proposal?

Associated Partners to be included in Part A are only the outgoing host organisation in the third country in Global Fellowships or the host organisation for a non-academic placement. Any secondments should be described in detail in Part B1 and all Associated Partners (linked to a Beneficiary, for outgoing phase in GF, for secondment or for non-academic placement) must be listed (in Table 5.1) and described (in Table 5.2) in Part B2.

PF: What is the distinction between a short visit and a secondment?

Secondments are more formal and mostly predefined by being included in the proposal or the Grant Agreement. The secondment takes place in a different legal entity than the Host Institution (Beneficiary) and is always supervised by a supervisor who is different from the main supervisor at the Host Institution.

 

PF: Can the co-supervisor in a Postdoctoral Fellowships proposal be from a different institution than the host organisation?

Yes, the co-supervisor can be from another institution. It is best to describe it in the relevant sections of Part B, i.e.the reason behind such a choice and the arragement itself, in the context of the proposed project objectives – both research and training ones.

SE: Can Associated partners linked to a beneficiary host secondments?

Associated partners linked to a beneficiary cannot host secondments in the sense of legal/ contractual link – they cannot handle funding allocated for seconded staff – this is the responsibility of the beneficiary they are linked to.

However, associated partners linked to a beneficiary can host secondments in the sense of the actual work carried out in the premises of such associated partners. Funding for research (etc.) carried out by staff seconded to such associated partners is channeled through the beneficiary they are linked to.

PF: Where should the list of 5 publications and relevant previous projects be included?

The list of up to 5 publications and relevant previous projects has to be included in Part A for the host organisation/ department/ supervisor and should align with the content in Part B2 - Capacity of the Participating Organisations.

The researchers’ publications can be included in the researcher’s CV in Part B2. 

DN: Is it possible to have one PhD project run across two or more Work Packages in Doctoral Networks?

It is quite common that a single individual research project contributes to two or more scientific Work packages in a Doctoral Networks project. It is also a good way to show the interrelations between the scientific Work packages.

PF: Can a researcher apply for the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship with a host institution in country A if they have not been living there for more than 12 months in the past 3 years but were enrolled in a PhD programme at a university in this country (even though they did not receive any funding during that period)?

Both the country of residence and the country of the main activity (even without salary) shoud be taken into account. Therefore, if the researcher was registered as a PhD student at a University in country A for more than 12 months over the eligibility period and this was their main activity (no employment or other contract), they are not eligible for a Postdoctoral Fellowship in this country even if they resided there for less than 12 months over the eligibility period.

COFUND: Would there be any financial consequences if the beneficiary is unable to complete the grant obligations because the postdoc has resigned from the Choose Europe grant?

There would not be financial consequences. The postdoc is always free to leave the contract at any time. If the postdoc ends the grant at any point, the obligations under the contract for that particular fellowship end with the fellow. If a fellow leaves during their EU-funded part of the grant, the beneficiary can be left with unspent EU funds. The question of how the funds can be used or whether they need to be returned will be examined on a case-by-case basis with REA.

In addition, if it is a standard procedure to have a probationary period after which the beneficiary reviews the performance of the postdoc, this can be done. If the performance is unsatisfactory and the beneficiary decides to proceed with contract termination following standard employment practices under national law, there would be no penalties from REA.

PF: Is it possible to split the period of the non-academic placement? For example, is it possible to indicate a first non-academic placement of two months in organisation A and then a second non-academic placement of four months in organisation B?

It is not possible to split the period of maximum six months after the fellowship. The proposal can only include one additional period of up to six months in a non-academic organisation established in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe associated country (‘non-academic placement’) at the end of the project.

PF: Is it possible for two researchers to each apply for a Postdoctoral Fellowship with the same organisation, the same supervisor and in the same scientific panel?

It is possible but they have to be careful that the scope/approach/objectives of each proposal, and their implementation sections, are different. If the proposals are too similar, one of them may be considered ineligible.