Project Summary

The new International Fellowship Mobility Programme for Experienced Researchers in Croatia – NEWFELPRO is a fellowship programme of the Government of the Republic of Croatia and the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport (MSES). The project is co-financed through the Marie Curie FP7-PEOPLE-2011-COFUND program. Its total value is 7 million euros, out of which 60% is financed from national sources. Project duration is from 2013 until 2017.

Long-term Objective

The long-term objective of the NEWFELPRO fellowship programme is to raise the presence of research-qualified individuals by providing them with new opportunities to gain relevant international experience, and thus contribute to the further development of international scientific networks.

Strategic Objectives:

• Provide new impulse to national research programmes for foreign researchers, encouraging incoming mobility of experienced researchers from abroad to Croatia (new incoming fellowship scheme, duration 12-24 months);
• Facilitate additional mobility of the Croatian research community by increasing outgoing mobility of Croatian scientists abroad (new outgoing fellowship scheme, duration 12-36 months);
• Reverse the “brain drain” process by encouraging outstanding Croatian researchers to develop their careers in Croatia and also inviting them to return to Croatia (new reintegration fellowship scheme, duration 24 months);
• Internationalize research developed in all Croatian universities by fostering competitiveness and an exchange of ideas with the best international research institutions (all schemes);
• Support the development of an effective labour market for researchers in Croatia by connecting industry and academia, public and private research institutions and industrial laboratories, by enhancing knowledge transfer and by creating better employment opportunities for researchers with an emphasis on SMEs innovative processes, in particular (all schemes).

Open Calls for Proposals
NEWFELPRO will launch three open calls for proposals. The first call is expected by the beginning of the third trimester, in July 2013, and will be open for a period of 90 days, until October 2013. Calls will be published on the project web pages and on other relevant web pages. Two categories of researchers are eligible to apply: a) experienced researchers, who must at the time of the call deadline at least possess a doctoral degree or have at least four years of full-time equivalent research experience; and b) senior researchers who must have a doctoral degree and more than ten years of full-time equivalent research experience.
According to the current procedure, proposals will be submitted only in electronic form (through the NEWFELPRO web pages). Proposals must be written in English and must be electronically signed by the project applicant and the responsible persons of all legal entities involved.

Evaluation Criteria:

• Scientific/technological quality of the project;
• Scientific/innovation and leadership potential of the project;
• Quality of the host institution.

Project Added Value
NEWFELPRO allows applicants to freely apply within any scientific area of their choice and fellows/grants are assigned only on the basis of excellence and quality of research projects.
Research costs are divided into two categories: lab-based research and non-lab-based research, while also taking into consideration the type of mobility.
Fellows shall sign an employment contract in accordance with national regulations and their engagement shall also be in line with the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct.

More details are available here.

 

Contact Information:
E-mail: newfelpro@mzos.hr