Grants for up to 150,000 € to support early career researcher mobility
The EPICluster Mobility Program is a test run coordinated by the University of Strasbourg, France. We will evaluate the application and selection procedures as well as the overall success or failure of the program to determine their interest and ease of use for early career researchers.
Applicants should understand that this program is under development and that your feedback will help us create easier processes for everyone involved, from early career researchers to external professionals and jury members.
Applicants are invited to submit their feedback to Guillaume Parodi, EPICUR-Research Project Officer at the University of Strasbourg, France, at parodi@unistra.fr
Call for Proposal opens
Online information webinar: REGISTER NOW
Online information webinar
Deadline for submissions
Meeting of the Committee
Notification sent to all applicants
The EPICUR Alliance welcomes early career researchers of all disciplines to carry out collaborative research projects (“EPIClusters”) meant to tackle scientific and societal challenges for a period not exceeding six months.
The EPICluster Mobility Program fulfils the following main objectives:
EPIClusters offer tailor-made experiences at one of the partner universities for researchers from both academic and non-academia and serve as a network for scientific exploration and ideas spanning the Alliance. Each EPICluster will gather at least 5 early career researchers and non-university professionals in residence at one of the EPICUR-Research partner universities for a 1-to-6-month residency for research, creation, and experimentation.
The Call for Applications is open to groups of a minimum of 5 early career researchers. Applicants must come from at least 3 different EPICUR universities. Applications are accepted from all scientific disciplines addressing one or more EPIChallenges.
Application and selection procedures for an EPICluster conform to the European Commission’s hiring practices standards, ensuring observance of values such as transparency in the selection process and equal treatment of all applicants. EPICUR welcomes applications from all suitably qualified candidates, irrespective of gender, disability, race, color, national, ethnic, or social origin, religion, beliefs, or sexual orientation.
The University of Strasbourg (UNISTRA) and Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan (AMU) will welcome EPICluster participants in residence for the 2023 Call for Applications.
The selection committee responsible for examining applications includes 8 researchers nominated by EPICUR’s partner universities and 2 early career researchers nominated by EPICUR’s Early Career Researcher Board. Once the applications have been examined, the selection committee will decide on the list of selected groups, as well as the duration of the residency that will be granted to them.
Applications are submitted online for a collaborative project by a team of early career researchers and are pre-selective by the following hard-eligibility criteria:
Applications must be sent to Guillaume Parodi, EPICUR-Research Project Officer, at parodi@unistra.fr
Researchers from the alliance and beyond are looking for collaborators and support to fund their research project. We help connect researchers to other researchers with common interests by displaying résumés, research background, and possible ways of cooperation. Please find below profiles of researchers looking for groups:
The application must be written in English and should not exceed 15 pages, excluding appendices.
Appendices should be submitted as a single PDF file and give a full description of the project (up to 10,000 characters including spaces):
An info session will took place on December 12th. You can already register to the zoom webinar on the EPICluster Info session page.
Download by clicking on the following documents:
EPICUR might be able to connect individual researchers looking for a group as well as groups lacking team members to apply for an EPICluster. Please contact Guillaume Parodi, EPICUR-Research Project Officer, at parodi@unistra.fr
The EPICluster Research Residency program is a standalone program, completely independent from its sister opportunities at EPICUR-Research. Although early career researchers may have attended other developing formats tested by partner universities, there is not one singular and linear pathway to benefit from EPICUR’s offering. Both EPICradle recipients and newly created groups are encouraged to present their application.
Your research project proposal should underline how is your research connected to at least one EPIChallenge and that the team member’s background and disciplines are able to contribute to the project in a meaningful way. Your project proposal should show that you have a set idea for what you would like to achieve during the residency, which research infrastructures you would like to access and the envisioned output of your collective work across fields and disciplines. Finally, your project proposal should also explain why and how you will work with the “Science with and for Society” output in mind, meaning that collaborations with experts from non-EPICUR entities should be reflected in your proposal. Ideas for showcasing your work should also be part of your proposal (see “Research in the Making” in the Program Guidelines for more info).
Applicants must come from at least three different EPICUR-Research universities. Several members of one group may come from the same university.
EPICUR wants to go beyond classical research activities, so your research showcase should connect to civil society, government, or business. We are open to all ideas; there is room for you to explore and test the limits of academic research. The focus is not just on publications but also on communication to the public. This communication activity may be something written but is not limited to that. You should aim to conceptualize your communication activity, including actors outside of academia, e.g., artists etc. Focus on what your starting point is and then describe your ideal process of distribution – the host university will work with you on making this happen.
Doctoral students are asked to provide a Letter of Recommendation to ensure that the EPICluster program does not interfere with their work and to avoid conflicts of interest between parties. As such, the answer depends on your personal situation: Postdocs and Assistant Professors are not necessarily required to hand in a Letter of Recommendation but can do so if they wish to inform their surroundings of their intention to participate in this program. A letter of Recommendation can, of course, also be seen as an additional testimony to the suitability and fit of both the individuals and their topics from the perspective of the applicants’ scientific environment and thus strengthen the persuasiveness of the application.
