Call for Applications: Young Scientists Mobility Grants with MENA Countries ( 5’000 CHF grant)

Application Deadline: December 31st 2019

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 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. 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.

Goal and Objectives

Mobility represents a strategic element to develop new partnerships between countries. Through the exchange of students and researchers, higher education institutions can establish new partnerships, thus enlarging their international network.
Mobility grants allows researchers and students to build personal contacts and relationships, which represent the foundation of fruitful and long-lasting collaborations between institutions. Moreover, when mobility grants target young scientists, they allow to include the next generation of scientists in the collaborations making them more sustainable.

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).

Eligibility Requirements:

All applicants

• 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.

Funding:

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

Application Procedure:

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:
1. Completed application form
2. 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
3. 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

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the Young Scientists Mobility Grants with MENA Countries