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European Consortium of Microbial Resource Centres - EMbaRC

TOP

Training and Outreach Programme - Transnational Access Grants

Transnational Access is an opportunity for scientists to visit one of the EMbaRC BRCs and benefit from expert advice and advanced equipment during a stay which includes hands-on sessions. A competitive Call for Transnational Access is organised by EMbaRC, and the selected scientists will be provided access. Their bench fees and travel and subsistence costs will be covered by EMbaRC.

Information note

1. Aim of the action

EMbaRC organises a “knowledge based training network” to transfer knowledge and best practices in management and study of microbial resources, to support organisations in operating globally, to improve and coordinate regional and international research connections in the research community from within both public and private sectors.

The training activities are organised in modules fitting in post-graduate scheme or accreditation systems to add value academically and professionally to the participants.

The EMbaRC training and outreach programme proposes short combined training and research stay grants to qualified scientists working in an EU Member State or an Associated Country to FP7, inviting them to work in EMbaRC research teams during a certain period of time. The ultimate aim is to establish lasting networks and Scientific & Technical connections between the respective research teams.

2. Eligible scientists

Qualifications required for eligibility:

• the user shall hold a bachelor’s degree or have a relevant research experience;

• the user must work in an institution established in a Member State (the EU-27) or an Associated State to FP7 (see list at the bottom of the page);
• the user must work in a country other than the EMbaRC host institution he/she wishes to access;

• some training schemes require specific skills, please check these specificities in the synopsis of each work session listed on the website;

• only users who are entitled to disseminate the foreground they have generated under EMbaRC project are eligible to benefit from access free of charge to the infrastructure.

3. Duration of the stay

The duration of the stay is set by the host centre. Exceptionally, the duration of a stay can be modified or divided in two periods, subject to prior approval by the EMbaRC host institution and EMbaRC Co-ordinator on the basis of a motivated request from the user’s supervisor / head of unit.

4. Research fields and EMbaRC host institutions

The considered exchanges must take place in the frame of the ongoing research activities organised by the EMbaRC partners. Information regarding these programmes, the related research projects, units and promoters is available here.

5. Submission of applications

The application form shall be submitted by the user’s supervisor / head of unit to Philippe Desmeth:

By post at the following address:
BCCM c/o Belgian Science Policy - avenue Louise, 231 - 1050 Brussels, Belgium

And by e-mail in MS Word (or alternatively in pdf) format at:

philippe.desmeth@belspo.be

Together with:

• a recommendation letter from the director of the applicant’s home institution describing the added value of the mission for the institution, and confirming the possibility that the grant holder will be able to resume his/her activities after the stay in the EMbaRC host institution;

• a cover letter from the applicant user;
• a list of the applicant’s scientific publications;
• a photo of the applicant.

Please note that an institution can send more than one user to the same EMbaRC facility. When several candidates from the same institution apply simultaneously, each one shall fill in an individual form.

Only complete applications will be taken into consideration.

The link to download the form is at the bottom of this page.

6. Evaluation and selection

The selection will be carried out by a multidisciplinary User Selection Panel.

The evaluation criteria concern: the scientific merits of the candidate (curriculum vitae, publications...); the added value to the candidate’s laboratory of origin in connection with the research topics of his/her host institution, the potential transfer of know how and prospects for further cooperation. Priority will be given to the candidates who have not previously used the research infrastructure and are working in countries where no such research infrastructure exists.

The TOP programme is organised as an open call in which applications are regularly evaluated. The result of the selection is communicated to the EMbaRC Project Manager who will be responsible for the correspondence with the applicant from application to selection notification. Then the selected users will arrange their stay with the EMbaRC host institution.

The selected candidates should arrange the date of their stay with the host institution.

7. Budget

The grant comprises:

• payment for the travel expenses from and to the working country (travel by train or airline company, economy fare);

• subsistence during the stay at the infrastructure;
• coverage of bench fees.

Costs must be previously approved by the EMbaRC host institution. Any cost that had not been approved by the EMbaRC host institution will not be refunded and will stay at the user’s own expense.

8. Logistic and administrative handling

When needed, the host institution will help the candidate in the visa issuance as well as to look for accommodation.

Health insurance may also be requested.

9. Reports

At the end of the stay, the user will write an activity report (maximum 4 pages). It presents a recapitulation of the training programme, the research objectives and used methodologies and gives a comprehensive description of the skills learned, research activities, results and conclusions.

A standard evaluation grid will be used by the user to report on the quality of the training & research session itself. He also will give an appreciation about the added value of the stay in relation to the researcher, the host unit and the prospects for further collaboration.

Additionally, a questionnaire will be filled in on-line by each user group leader for reporting to the European Commission on the Transnational Access provided.

Finally, a summary of maximum one page is requested, for internal use by EMbaRC consortium. This text, including a few keywords, shall be sent by e-mail to embarc@rennes.inra.fr

10. Publications

Every publication or dissemination item connected with the research stay should mention the following acknowledgement: “The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7, 2007-2013), Research Infrastructures action, under the grant agreement No. FP7-228310 (EMbaRC project).”

11. Intellectual Property Rights

Access to Biological Resources Centres by a user or a group of users will be granted under a competitive call that will specify rules on the conditions of access to the biological material, if the user group’s project includes work to be performed specifically on Biological Resources Centres material. These rules will bear, inclusively but not exclusively on the publication of the results and intellectual property rights. Application by a user group to the call shall imply the candidate users’ full adhesion to these rules.

To download the application form please click here (please activate the macros).

For further particulars please contact: embarc@rennes.inra.fr

Information given above complies with Grant Agreement-Annex III (GA-III) available at ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/fp7/docs/fp7-ga-annex3-infra_en.pdf

Annex I. LIST OF COUNTRIES

The EMbaRC Training and Outreach Programme and the Transnational Access Grants are accessible to individuals working in the 27 Member States of the EU listed in Table 1, and in the countries associated to the Seventh Framework Programme listed in Table 2.

Table 1. The 27 Member states of the EU

Table 2. Countries associated to FP7.

Info source: http://europa.eu/abc/european_countries/index_fr.htm ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/fp7/docs/third_country_agreements_en.pdf