Yes, the same research proposal can be submitted for the NEWFELPRO fellowship and Marie Curie fellowship at the level of European Commission simultaneously. However, if a researcher wins both of them, he will have to choose which one to accept because double financing is not permitted in the Marie Curie framework.
NEWFELPRO welcomes project proposals which meet the eligibility criteria, which are complete and submitted on time. Employment status is not among the eligibility criteria.
Yes, it is possible to postpone the expected start of the project, which is negotiated with members of the Selection Committee and the NEWFELPRO Secretariat in the negotiation period. However, project leaders must bear in mind that all projects under NEWFELPRO must finish no later than 31 October 2017.
The host institution’s financial contribution is not mandatory, but if the possibility for such contribution does exist, it is permitted as long as that fact is clearly stated in the documentation package.
The return phase is a mandatory part of the outgoing fellowship scheme. During this period the return host provides a monthly allowance to the project leader in the same way the Host institution abroad does during the outgoing period. The fellowship amount in the return phase is based on the average salary of experienced/senior researcher according to Croatian national legislation and the gross amounts can be found by following this link: http://www.newfelpro.hr/default.aspx?id=86.
Please ask two academics to provide recommendations, e.g. your doctoral supervisor, the senior academic at the institute at which you are currently working, the senior academic at any host institution at which you have spent more than 2 months away from your own institute as a guest researcher in the last five years, or other academics qualified to comment on your work.
Once you enter contact details of the two referees in the online system (under tab A2 – Contact Information, section C) CONTACT DETAILS (TWO REFEREES)), first you have to click the “Submit” button. With this the online system records the data entered, and a blue button titled “Send a request to the referee” appears under each referee’s contact details. Now you have to click the blue button “Send a request to the referee” for each of the referees. Each time you press the “Send a request to the referee” button, a message “Email to referee [1 or 2] was sent!” will appear at the top left side of the page. In this way they are notified about your reference request, and they will be able to complete the online reference request form which will not be visible to you. If you omit this step, completed letters of recommendation will not generate in the online system and you will not be able to click the “FINAL SUBMISSION” button and submit the project proposal! Applicants should bear in mind that it is their own responsibility to send requests to the referees in a timely manner. This step is described in detail in NEWFELPRO 2013 Guidelines for Web Application for Electronic Submission of Project Proposals_Second Call (step 12.)
As part of the documentation package (section B1) the project leader has to assess possible risks related to his research proposal. In short, the project leader must make a risk assessment and present alternative scenarios of project implementation in case a part of the project does not develop as planned.
The project leader will regularly report on the project development to the NEWFELPRO Secretariat. First report is due after 5 months of project duration, and then regularly every 6 months until the project ends. A decision about further financing of the project will be made on the basis of project leader’s reports. After the project ends, the project leader will submit the final report.
The Host institution which administers the project has to be clearly stated in the documentation package. There can only be one Host institution, which in any sense does not exclude research stay at other institutions, if that is required for project development. If that is the case, it must be stated in the documentation package. However, a period of absence from the Host institution must not exceed 30% of anticipated fellowship duration.
Each project proposal that meets the eligibility criteria will be assessed independently by 3 international experts, on the basis of criteria and sub-criteria clearly outlined in the Call for Proposals. Keeping in mind the financial framework of each call, project proposals that will be taken into consideration for financing are ones with an average grade of 3,5 or more. Evaluators will be chosen following the procedure, as explicated in Section V of the Annex 2_NEWFELPRO 2013 Guidelines for Evaluators and Evaluation Procedure_Second Call.
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. The decision will be made according to evaluations of international experts which will be written on the basis of evaluation criteria. For more information on evaluation criteria please refer to the Annex 2_NEWFELPRO 2013 Guidelines for Evaluators and Evaluation Procedure_Second Call.
Interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary projects can be submitted under NEWFELPRO. The project leader will clearly outline the scientific areas encompassed within the project proposal, as well as category of research. For more information please refer to the Annex 3_NEWFELPRO 2013 Instructions for Applicants_Second Call_updated version.
Project applicants will be able to see the evaluation table under Section VIII of the Annex 2_NEWFELPRO 2013 Guidelines for Evaluators and Evaluation Procedure_Second Call.
Under Section B4, the most relevant bibliographical references used for the preparation of the research proposal should be provided. You should provide a list of personal bibliographic references as a part of the CV form.