Request for Proposals: COFUND Grant Program

It spreads the MSCA’s best practices by promoting high standards and excellent working conditions. COFUND promotes sustainable training and international, interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral mobility.

Categories

• There are 2 types of COFUND:
  • Doctoral Programmes: They offer research training activities to allow doctoral candidates to develop and broaden their skills and competences. They will lead to the award of a doctoral degree.
  • Postdoctoral Programmes: They fund individual advanced research training and career development fellowships for postdoctoral researchers.

Costs Covered

• A fixed amount (COFUND allowance) equivalent to the minimum salary that researchers should receive. This allowance can be used to support any cost items of the programme.
• A long-term leave allowance and special needs allowance, if applicable.

Eligibility Criteria

• COFUND is a “mono-beneficiary” action. This means that only one organisation based in the EU or a country associated to Horizon Europe applies.
• Any type of organisation can apply to COFUND, including:
  • Higher education institutions
  • Research centres and infrastructures
  • National or regional funding agencies
  • Private sector organisations, including industry, businesses, and small and medium-sized enterprises
  • Public sector organisations, including national, regional, and local governments, agencies, and museums
  • Other socio-economic actors, including NGOs, foundations, charities, etc.
• The beneficiary may fund, recruit, supervise, host or train the researchers, either on its own or in conjunction with:
  • Implementing partners:
    • Can recruit and employ researchers
    • Should be based in the EU, the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States, countries associated to Horizon Europe or low- and middle- income third countries
    • Receive funds from the beneficiary to recruit researchers
  • Associated partners:
    • Train researchers or host them for short secondments, without employing them
    • Can be established anywhere in the world, and be from any socioeconomic sector
    • Do not employ researchers
    • Do not receive any funds
• Researchers:
  • COFUND programmes will need to recruit at least three researchers fulfiling the following requirements.
  • Doctoral candidates must:
    • Not have a PhD or have successfully defended their thesis by the deadline of the programme’s call
    • Be enrolled in a doctoral programme during their fellowship, leading to a degree awarded by an organisation in the EU or a country associated to Horizon Europe
    • Be employed for a period as of 3 months and for the length necessary to achieve a PhD
  • Postdoctoral fellows:
    • Must have a PhD by the deadline of the programme’s call
    • Can be recruited for a period of minimum 3 months
    • Can be offered fellowships to:
      • Carry out research in the EU or countries associated to Horizon Europe
      • Carry out a research project with an outgoing phase outside the EU or countries associated to Horizon Europe, followed by a return phase to one of these countries
• In both cases, researchers:
  • Can be of any nationality. For COFUND Postdoctoral Programmes where the main part of the research training activities is carried out in a country other than an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country, researchers must be nationals or long-term residents of an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country
  • Should follow the “mobility rule”: they must not have lived or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the recruiting beneficiary or implementing partner for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the deadline of the co-funded programme’s call
  • Can carry out secondments at implementing or associated partners for a maximum of one third of their fellowship or outgoing phase for Postdoctoral fellows researching outside the EU or a country associated to Horizon Europe

For more information, visit European Commission.