✔ to deliver on citizens' priorities and sustain our socioeconomic model and values.
European Research Council (ERC grants)
Competitive grants from the European Research Council support investigator-driven frontier research projects across all fields, on the basis of scientific excellence, for up to five years. ERC-funded research is expected to lead to advances at the frontiers of knowledge, and is the most prestigious funding a researcher can receive. Scientific excellence is the sole criterion for selection, and potential ERC candidates must be able to clearly demonstrate the ground-breaking nature, ambition and feasibility of their research proposal.
The ERC is divided into four main grant categories that offer financial support for such pioneering research (the dates for the upcoming ERC calls 2023 are still tentative and subject to change):
● ERC Starting Grants: €1.5 million for 5 years for early-career researchers with 2-7 years post-PhD experience - Tentative publication 12/07/2022, Tentative deadline 25/10/2022
● ERC Consolidator Grants: €2 million for 5 years for excellent researchers with 7-12 years post-PhD experience - Tentative publication 28/09/2022, Tentative deadline 02/02/2023
● ERC Synergy Grants: €10 million for 6 years for a small group of 2-4 Principal Investigators (PIs) - Tentative publication 13/07/2022, Tentative deadline 08/11/2022
● proposal-reviewing support.
Check out these calls which are currently open under the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2021-2022 relating to the following topics (each cluster having a number of different deadlines):
● Fostering balanced brain circulation (BBC) – ERA Fellowships - this action builds on the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 action (HORIZON-MSCA-PF-2022) for widening countries. The application is the same whereby applicants tick a box to be eligible under this scheme in case the MSCA PF proposal is not selected for funding, giving them a second chance under the widening scheme. Deadline 14/09/2022
Applications have to be submitted via the Funding & Tenders Portal, which requires prior registration.
Kindly note that all calls for proposals and documents are available in the Funding & Tenders Portal, and that only the information given there is legally binding.
● Doctoral Networks – provide the opportunity to develop excellent doctoral and post-doctoral training programmes and collaborative research projects by partnerships of organisations in and outside academia from different sectors across Europe and beyond. Besides standard Doctoral Networks, incentives have been introduced to promote two specific types of doctorates as well:
This programme support innovative projects under the theme of Smart Cities for 2022. Smart cities can be defined as cities where the interaction between different forms of data across buildings, vehicles, citizens & assets is used to manage and improve all aspects of city life. The goal of smart cities is to make them more efficient and sustainable to improve quality of life for their residents. The proposed framework considers all the 3 phases of a smart city: Building (which targets materials & systems), Operating (which targets urban assets) and Living (which targets dwellers) in the City. Based on this framework, there are several sub-themes which fall under the scope of the Smart Cities Programme. Maltese public entities, Maltese public research and knowledge-dissemination organisations as well as eligible Maltese undertakings that carry out economic activity may apply for a grant of up to €150,000. Deadline 13/06/2022.
An information event on the Smart Cities Programme Call will be held by MCST on the 16/05/2022. Registration can be found online.
Space Research Fund
A scheme has been launched in collaboration with the European Space Agency to provide financial support for research, development and innovation (R&D&I) in the downstream Satellite Earth Observation (EO) sector to tackle societal challenges in Malta. There are three Funding Modalities available (funding rate 100%, up to €150,000):
- State Aid Not Applicable (public entities)
- State Aid De Minimis (private entities)
- State Aid GBER (private entities).
Fusion Technology Development Programme
FUSION is a national funding programme that drives and supports local Research and Innovation (R&I), as well as providing the necessary support for researchers and technologists to turn their innovative ideas into a market-ready reality preferably within the SMART Specialisation Areas identified in Malta’s National Research and Innovation Strategy 2021. The priority areas are set through the selection process of the precursor Commercialisation Voucher Programme (CVP). Furthermore, here the focus is on innovative research, knowledge transfer and establishing collaborations between (1) Public Entities and (2) Industry, with the intention of commercialising the technology developed. Opening soon!
The CVP is launched as an OPEN CALL for the first time! This programme is aimed at increasing research, technological development, and innovation activities, which can be implemented in industry. The Commercialisation Vouchers are subject to a Scientific Evaluation, and priority will be given to the Smart Specialisation Areas.
General information on the conditions of participation, eligibility, procedures and application can be found in the documents attached with this call:
More info coming soon.
● beat the competition in Horizon Europe by fining trusted partners to address the challenge of building a strong consortium (from both academia and industry) with the expertise and experience for a proposal you wish to lead;
The users can profile themselves and their teams, and post opportunities to collaborate. An intelligent recommender system then matches these opportunities with the most suitable prospective collaborators.
What are you waiting for? Registration is quick and easy, and is available through this link. It will also be possible to join thematic or 'Helix’ events, with the aim of joining such consortia. Find out more.