EU Funding
Horizon 2020
ERC grants
Are you a researcher with an excellent scientific profile and with visionary research projects in mind that you want to realise in Europe? The European Research Council (ERC) has a funding scheme that will meet your needs.
The following grants are available:
Starting Grants: €1.5 million over 5 years for researchers with 2 to 7 years post-PhD experience
Estimated deadline: 24 March 2021
Consolidator Grants: €2 million over 5 years for researchers with 7 to 12 years post-PhD experience
Estimated deadline: 20 April 2021
Advanced Grants: €2.5 million over 5 years for researchers with over 12 years post-PhD experience
Estimated deadline: 31 August 2021
Deadlines are subject to the adoption of Horizon Europe and the ERC Work Programme 2021.
MSCA Actions
The Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions support researchers at all stages of their careers, regardless of age and nationality. Researchers working across all disciplines are eligible for funding. The MSCA also supports cooperation between industry and academia and innovative training to enhance employability and career development. The new Marie Skłodowska-Curie program will be structured around 5 actions as follows:
Postdoctoral fellowships: Individual grants for European, international and / or intersectoral mobility, awarded to researchers to develop or relaunch (after interruption) their career.
Provisional calendar 2021:
Opening - 15 April 2021
Submission date - 15 September 2021
AMSC and citizens / MSCA and citizens: Funding of events such as the European Researchers' Night, aimed at bringing researchers closer to the general public and raising public awareness of research and innovation activities.
Provisional calendar 2021:
Opening - 17 June 2021
Submission date - 14 October 2021
Networks PhD / Doctoral networks: Joint research training and doctoral training, implemented by partnerships between universities, research institutes, companies, and other socio-economic actors.
Provisional calendar 2021:
Opening - 4 May 2021
Submission date -16 November 2021
Cofund: Co-funding from the European Commission provided to regional, national or international mobility and training programs for doctoral students or confirmed researchers.
Provisional calendar 2021:
Opening - 10 October 2021
Submission date - February 10, 2022
Exchange of personnel / staff exchange: Foster international, intersectoral and interdisciplinary collaborations around a research and innovation project led through short-term secondments of personnel.
Provisional calendar 2021:
Opening - 7 October 2021
Submission date - 9 March 2022
Horizon 2020 call for independent experts
This is a general call for expression of interest to act as independent experts. Call addressed to individuals for the establishment of a database of prospective independent experts to assist Commission services with tasks in connection with Horizon 2020 – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation!More information is available online.
Erasmus+
Erasmus+ is the main funding programme for the Education of the EU. The current programming period 2014-2020 has just ended with the new programming period 2021-2027 starting in January 2021. Funding has increased to nearly €25 billion from the previous €15 billion approved during the previous programming period. Programme spending for 2021 is set at €2.89 billion. This is a better time than ever to apply!It is still not clear what the new programme will look like, and for guidance here is a list of planned calls based on the previous year.
Key Action 1 - Learning mobility of individuals
- Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters Degrees
Provides eligible organisations with the opportunity to jointly organise and run Master degree programmes. The programme can be of 60, 90 or 120 ECTS credits lasting from 12 to 24 months. Funding is available for the running of the programme as well as for scholarships for EU (25%) and non-EU (75%) students, for four consecutive academic years. The purpose is to attract excellent students from around the world, through competitive scholarships.
Deadline: estimated February 2021
Find out more.
- Strategic partnerships in the field of education, training and youth
These support innovation in the sector as well as joint initiatives to promote cooperation, peer learning and the sharing of experience. Projects typically feature blended mobility training programmes, whereby funding covers staff time for preparing and delivering programmes, travel of trainers and students, meetings and exceptional costs. Project duration is between 24 and 26 months.
Deadline: estimated March 2021
Find out more. - Knowledge Alliances
Designed to support innovation in higher education and business, develop new approaches to teaching and learning, promote entrepreneurship, and promote knowledge sharing. In order to achieve this, a typical partnership consists of both academic and industrial partners, with the aim of aligning teaching and learning programmes to the needs of the industry.
Deadline: estimated February 2021
Find out more. - Sector Skills Alliances
Tackle skills gap and improve the adaptability of VET systems to sector-specific labour market needs and the demand for new skills. As above, partnership between training organisations and industry is essential. Deadline: estimated February 2021
Find out more. - Capacity Building
Supports the modernisation, accessibility, and internationalisation of higher education in Partner (non-EU) Countries. In other words, it’s all about replicating programmes, good practices and systems developed in EU Countries in non-EU countries.
Deadline: estimated February 2021
Find out more.
Key Action 3 - Support for policy reform
Opportunities contribute to supporting the overall EU policy agenda, the Education and Training 2020 cooperation framework, and the Youth Strategy. Projects shall contribute to improving the quality of education, training, and youth systems in Europe, as well as promoting transnational learning and cooperation between authorities. They will also contribute to developing the basis for evidence-based policy-making, as well as supporting networks and tools for policy implementation.
Deadline: Social inclusion and common values strand estimated February 2021;
Policy experimentations strand estimated May 2021
Find out more.
Jean Monnet Activities
Jean Monnet Activities are designed to promote excellence in teaching and research in the field of European Union studies worldwide. The activities also foster the dialogue between the academic world and policy-makers, in particular with the aim of enhancing governance of EU policies. Activities include:
- Teaching and Research: Jean Monnet Modules, Chairs and Centres of Excellence.
- Support to Associations: Jean Monnet support to Associations.
- Policy debate with the Academic World: Jean Monnet Networks and Jean Monnet Projects.
Deadline: estimated February 2021
More information is available online.
International Foundations and Grants
European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)
EMBO stands for excellence in the life sciences. EMBO is an organization of more than 1800 leading researchers that promotes excellence in the life sciences in Europe and beyond. The major goals of the organisation are to support talented researchers at all stages of their careers, stimulate the exchange of scientific information, and help build a research environment where scientists can achieve their best work.
EMBO Postdoctoral Fellowships
The EMBO Postdoctoral Fellowships are awarded for a period of up to two years and support excellent postdoctoral researchers in laboratories throughout Europe and the world. International exchange is a key requirement. Now awarding grants for employment contracts in EMBC countries, EMBO Postdoctoral Fellowships also support the career development of the fellows through leadership courses and networking opportunities.
More information is available online.
Short-Term Fellowships
Update: exceptionally, EMBO will consider applications for Short-Term Fellowships involving home or host institutions in Japan throughout 2020 and 2021.
More information is available online.
Short-Term Fellowships fund research exchanges of up to three months between laboratories in eligible countries. Awarded applicants can stay on their research visit for an additional three months (maximum), however, EMBO will not provide funding for this extended period. The aim is to facilitate valuable collaborations with research groups applying techniques that are unavailable in the applicant's laboratory. Short-Term Fellowships are not awarded for exchanges between two laboratories within the same country. Short-Term Fellowships are intended for joint research work rather than consultations. The fellowships cover travel plus subsistence of the fellow only and not of dependents.
More information is available online.
International Security Fund Police
The Internal Security Fund (ISF) was set up for the period 2014-20, with a total of EUR 3.8 billion for the seven years. The Fund promotes the implementation of the Internal Security Strategy, law enforcement cooperation and the management of the Union's external borders. The ISF is composed of two instruments, ISF Borders and Visa and ISF Police.
The following calls are currently open:
- Call Title - CYBER
Cybercrime
Deadline: Stage one - 25 February 2021 - Call Title - Trafficking in Human Beings
Trafficking in Human Beings
Deadline: Single stage - 25 February 2021 - Call Title - Corruption
Deadline: Single stage - 25 February 2021 - Call Title - Drugs
Better law enforcement in the area of illicit drug trafficking
Deadline: Single stage - 18 March 2021
Justice Programme
- Call Title - Supporting initiatives in the field of Drugs Policy
Deadline: 22 April 2021
Next Generation Internet sub-grants from ongoing Horizon 2020 projects
NGIatlantic.eu 3rd Open Call
Following the first two successful Open Calls, on 1 December NGIatlantic.eu launched its third call to support EU organisations to carry out research experiments across Next Generation Internet (NGI) application domains using EU and/or US based experimental platforms.
The application deadline for this third open call is 26 February 2021.
Apply now.
National Funding
MarTERA ERA NET COFUND
4th Transnational Call for Research and Innovation Projects in Maritime and Marine Technologies 2021
MarTERA has launched a fourth joint call to fund transnational research and innovation projects in the following areas:
- Priority Area 1: Environmentally friendly maritime technologies
- Priority Area 2: Innovative concepts for ships and offshore structures
- Priority Area 3: Automation, sensors, monitoring and production
- Priority Area 4: Advanced manufacturing and production
- Priority Area 5: Safety and security
This call has been initiated by ministries/funding organisations from 9 countries: Belarus, Belgium, Germany, Malta (represented by MCST), Norway, Poland, Romania, South Africa and Turkey.
More information is available online.
Apart from the pre-proposal submission by the project coordinator on the MarTERA submission platform, each national applicant shall be required to submit a National Application Form along with any pertinent annexes to eusubmissions.mcst@gov.mt.
Interested applicants are invited to participate in an online brokerage event to form or join project consortia by meeting prospective international partners. This will be taking place on 17 February 2021 and is free of charge. Register online.
You may also find other potential project partners on plumtri’s matchmaking MarTERA 2021 page by registering your interest.
For more information, please access the MCST website or contact the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) on international.mcst@gov.mt.
The deadline for pre-proposal submission is 26 March 2021 (17:00 CET).
Applications should reach the RSSD office until 12 March 2021 to allow adequate time for processing.
Upcoming Events
Horizon Europe Malta Online Launch invitation
With a budget of around €95.5 billion for 2021-2027, the new Framework Programme - Horizon Europe, aims at strengthening the EU’s science and technology sectors, and offers a broad range of opportunities for Maltese entities.
Join the event on 17 February 2021.
Find out more.
Horizon Europe Information Sessions
A week of information sessions on Horizon Europe is being organised by the German NCP FFG from the 8th to the 12th March 2021. All sessions will be conducted in English, with topics as follows:
8 March 2021 - Research Infrastructures, overviews and novelties
9 March 2021 - COST - overview and novelties
10 March 2021 - MSCA and more
11 March 2021 - What’s brewing in the ERC kitchen?
12 March 2021 - Research Careers in Academia and Industry
Register online.
11th ESA Training Course in Earth Observation
The Europe Space Agency (ESA), in cooperation with the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST), is organising a training on Earth Observation (EO) online.
Dates: 22 to 26 March 2021
Location: Virtual workshop (online)
Content: Theory and practical sessions on SAR for land classification, SAR and optic remote sensing for marine and atmospheric applications
Cost: Free for accepted registrants
Registration Deadline: 31 January 2021
Queries: Contact MCST at space.mcst@gov.mt
Register online.
All registrations will be reviewed by MCST and ESA, and confirmation of acceptance will be issued in the first half of February.
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
Where documents for submission of project proposals are required for signature by Rector, the complete proposal, Budget and documents to be signed must reach RSSD by email at rssd@um.edu.mt, or by emailing your Research Project Manager (RPM) by not later than 1 week before the deadlines stipulated above. This time frame is needed in order to allow for the necessary reviews to take place and for Rector to sign. RSSD will not be processing documentation for signatures received later than one week before the call deadline. Therefore it is your responsibility to plan in advance.
For proposals requiring detailed vetting by RSSD, these need to be received at least 2 weeks before the deadline in order for a proper review to be made.
We thank you in advance for your cooperation and best of luck!
Crowdhelix Network
UM is a member of the Crowdhelix Network and leads the Marine & Maritime Helix! It is now possible to join winning consortia under Horizon 2020 through the Crowdhelix platform. We are pleased to announce that YOU as a University of Malta Academic / Researcher can now use this platform in order to:- find partners to join you in a consortium for a proposal you wish to lead
- join a consortium applying under a particular call as a partner.
What are you waiting for? Registration is quick and easy, and is available online. It will also be possible to join thematic, or 'Helix events' with the aim of joining such consortia.
Find out more.