EDUC Research Fellowship Call

The EDUC Research Fellowship Call is designed to offer researchers at all career stages (R1-R4) the opportunity to engage across disciplines, sectors, and cultural contexts. It funds short- to mid-term research mobilities aimed at developing new skills and fostering research partnerships within the EDUC Universities and their broader ecosystems.

The call is launched on 1 December 2025 and will remain open as a rolling call until the allocated funds are exhausted or until 1 November 2026, whichever comes first.

Priorities of the Call

The fellowship supports researchers to:

Gain exposure to new research and innovation environments.
Acquire skills not easily accessible within their home institution.
Build partnerships within the EDUC Alliance and its extended ecosystem (companies, research institutes, NGOs, etc.).

Applicants must clearly explain how their activities contribute to these priorities.

Eligibility Criteria for Applicants

Only individual researchers can apply for a grant for this call, with the following requirements:

Be employed by or formally associated with their home institution (EDUC university) at the time of application submission and for at least 30 days after the completion of the fellowship (full-time or part-time contract as researcher/professor, or PhD candidate).
Obtain authorisation from their head of unit/department or supervisor, if required by institutional regulations.
Have a home institution listed among the sending institutions below.

UNIVERSITY	COUNTRY	Type of Participation
Masaryk University	Czech Republic (Widening)	Sending and hosting institution
University of Pécs	Hungary (Widening)	Sending and hosting institution
Vasyl Stefanyk Carpathian National University	Ukraine* (Widening)	Sending and hosting institution
University of Cagliari	Italy	Sending and hosting institution
University of Potsdam	Germany	Sending and hosting institution
University of South-Eastern Norway	Norway	Sending and hosting institution
Universitat Jaume I	Spain	Sending and hosting institution
University of Rennes	France	Associated (without direct funding), only as host institution
University Paris Nanterre	France	Associated (without direct funding), only as host institution
Associated partners from the EDUC Alliance		Only as host institution
A company, research institute, NGO, or other organisation within the EDUC partner regions and their innovation ecosystem		Only as host institution
Academic institutions based in countries outside the European Union and outside the countries associated with Horizon Europe, preferably from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in the Global South, and excluding high-income countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and other similar economies. Participation may be accepted if duly justified and if the country is not subject to EU restrictions or limited cooperation		Only as host institution

*Due to the current geopolitical situation, any travel to Ukraine must comply with national and university-level travel regulations and safety guidelines in place at the time of mobility.

Duration

The duration of individual fellowships may vary from a minimum of 4 weeks (short-term) to a maximum of 12 weeks (mid-term).

All fellowships must be implemented and completed no later than 1 December 2026.

The proposed duration should be appropriate for achieving the stated objectives and activities of the fellowship and must be clearly justified in the application.

Eligible Expenses

The total budget available for this fellowship scheme is €170,000, allocated among the participating institutions as follows:

€50,000 – University of Cagliari (UNICA), Universitat Jaume I (UJI), University of South-Eastern Norway (USN), University of Potsdam (UP)

€80,000 – Masaryk University (MUNI) and Vasyl Stefanyk Carpathian National University (CNU)

€40,000 – University of Pécs (UPECS)

Fellowship funds will be transferred to the applicant organisation (home institution), which will manage the budget in accordance with its internal financial procedures and national regulations.

Eligible costs:

Travel, per diem, accommodation (per institutional rates).
Other justified costs: Specific expenses directly related to the implementation of the fellowship (e.g. consumables, special needs) may be covered if duly justified in the application

Definitions & Responsibilities

The Visiting researcher is a researcher at any career stage who applies for and is awarded an EDUC Research Fellowship. Visiting researchers are responsible for:

Prepare and submit a complete application;
Implement the approved activities at the selected host institution;
Align activities with the call’s priorities;
Submit a short final report after completion, outlining results, impact, and next steps.

The Home Institution is the EDUC university where the visiting researcher is employed or associated with (e.g. as PhD candidate) at the time of application.

It does not prepare the application, but:

Confirms the visiting researcher’s affiliation at the time of application.
Manages the financial aspects of the fellowship (payment or reimbursement) according to institutional and national regulations.
Ensures compliance with administrative and reporting requirements within the EDUC project.

The Supervisor is the academic advisor of the PhD candidate at the Home Institution. This role is mandatory for PhD candidates or other staff members that are part of a research team or project.

The Host Institution is the organization where the visiting researcher will carry out their mobility. It can be:

Another EDUC university, or
A company, research institute, NGO, or other organization within the EDUC partner regions and their innovation ecosystems.
An academic institution based in a country outside the European Union and outside the countries associated with Horizon Europe

Preference will be given to mobilities hosted within the EDUC universities and their ecosystems, to reinforce cooperation and long-term partnerships across the EDUC Alliance.

Host responsibilities:

Provide appropriate supervision, facilities, and support;
Ensure feasibility and ethical soundness of activities;
Issue required documentation (e.g., invitation letter).

The Mentor: the mentor is the person within the Host Institution who will welcome and provide support to the visiting researcher.

How to Apply

Applications can be submitted online together with all requested annexes via Openup and must include:

Letter from the home institution confirming employment/affiliation.
Invitation letter from the host institution confirming acceptance and mentor support.

Templates are provided. Applicants should check the Openup page to confirm that the call remains open before submission.

Timeline & Evaluation

The EDUC Research Fellowship will follow the timeline and procedure outlined below:

Call opening: 1 December 2025
Evaluation process: Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The Evaluation Committee will assess applications monthly, evaluating all proposals received by the 30th of each month until the available budget is fully distributed.
Implementation period: Mobilities may be implemented until 1 December 2026.
Reporting: Visiting researchers must submit their final report within 30 days after the completion of their stay.

Each application will first undergo an eligibility and completeness check, followed by an evaluation based on the following criteria:

Relevance to call priorities and contribution to collaboration.
Expected impact on skills and institutional capacity.
Cost–impact balance.
Quality of supervision and hosting environment.
Expected results: Knowledge transfer (intersectoral / international), joint publications, joint proposals, deployment of technologies.

After receiving a positive evaluation, proposals are reviewed by the Ethics Advisor. Finally, the fellowship awards are approved by the EDUC-WIDE Steering Committee, taking into account the available budget.

The overall coordination of the evaluation and selection process is managed by Vasyl Stefanyk Carpathian National University (CNU).

Documentation

Application Form (via OpenUP): includes applicant and institutional details, objectives, activities, methodology, impact, budget, and short CVs of the applicant and mentor.

Annexes:

Letter from the home institution confirming the applicant’s eligibility and authorisation to undertake the fellowship.
Invitation letter from the host institution specifying the purpose and scope of the stay, as well as the mentor’s role and responsibilities.
Additional legal or supporting documents, if applicable.

General Conditions

Nature of research and publication of results

This call intends to support research and collaboration conducted in academic institutions and its ecosystem. All research results achieved under this call shall be published. User shall follow the best practice by publishing in Open Access journals and provide their data in a FAIR manner.

Acknowledgements

All publications and public outputs resulting from activities funded under the EDUC-WIDE Research Fellowships must include the following acknowledgement:

“The authors acknowledge financial support of the “EDUC WIDE project funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe under Grant Agreement No. 101136533. This manuscript reflects only the authors’ views and opinions, neither the European Union nor the European Commission can be considered responsible for them”

This acknowledgement should also be included in conference presentations (including proceedings), posters, datasets, software, web articles, and any other public presentations or materials resulting from the fellowship.

Notification of outputs

Researchers must notify the organisers of this call of all publications and public outputs resulting from EDUC-WIDE-funded fellowships. Please email the PDF (where applicable) and full reference details as soon as the item is published to iryna.hryhoruk@pnu.edu.ua, indicating the type of output (e.g., Scientific Journal article, Book, Patent, Proceedings, Web article, Dataset/Software, Other). All such outputs should carry the acknowledgement above.

Ethics and regulations

All fellowships must be implemented in full compliance with the ethical standards and regulations of both the sending and hosting institutions.

Visiting researchers are responsible for ensuring that their planned activities respect the principles of research integrity, including honesty, accountability, and respect for people, animals, and the environment.

Any required ethical approvals or authorisations must be obtained before the start of the fellowship and in accordance with institutional and national procedures.

Reporting

Each visiting researcher is required to submit a final report summarising the activities carried out during the fellowship, including:

a description of the work undertaken and results achieved,
a reflection on the skills and learning outcomes gained, and
a short vision for future collaboration with the host organisation.

A report template will be provided.

The report must be submitted by email to the CNU contact person at iryna.hryhoruk@pnu.edu.ua within 30 days after the fellowship has ended, and no later than 31 December 2026.

The project “EDUC-WIDE” is funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No. 101136533.

Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Research Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Budget Calculation Table

Partner	Travel cost EUR	Travel cost HUF	Accommodation cost EUR	Accommodation cost HUF	Daily allowance EUR	Daily allowance HUF	Total cost for 4-week trip (30 days) HUF
University of Potsdam	300	117.000 Ft.	130 EUR	50.700 Ft.	50 EUR	19.500 Ft.	2 100 000 Ft.
University Paris Nanterre	400	156.000 Ft.	130 EUR	50.700 Ft.	50 EUR	19.500 Ft.	2 150 000 Ft.
Universitat Jaume I	400	156.000 Ft.	120 EUR	46.800 Ft.	40 EUR	15.600 Ft.	1 900 000 Ft.
University of South Eastern Norway	500	195.000 Ft.	180 EUR	70.200 Ft.	60 EUR	23.400 Ft.	2 800 000 Ft.
University of Cagliari	400	156.000 Ft.	120 EUR	46.800 Ft.	40 EUR	15.600 Ft.	1 900 000 Ft.
University of Rennes	400	156.000 Ft.	130 EUR	50.700 Ft.	50 EUR	19.500 Ft.	2 150 000 Ft.
Masaryk University	300	117.000 Ft.	100 EUR	39.000 Ft.	40 EUR	15.600 Ft.	1 700 000 Ft.