01 April 2011

Intra-European Fellowships for career development (IEF)


Intra-European Fellowships for career development (IEF)

At various stages of their career, experienced researchers may welcome an opportunity to acquire new research skills or experience working in other sectors. Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowships for Career Development specifically aim at helping experienced researchers to try something new for a while.

Who can apply?

Researchers can be of any nationality but as a general rule must move from one Member State or Associated country to another in order to carry out the project.. You must have either a doctoral degree or at least 4 years’ full-time equivalent research experience, after obtaining a degree permitting you to embark on a doctorate.

What does the funding cover?

IEF funding is provided for advanced training and career development. This may include the acquisition of new and/or complementary skills, and transnational mobility. The project is based on a personal career development programme agreed between the researcher and the supervisor at the host organisation. Financial support is provided for a period of 12-24 months (full-time equivalent), for individual projects presented by experienced researchers from Member States or Associated Countries in liaison with a host organisation from a Member State or Associated Country.
The fellowships may include:
  • Training-through-research under supervision, through an individual personalised project
  • Hands-on training to develop your scientific skills (new techniques or instruments, etc.) and your complementary skills (proposal preparation to request funding, patent applications, project management, tasks coordination, technical staff supervision, etc.)
  • Inter-sectoral or interdisciplinary knowledge transfer
  • Building Collaborations
  • Active scientific and financial management of your research project
  • Developing organisational skills through organisation of training or dissemination events.

Which topics can be funded?

IEF proposals are welcomed from all areas of scientific and technological research. But there is one exception: research areas covered by the EURATOM Treaty cannot be funded.

Who decides?

IEF proposals are selected in an open competition. Selection is through transparent, independent peer review, based on excellence using a series of predetermined criteria.

How to apply?

Funding decisions for Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowships for Career Development (IEF) are made on the basis of proposals submitted following calls published by the Research Executive Agency (REA).
The sequence of steps is summarised in this flow chart:





1. Proposal preparation and electronic submission

For each call a dedicated call page is set up. Published calls can be found through 'Find a call' in the left navigation on this page.
To prepare and submit a proposal for a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship you will need the complete Information package which is available from the call page.
The Guide for Applicants contains the essential information to guide you through the process of preparing and submitting a proposal. Proposals are submitted electronically via the Commission's Electronic Proposal Submission Service (EPSS) before a strictly-enforced deadline.
The Information package also comprises the People Work programme which provides a detailed description of the action, its objectives and scope, the eligibility criteria, the EU contribution and the evaluation criteria.
Guides for Applicants and Work programmes are revised each year, so make sure you refer to the latest version before preparing your proposal.
The Guide and the Work programme are essential reading. However, you may also wish to consult other reference and background documents, particular those relating to negotiation and the grant agreements, which are available from the 'How to manage my project' page.

2. Proposal evaluation

The REA evaluates all eligible proposals in order to identify those whose quality is sufficiently high for possible funding. The basis for this evaluation is a peer-review carried out by independent experts. The results of the evaluation will be made available on the call page.

3. Negotiation and Selection

The REA then negotiates with some or all of those applicants whose proposals have successfully passed the evaluation stage, depending on the budget available. If negotiations are successfully concluded, grant agreements providing for an EU financial contribution are established with the participants.

When to Apply?
EPSS is now available for this call for proposals
Identifier: FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF
Publication Date: 16 March 2011
Budget: € 109 850 000
Deadline: 11 August 2011 at 17:00:00 (Brussels local time)

OJ Reference: OJ C082 of 16 March 2011


Specific Programme(s):  People