Introduction

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions ensure excellent and innovative research training as well as attractive career and knowledge-exchange opportunities through cross-border and cross-sector mobility of researchers. They are open to all domains of research and innovation, from basic research up to market take-up and innovation services. Research and innovation fields are chosen freely by the applicants. The scope is to support researchers to establish themselves on a more stable career path and to ensure that they can achieve an appropriate work/life balance.

Objective of the call

The call concerns the action "Research and Innovation Staff Exchange" (RISE). The RISE scheme promotes international and inter-sector collaboration through research and innovation staff exchanges, and sharing of knowledge and ideas from research to market (and vice-versa). The scheme fosters a shared culture of research and innovation that welcomes and rewards creativity and entrepreneurship and helps to turn creative ideas into innovative products, services or processes.

Content of a project

A RISE proposal is a joint research/innovation project designed to exploit the complementary expertise of the participants and to create synergies between them. This is aimed at knowledge sharing via international as well as intersectoral mobility, based on secondments of research and innovation staff (exchanges) with an in-built return mechanism. RISE involves organisations from the academic and non-academic sectors, based in Europe (EU Member States and Associated Countries) and outside Europe. A secondment is eligible if its maximum duration is 12 months and the minimum duration is 1 month for an individual staff member for any organisation. Secondments shall always take place between legal entities independent from each other. Secondments between institutions located in third countries or within the same EU Member State or Associated Country are not being supported.

Example of project

A typical project involves on average 4-7 organisations from the academic and/or non-academic sector which contribute directly to the implementation of the joint research and innovation activities by seconding and/or hosting eligible staff members. Between 200 and 400 person months for secondments (with a maximum of 540 person months) could be envisaged in order to allow for a significant and sustainable impact. Appropriate supervision and support is provided to staff members during their period of secondment by the host organisation. The sustainability of the project must be reinforced through joint activities to which the project participants as a whole or part would participate. The consortium is expected to implement the research/innovation activities by means of functional secondments and organising/taking part in training courses, workshops, summer schools, seminars, conferences etc. aimed at sharing knowledge, acquiring new skills and developing careers for consortium staff members.

Eligible applicants

A) Legal entities. Any legal entity from the academic and non-academic sector that is established in EU Member States or Horizon 2020 associated countries can be beneficiary; only legal entities that are established in third countries can be partner organisations.

B) Individuals

Eligible staff seconded under RISE are:

- Early-stage researchers: at the time of secondment by the host organisation, they must be in the first four years of their research careers and have not been awarded a doctoral degree;

- Experienced researchers: at the time of the secondment by the host organisation, they must be in possession of a doctoral degree or have at least four years of full-time equivalent research experience;

- Administrative, managerial and technical staff supporting the research and innovation activities of the project.

The seconded staff must have been actively engaged in or linked to research and/or innovation activities at the sending institution for at least six months (full-time equivalent) prior to the first period of secondment.

Partnership criteria

The consortium must be created by at least three legal entities, independent of each other and established in at least three different countries. At least two of them must be beneficiaries located in an EU Member State or Horizon 2020 associated country. If all participating organisations are from the same sector (i.e. either only academic or only non-academic), there must be at least one partner organisation from a third country.

Funding

There is no maximum size fixed for the number of participants in RISE. However, there is an upper limit of a maximum of 540 person-months per project regarding the number of secondments funded. There is no minimum number of secondments. The financial support is composed of: a) staff member unit cost of 2.000 EUR per month; plus b) institutional unit cost of 2.500 EUR per person-month.

Projects duration

48 months

Deadline for submitting applications

28 April 2016 at 17.00

More information at http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/home.html