Skip to main content
European Commission logo print header

Tecnalia's International Fellowships for Experienced Researchers- TIFER

Final Report Summary - TIFER (Tecnalia's International Fellowships for Experienced Researchers- TIFER)

Tecnalia's International Fellowships for Experienced Researchers (TIFER) Programme is a 4 year programme under the Marie Curie Action (PEOPLE-COFUND).

The aim of the project is to foster and consolidate the European Research Area (ERA) by attracting talented researchers and developing their careers.

The TIFER Programme has 2 mobility schemes:

- In relation to its INCOMING scheme, TIFER supports the temporary incorporation (2 years contract) of experienced researchers to TECNALIA (Fundación Tecnalia Research & Innovation or Fundación Azti) to develop their proposed research projects with TECNALIA´s research teams and facilities.
- In relation to its OUTGOING scheme, TIFER supports the temporary incorporation of experienced researchers to TECNALIA (Fundación Tecnalia Research & Innovation or Fundación Azti) to develop their proposed research project in a host organization located outside Spain.

The size of Tecnalia (around 200 doctors and 1400 employees), its multidisciplinarity, and the size of its research units and several facilities, demonstrates sufficient critical mass to host researchers in a wide range of Scientific and Technological fields.

There have been 3 international Calls for Researchers.

- The 1st Call was launched in June 2012 and 14 fellowships were awarded, 8 in the incoming scheme and 6 in the out-going scheme.
- The 2nd Call was launched in August 2013 and 17 fellowships were awarded, 8 in the incoming scheme and 9 in the out-going scheme.
- The 3rd and last Call was launched in September 2014 and 4 fellowships were awarded, all of them in the incoming scheme.

All recruited candidates complied with the mobility rule (Incoming scheme: non-residents undertaking trans-national mobility. Outgoing scheme: Spanish residents at the moment of applying for the fellowship) and demonstrated their experience in one of the specified research areas.

During this programme, the total number of applications submitted by candidates has been 184 (143 male applications and 41 female applications).
- In the Incoming scheme, there have been 167 applications: 134 male applications and 33 female applications. Although the number of male applications was significantly higher, the rate of success of female applications was 21,21%, in comparison with the male applications rate of success, 9,70%
- In the Outgoing scheme, there have been 17 applications: 9 male applications and 8 female applications. As it happened in the Incoming scheme, in the Outgoing scheme the female rate of success was again higher, 100%, in comparison with the male rate of success, 77,77%.

There are 35 countries represented among awarded fellows by their nationality:
- SRI LANKA
- PERU
- TURKEY
- NORWAY
- UNITED STATES
- SPAIN
- FRANCE
- ITALY
- PERU
- UNITED KINGDOM
- SERBIA
- INDIA
- IRAN
- ROMANIA
- UNITED STATES
- FINLAND
- BOLIVIA

The scientific disciplines covered by the awarded fellows are the following ones:
- CHE: Chemistry.
- ENG: Information science and Engineering.
- ECO: Economic sciences.
- SOC: Social and human sciences.
- LIF: Life sciences.
- ENV: Environment and geosciences.
The preferred disciplines were engineering and chemistry.


The fellows have completed their fellowships in the following host organizations that represent 12 different countries:
- Tecnalia Research & Innovation (Spain)
- Joint Institute for Innov ation Policy (Belgium)
- The Manufacturing Te chnology Centre (United Kingdom)
- Advanced Manufacture Technology Center Of China. Academy Of Machinery Science Technology (China)
- Institut de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Bordeaux (France)
- Technical Research Centre of Finland
- Deakin University (Australia)
- Eads Deutschland and Gmbh, Innovation Works (Germany)
- Institute of Technical Microbiology of the Technical University of Hamburg (Germany)
- Université de Liège (Belgium)
- Fundacion Esi Center Sinertic ANdino (Colombia)
- CUDOS, School of Physics, University of Sydney (Australia)
- University of Idaho (USA)
- University of Tokyo (Japón)
- Jala Foundation (Bolivia)

The TIFER Programme ended on 2nd October 2015. Unfortunately, the severe economic crisis slowed down significantly the progress of the TIFER project. The critical situation led to important delays in the launch of the three international Calls and to an underperformance of the project.

In any case,the TIFER programme has produced a significant impact at all levels. The researchers have collaborated in the development of their projects with several research groups, both nationally and internationally, which has visibly enhanced its activity, facilitating the successful development of their projects.

This talent mobility results in significant long-term synergies for both researchers and Tecnalia:
- It promotes collaboration with other national and international reference entities,
- At the end of their TIFER fellowships, researchers maintain connection with TECNALIA, creating a social network that will favor international collaborations.
- Some of these researchers have found a permanent position in TECNALIA, contributing to the internationalization of TECNALIA and its continuity as reference research organization in the ERA.
- Also, in the outgoing scheme, experienced researchers have done research stays in different reference organizations worldwide, in 12 countries and 3 continents. This talent mobility entails an enrichment of the research career and at the same time, it allows TECNALIA to establish or improve relations with the host organizations (reference technology centers, universities, etc.) and the people that works for them, promoting the future development of collaborative projects.


More information about the programme is available at the TIFER website: http://tifer-fellowships.com/

Related documents