Putting Brittany on the research map
To achieve its objectives, the EU-funded 'Research based university chairs of excellence - west France' (RBUCE-W)(opens in new window) project implemented a mobility programme for fellowships for junior and senior researchers regardless of nationality. To support research in Brittany, 51 researchers (17 seniors and 34 juniors) were hosted in a two-year fellowship programme. Of these, 42 were formally placed with 13 European University of Brittany (UEB) partners, and 9 in other universities, engineering schools or research centres joining the mobility programme. Overall, 23 fellowships were advertised and 32 applications submitted, of which 26 were eligible for a total of 16 fellowships. No applications were received for seven of the fellowships advertised. Three calls for applications were launched across broad research domains. Applications were assessed on both scientific and ethical criteria. The UEB Scientific Council established a ranking to select the best research project. The selection process involved only one round and included validation of the application by the host university or engineering school. Although all 26 applications were positively assessed, 11 were rejected by the host universities. In total, the UEB offered nine research fellowships to nine fellow applicants, of which only four accepted (three seniors and one junior). The 4 fellows were hosted at 3 different organisations, and all fellowships were successfully carried out over a 24-month period, implemented between April 2011 and April 2012. The five turning down the fellowship offer were unable to secure a two-year mobility break from their current host institution. No further calls for applications were published, and no other fellowships were implemented. Financing was split between the European Commission (EUR 4.5 million) and the UEB community and its partners (EUR 6.7 million). RBUCE-W enabled research in Brittany's higher education institutions, centres and laboratories to concentrate on international projects, thus helping to boost the ERA.