Final Report Summary - MOVE-IN LOUVAIN (MOVE-IN LOUVAIN: Incoming Post-doc Fellowships)
Building upon the success of the former "IPoD" programme (2011-2015), the participating institutions (Université Saint-Louis (USL-B - Bruxelles), Université de Namur (UNamur), Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain)) have launched a new programme called “MOVE-IN Louvain” (2014-2019). This programme, which is targeted at incoming researchers, aims at reinforcing the international dimension of the partner institutions by supporting highly-qualified postdocs from abroad. The scheme is based on a bottom-up approach as all research fields are eligible (Sciences and Technology, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Health Sciences). The ultimate ambition is to build scientific and technological (S&T) collaborations and long-lasting networks between the respective research teams.
“MOVE-IN Louvain” programme added major improvements in particular a higher budget, a longer duration and better employment conditions with the addition of travel allowance. The relative contribution of the 3 partners remained the same under the « MOVE-IN Louvain » programme but in light of the success of the "IPoD" programme both in terms of its impact and management, the 3 partners decided to increase their contribution from 900.000 EUR to 1.075.200 EUR/year as from 2015. With a co-funding of 40% by the European Commission, we reached an annual budget of 1.792.000 EUR.
In order to regulate the rights and duties of each partner, a tripartite partnership Convention has been signed between the participating institutions prior to the launch of the first call. The employment and salary conditions of the fellows were in-line with the principles of the “European Charter for Researchers” and the “Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers”. The programme raised no ethical concerns as it does not directly involved research but research funding. The programme was managed by the Research Administration of the UCLouvain which also provided logistical and administrative support for research missions and activities of benefit to the university community.
Concretely, the 5 years-programme related to incoming mobility and was open to experienced researchers from all nationalities and was based on a bottom-up approach. The duration of the fellowships varied from 12 to 24 months and the potential applicant had the choice between 154 research entities spread over 5 cities and 3 universities.
For the whole programme and the 3 calls, 81 fellowships have been funded (28 fellows under 2015 call, 26 fellows under 2016 call and 27 fellows under 2017 call). Following some withdrawals, and after agreement of the EC, the fellowship of 22 researchers has been extended as there was money left after the launch of the 3 calls. It should be noted that the coordinator and the partners decided to propose additional funding to all the researchers still in place at the moment of that decision.
The programme was addressed to:
- Experienced researchers
- Holding a doctoral degree or having at least 4 years of full-time equivalent research experience since gaining a university diploma giving them access to doctoral studies
- Postdoctoral researchers with a maximum of 6 years of post-doc, counting from the time the thesis was obtained (reference date being the starting date of the project)
- Researchers having resided or carried out their main activity in Belgium for more than 12 months in the 3 years prior to the starting date of the project were not eligible (mobility criteria).
“MOVE-IN Louvain” programme added major improvements in particular a higher budget, a longer duration and better employment conditions with the addition of travel allowance. The relative contribution of the 3 partners remained the same under the « MOVE-IN Louvain » programme but in light of the success of the "IPoD" programme both in terms of its impact and management, the 3 partners decided to increase their contribution from 900.000 EUR to 1.075.200 EUR/year as from 2015. With a co-funding of 40% by the European Commission, we reached an annual budget of 1.792.000 EUR.
In order to regulate the rights and duties of each partner, a tripartite partnership Convention has been signed between the participating institutions prior to the launch of the first call. The employment and salary conditions of the fellows were in-line with the principles of the “European Charter for Researchers” and the “Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers”. The programme raised no ethical concerns as it does not directly involved research but research funding. The programme was managed by the Research Administration of the UCLouvain which also provided logistical and administrative support for research missions and activities of benefit to the university community.
Concretely, the 5 years-programme related to incoming mobility and was open to experienced researchers from all nationalities and was based on a bottom-up approach. The duration of the fellowships varied from 12 to 24 months and the potential applicant had the choice between 154 research entities spread over 5 cities and 3 universities.
For the whole programme and the 3 calls, 81 fellowships have been funded (28 fellows under 2015 call, 26 fellows under 2016 call and 27 fellows under 2017 call). Following some withdrawals, and after agreement of the EC, the fellowship of 22 researchers has been extended as there was money left after the launch of the 3 calls. It should be noted that the coordinator and the partners decided to propose additional funding to all the researchers still in place at the moment of that decision.
The programme was addressed to:
- Experienced researchers
- Holding a doctoral degree or having at least 4 years of full-time equivalent research experience since gaining a university diploma giving them access to doctoral studies
- Postdoctoral researchers with a maximum of 6 years of post-doc, counting from the time the thesis was obtained (reference date being the starting date of the project)
- Researchers having resided or carried out their main activity in Belgium for more than 12 months in the 3 years prior to the starting date of the project were not eligible (mobility criteria).