[HORIZON EUROPE][ENLIGHT] ENLIGHT CONSORTIUM R&I PRIZE: Call for R&I projects and initiatives around the ENLIGHT flagship areas between early career researchers from different ENLIGHT consortium partners. DEADLINE: 1 OCTOBER 2022

ENLIGHT CONSORTIUM R&I PRIZE

Call for R&I projects and initiatives around the ENLIGHT flagship areas between early career researchers from different ENLIGHT consortium partners.

In the framework of this call, the ENLIGHT consortium will grant travel/mobility awards and the ENLIGHT R&I Prize Award for the best R&I (envisioned) projects and project proposals jointly conducted by early career researchers from different (minimum 2) ENLIGHT consortium partners.

In a first phase, selected project proposals will receive an ENLIGHT R&I Prize Travel Award to help deepen the envisioned plans (new or ongoing) for collaboration. The aim of this seed money is to stimulate and support (new) ENLIGHT RISE R&I collaborations and projects on ENLIGHT flagship challenges between early career researchers from various/different consortium partners.

In a second phase, the awarded projects making promising progress towards a consolidated joint R&I collaboration after having received the travel award will automatically be selected as candidates for the annual ENLIGHT R&I Prize.

The annual ENLIGHT R&I Prize

Concept:

The ENLIGHT R&I Prize is an annual competition awarding promising joint collaborations – in research fields linked to the 5 ENLIGHT flagship domains – between early career researchers from different ENLIGHT consortium partners. The aim is not only to enhance overall R&I collaborations between ENLIGHT consortium partners, moreover, to support early career researchers in expanding their network.

The design of the prize is two-fold. While the first part consists of seed funding through an open call for travel awards to (further) elaborate collaboration ideas, the second part is the actual ENLIGHT R&I Prize, annually presented during the ENLIGHT General Meeting rewarding the most promising result of the initiatives having received a travel award in the first phase of the ENLIGHT R&I Prize.

Applying project proposals must contribute to the research mission of ENLIGHT, and hence focus on the development of (new) joint research initiatives amongst ENLIGHT partners. These research initiatives must focus on the 5 ENLIGHT flagship domains and correspond to major societal challenges and priorities (health and well-being, climate action, energy transition and circular economy, digital innovation (AI / Open Science), and equity).

Phase 1: The ENLIGHT R&I Prize Travel Award

The ENLIGHT R&I Prize is intended as seed money to support the development stage or further elaboration of joint research activities conducted by early career researchers of different (minimum 2) ENLIGHT consortium partners, e.g. the initiation, design and/or development of one (or more) joint research proposals to be submitted to regional, national or international funding agencies including the Horizon Europe framework programme, etc.

The first phase of the ENLIGHT R&I Prize therefore aims to facilitate in-person meetings and mobility between these early career researchers to concretize their collaboration, and/or to help them acquire necessary skills required to further elaborate their idea/project.

Applying projects therefore can apply for the following two activities:

outgoing mobility of staff and PhD students to participate in meetings at one of the other ENLIGHT partners with the purpose of setting up new or enlarging already existing bilateral or multilateral research collaborations. Only the mobility costs (travel and subsistence) of the applicant are eligible.
attendance to a specialized conference, workshop, or training programme to enhance capacity needed for the envisioned joint project. Only the mobility costs (travel and subsistence) and inscription fees of the applicant are eligible.

Each yearly edition, about 10 travel awards are foreseen to be awarded of maximum EUR 500.- each. Only the mobility costs (travel and subsistence) and/or the inscription fee of the applicant are eligible, and the funding will be through reimbursement of proven expenditures. Reimbursement will be done by the University of Bordeaux’s administration to the applicant’s home institute for further internal allocation.

Applying projects can apply for maximum three individual travel awards per project. In case of selection, it will be up to the selection committee to decide how many travel awards it will allocate to each selected project.

In case of outgoing mobility to attend meetings at an ENLIGHT consortium partner, a financial commitment (co-funding) of the receiving ENLIGHT partner is advised (share in organizational costs or mobility). Recommended for joint research related ENLIGHT activities, is that the ‘sending’ university accounts for the funding of travel and accommodation of the own outgoing staff and PhD students/researchers while the host university accounts for any organizational costs of the activity applied for. In this respect, the seed funding R&I Prize Travel Award can be used by the sending university to support the researchers ’mobility.

Phase 2: The ENLIGHT R&I Prize Award

Awardees of the first phase will automatically apply for the second phase once the report (cfr. below) of the first phase has been accepted by the ENLIGHT R&I Prize Secretariat. Projects can thus not directly solicit nor apply for prize but will be considered for the ENLIGHT R&I Prize Award upon their selection for the ENLIGHT R&I Prize Travel Award and the acceptance of their report (of which they will be duly notified by the prize secretariat).

The selection will be done annually beginning of November, and the award winner will be contacted prior to the award ceremony.

The winner of the ENLIGHT R&I Prize will be announced annually during the ENLIGHT General Meeting. The prize consists of maximum EUR 1,500.- to be used for (or reimbursement of) registration, attendance, mobility costs, etc. of a conference, workshop, or training programme to enhance capacity needed for the project. The funding will be through reimbursement of proven expenditures and will be done by the University of Bordeaux’s administration to the applicant’s home institute for further internal allocation.

Criteria

Who can apply:

Staff members (including doctoral researchers/students) of ENLIGHT consortium partners:

the main applicant(s), beneficiary(/ies), or project leader(s) must be (an) early career researcher(s) (i.e. doctoral student or a researcher who has obtained the PhD title no longer then 9 years prior to the R&I Prize application date)
an eligible project (or the reimbursed activity) must include members of minimum two different ENLIGHT consortium partners.

Disciplinary field:

Proposals should focus on one of the 5 ENLIGHT flagship domains (health and well-being, climate action, energy transition and circular economy, digital innovation (AI / Open Science), and equity) as described on the above linked webpage (https://www.enlight-eu.org/university-about-us/flagship-domains).

Activities eligible for funding:

The present call targets the organization, creation, and exploration of (new) joint R&I activities and opportunities between ENLIGHT partners and will provide travel awards for the project members to meet in-person or to attend a specialised training, conference or workshop related to the project:

the mobility / travel award therefore must be used to physically meet amongst the project members to prepare the project, or to jointly attend a specialized conference, workshop, or training programme to enhance capacity needed for the project.
the activity (mobility) must be / have been conducted between September 1st 2021 and October 1st 2022.

Deadline

The call for the first annual ENLIGHT R&I Prize is open on a permanent basis until October 1st, 2022.

Selection

The selection of applying project proposals will be based on following criteria:

Accordance with the overall ENLIGHT objective/mission
Role of the applicant in the project
Feasibility
Innovative character
Sustainability
Involvement of the Regional Academies (i.e. focus on quadruple helix)

The selection commission will be composed of experts on the ENLIGHT flagship domains and one (1) task member of each ENLIGHT RISE WP2 (co)-lead partner university. Prior to the proclamation of the awardees, the ENLIGHT RISE WP2 assembly will validate the pre-selected winners.

How to apply? 

Applications are made through the designated form and sent as a PDF-document to rise@ugent.be.

The document should be named as follows:  ENLIGHT_R-I_Prize_–_surname_MainApplicant_name_MainApplicant

Reporting of awarded prizes 

Within one month after the end of the funded activity (and/or no later the October 20th, 2022), a short report (max. 1 A4), signed by the main applicant, together with the proven expenditure, must be sent electronically to rise@ugent.be. 

Upon acceptance of the report, the project will be notified of its pre-selection for the ENLIGHT R&I Prize Award, and the applicant’s home partner institute will be reimbursed the ENLIGHT R&I Prize Travel Award.

To be eligible for the ENLIGHT R&I Prize Award, the report should illustrate the progress of the idea/concept/project since the awarding of the ENLIGHT R&I Prize Travel Award. (i.e. the reimbursed activity).

Aug. 9, 2022, 9:42 a.m.