Funding opportunities for participating researchers (EU-Grants)

EASY-ECO is supported by the European Community's Sixth Framework Programme under the Marie-Curie Conferences and Training Courses action. As a result, participating researchers who satisfy the European Union eligibility conditions may receive EU-Grants to cover participation fees, living expenses and travel expenses. This means that if you are accepted for one of the EU-Grants, you will be reimbursed all costs that arise due to participation at an EASY-ECO event up to a fixed limit.

And if you are a young researcher participating in one of the EASY-ECO Trainings, we strongly encourage you to first apply for a conference, then attend the training and finally submit a paper for one of the conferences following your training because all this could be supported by EU-Grants if you apply in time and meet the eligibility conditions.

Eligibility conditions

The conditions for participants to be eligible for an EU-Grant can be summarized as follows:

As a general rule, only researchers are eligible for funding. A researcher is defined as a person holding a degree that entitles for doctoral studies (master degree or equivalent) who is active in research. EU-Grants are reserved to participants with less than 10 years (full-time equivalent) of research experience, since gaining a degree giving access to doctoral studies. Researchers with more than 10 years of research experience (full-time equivalent), counting from the time the degree was obtained, are not eligible for support, except they are nationals of member states or associated states (see below) active outside these states at the time of an event.

Applying for an EU-Grant and selection of eligible researchers

When registering for an EASY-ECO event, additionally fill in box E) in the online application form. This data allows the event organisers to approve that you fulfil the eligibility criteria for an EU-Grant. The form also allows you to state whether you want to participate in your chosen event even if you are not accepted for an EU-Grant i.e. as a paying participant.

EU-Grants are limited to a certain number of participants per event. Therefore, the host organisations of the EASY-ECO events are responsible for selecting eligible researchers. The selection procedure is supported by an evaluation of your curriculum vitae including a list of your most important publications along with a motivational letter. In the motivational letter you should explain in a maximum of 300-400 words why you want to attend the chosen EASY-ECO event. Please make sure that your name is included in both documents and send them in Word document format!

In accordance with EU requirements, the criteria for the selection of eligible researchers applied by the host organisations will comprise, in particular: experience in the field of research; potential of excellence or recognised excellence of the candidate; the impact and benefit of the training to the career of the candidate. Furthermore, the host organisations must apply a policy of equal opportunities, in particular between men and women, concerning access to the events and must meet requirements for an international balance between the participants.

All applicants will be notified whether their application for an EU-Grant has been accepted. The notification will also give details on how to further proceed with payment and how reimbursement will be handled (for further details please go to How to apply).

Level of support

Travel allowance
Expenses can only be reimbursed upon provision of the relevant transportation tickets and/or invoices. The reimbursement will not exceed the maximum amount authorized by the EU. These amounts are based on the direct ("as the crow flies") distance between the working location of the participant and the location of the EASY-ECO event:

Living expenses
The event hosts will make arrangements for accommodation and catering and you can choose among various options in the online application form (e.g. accommodation only or bed&breakfast, varies from event to event). These arrangements will be fully covered by the EU-Grants and are an offer of the event hosts for your convenience. However, should you decide to make arrangements for your stay on your own, you can ask the event hosts for reimbursement of real subsistence expenses (hotel and catering) upon provision of the relevant invoices up to a daily maximum - but please clarify with the event organizers well in advance!

Participation fees
Participation fees of eligible researchers are fully reimbursed.

Self-paying participants

Applicants who do not fulfil the EU's eligibility criteria for an EU-grant (e.g. professionals or researchers with more than 10 years of experience) or applicants who have not been awarded an EU-grant are welcome to participate in the training as self-paying participants. They can expect the following costs:

online training fee:	EUR 200,-
on-site training fee:	EUR 250,-
accomodation:	approximately EUR 250,-
catering and other costs:	approximately EUR 200,-
travel costs

The exact calculation will be announced before each training shortly before the application deadline. For further information requests contact Mr Michal Sedlacko (michal.sedlacko@wu.ac.at).