The Romanian Institute of Science and Technology invites applications for grants aimed at scientists having a PhD who wish to lead an independent project of applied research and development within the institute. The call is open to all scientists, regardless of current place of work, citizenship or nationality. The research projects will be funded with up to 600,000 lei (about 125,000 euros) for up to 2 years by UEFISCDI, a Romanian research funding agency.
The projects should advance a technology with a current technology readiness level (TRL) of 2, 3 or 4, by advancing it with one the TRL (i.e., from 2 to 3, from 3 to 4, or from 4 to 5).
The projects should fit at least one of the following fields:
- Information and communication technology;
- Bioeconomy: agri-food; bioenergy – biogas, biomass, biofuel; biotechnologies;
- Space
- Security;
- Energy;
- Environment and climatic changes;
- Intelligent city;
- Eco-nano-technologies;
- Technologies for removing pollution;
- Advanced materials;
- Health and pharmacology;
- Heritage;
- Cultural identity.
This call is mostly suitable for scientists working in fields that do not require complex laboratory setups, for which the required equipment and supplies can be purchased using the project’s budget. The institute provides office space in downtown Cluj for up to 2 persons per project, office furniture, utilities corresponding to normal office use, printers, and administrative support.
Eligible direct expenses include personnel, equipment, laboratory supplies, materials, and travel. Personnel expenses include salaries for the principal investigator as well as for the other team members. Indirect expenses are 25% of the direct expenses, excluding equipment.
The expected start date is May-September 2020.
Our institute welcomes scientists who would like to apply for this funding and, if successful, will work, full time or part time, in our institute, in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, implementing the funded projects.
Scientists are invited to send us an expression of interest to lead such a project (in English or Romanian) at grants@rist.ro, including a preliminary abstract of the project, a CV and a list of publications, or links to webpages including this information, and the names and contact details of at least two persons who can provide recommendations. Please send these expression of interests as soon as possible, but no later than September 23, 2019.
Following the approval of the expression of interest, scientists will write the applications with the administrative assistance of our staff and will submit the applications for assessment to UEFISCDI. The applications should be written in English and are about no more than 15 pages long. The final applications should be submitted online, through uefiscdi-direct.ro. The deadline for submitting the final applications is October 11, 2019.
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