The programme aims to promote internationalization of Georgia’s STI sector, advance Georgian researchers’ (including young scientists) and innovators’ networking and contribute to the establishment of professional links with the respective counterparts from the EU, as well as increase the mobility of Georgian researchers and innovators and promote their integration in the European Research Area. In the long run, the programme aims at stimulating joint R&I results as well as collaborative R&I projects in the framework of Horizon Europe and other EU R&I funding schemes.

Specific objectives of fellowships programme:

• Stimulating the research and innovation cooperation of Georgian researchers and innovators with colleagues from the EU member states;
• Giving the possibility to do a joint R&I work with counterparts in the EU based entities;
• Stimulating researchers to integrate and become involved in the project proposals’ development to be further submitted to Horizon Europe (any sub-programme of the 3 Pillars) or any other EU R&I funding programme (COST, European Partnership Initiatives, etc.);
• Facilitating the efficient transfer of knowledge gained during the mobility fellowship with Georgian scientific and innovation community.

EU fellowships for Georgian researchers

Researchers and innovators with Georgian citizenship and permanent residence in Georgia are eligible to apply for the call and receive funding, namely:

• Experienced researchers with PhD completed or at least 3 years full time equivalent research experience;
• Experienced strategic innovative researchers with at least 3 years full-time equivalent applied research experience in a company or at research institutes (a completed PhD is an asset).

Joint Research and Innovation work at a state or state-recognised institution of higher education or a non-university research institute in an EU member state, preparation of proposals to Horizon Europe or any other EU R&I funding programme, participation in proposal writing trainings.
Proposals from all scientific fields (please see annex 1) may be submitted to the programme, considering the clusters, calls and priorities of Horizon Europe’s (HE) or any other EU funding schemes.

The envisaged mobility fellowship’s duration is 3 months per each fellowship, to be spent abroad between January 2023 and December 2023. The 3 months can be split into two or three single mobility periods. The DAAD encourages all scholarship holders to consider the ecological impact of travel and to plan their research stays accordingly, e.g. by combining mobility periods if possible.
Due to COVID-19 pandemic, the starting date of the mobility fellowship may be postponed accordingly. Any such postponement cannot lead to a higher amount paid to the fellow, and the actual length of fellowship over all periods cannot go over 3 months. All fellowships must end within the implementation period of the project.

Lump sum of 5,000 euros per month for three months, total budget 15,000 euros per fellowship. From this lump sum, the fellows have to cover any costs of their mobility.

The lump sum will cover:

• Grant/fellowship;
• Travel costs;
• Health insurance;
• Allowance (including housing, living costs);
• Costs for overhead at host institution (e.g., access to laboratories, libraries etc.);
• Trainings (incl. training in Horizon Europe proposal writing) and networking costs at the EU host institution(s);
• Conference fees.

75% (€12.500) of the fellowship will be paid upfront at the beginning of the fellowship, so as to enable traveling and stays abroad. The remaining 25% (€2,500) will be paid against reporting at the end of the fellowship and after evaluation and approval of the final report.

The evaluation of the fellowship proposals will be done in a two-stage procedure:
The first stage assessment will be conducted by external independent evaluators (researchers, innovators, with international experience), electronically and remotely. Two evaluators will assess every project proposal.
Short listed applicants will be invited to the second stage assessment, which consist of the consensus based final selection of proposals to be funded by a selection panel composed of five international experts (researchers and innovators), representing broadly the various R&I discipline(s) relevant to the ones of submitted proposals. As a principle, the panel will meet in situ in Tbilisi, however, the videoconference(s) may be applied if duly justified.
Principles of the fellowships’ selection and distribution among various fields of science will be considered appropriately. The final decision relies on the overall quality of the proposals, solely.
The evaluation of the project proposals will be based on three main criteria: ‘Excellence’, ‘Impact’ and ‘Quality and efficiency of the implementation’.
Excellence

• Clarity and pertinence of the planned project’s objectives, and the extent to which the proposed work is innovative.
• Soundness of the proposed methodology, including the underlying concepts, models, assumptions, interdisciplinary approaches.

Quality and efficiency of the implementation

• Quality and effectiveness of the work plan, assessment of risks, and appropriateness of the effort assigned to planned activities, and the resources overall.
• Capacity and role of each participant, and extent to which the cooperating partners as a whole brings together the necessary expertise.
• Suitability of the hosting institution for achieving the goals of the fellowship, (e.g., research capacity of the institution, hosting infrastructure available and agreed, in-kind contribution if relevant).
• Qualification and competence of the applicant, suitable for achieving the goals of the fellowship.

Impact

• Credibility of the pathways to achieve the expected outcomes and impacts specified in the work programme, and the likely scale and significance of the contributions due to the project.
• Perspective to become involved in a project or action under Horizon Europe or any other EU R&I funding programme, or the perspective to prepare and submit a proposal to the set programmes.
• Suitability and quality of expected outcomes and impacts, as set out in the dissemination and exploitation plan, including communication activities.

In addition, in order to ensure equal opportunities, the selection committee may take into account special life circumstances, about which you can provide information in the application form.