Young U.S.-based talents to join ERC research projects: new agreement signed by the EC and the NSF
Jul 23, 2012
A new initiative will provide opportunities for early-career NSF researchers in the U.S. to come to Europe to join the teams of ERC grantees. This agreement was signed by NSF Director Dr Subra Suresh and the European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, in the presence of ERC President Prof. Helga Nowotny.
This initiative is designed to help young top talent, based in the U.S. and pre-selected by the National Science Foundation (NSF), to spend some time in Europe, hosted as members of ERC grantees' teams. The NSF launched the initiative with a view to stimulating the mobility of these U.S. researchers, and enhancing their international profile and knowledge early on in their careers. The role of the ERC and the NSF will be to facilitate contacts between their respective researchers, who are interested in using the scheme.
The agreement that was signed is in the form of an 'implementing arrangement' of the existing EU-U.S. S&T Cooperation Agreement. It will provide opportunities for U.S. scientists to be part of ERC-funded teams for six to twelve months. They will accordingly be supported by the ERC grant in the same way as any other team member. All ERC grantees will be informed about this possibility and will be able to participate on a voluntary basis.
The NSF will solicit proposals from its CAREER (Faculty Early Career Development Programme of NSF) awardees and Post-doctoral research fellows for these opportunities. Travel costs for the U.S. scientists and their families (if necessary) will be covered by the NSF and in the case of the CAREER beneficiaries of this scheme, their NSF grant will continue to run during their visit in Europe.
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