MUR Funding for Young Researchers - 2022 Call

The Call is closed.

Within the 2022 call, the University of Padua has been selected as Host Institution by 21 researchers from the Seal of Excellence scheme and by 11 researchers from the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action scheme.


The Ministry of University and Research (MUR), within the scope of the NRRP - Mission 4 “Education and Research” - Component 2 “From Research to Business” - Investment 1.2 “Funding projects presented by young researchers”, allocates for the last quarter of 2022 at least 300 research grants aimed at young researchers.

The PNRR MUR 247 - Young Researchers call of Agust 23, 2022, and subsequent Notice 367 of October 7, 2022, by the MUR, define the eligibility criteria and the dedadline for the online submission of applications via the Gea platform

"Young Researcher" being ultimately defined in the 367 Notice as: a researcher of any nationality benefiting from European grants of excellence, such as grants from the European Research Council - ERC Starting Grant and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships, as part of the Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe Framework Programs, as well as a researcher of any nationality who has obtained a “Seal of Excellence” following the participation in Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships.

The financial allocation for the Young Researchers Programme is 600 million euro overall, of which 220 million euros for the first edition of year 2022. At least 40% of the budget is reserved for universities and public research bodies in the Southern Regions of Italy.

The Programme covers three funding schemes, briefly described below.

The deadline for applications to the Ministry of University and Research (Funding Authority) has been extended to October 25, 2022 at 12:00 (noon, Italian time) as of Notice 367 of October 7, 2022.

IMPORTANT – please read carefully
The following information is indicative and non-exhaustive. It is provided as an illustrative reference for applicants considering the University of Padua as their Host Institution within the scope of the Young Researchers’ call. Please visit the Italian Ministry of University and Research dedicated webpage for more detailed information about the application procedure and about the call’s documents and forms. 

Do not miss the official MUR’s FAQs pages, which are continuously updated for each funding scheme:
https://www.gea.mur.gov.it/Faq/YoungResearchersERC
https://www.gea.mur.gov.it/Faq/YoungResearchersMSCA
https://www.gea.mur.gov.it/Faq/YoungResearchersSoE

  Funding for ERC Starting Grant Principal Investigators (PI)

Eligible applicants
Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe ERC Starting Grant PIs of any nationality, carrying out the grant’s activities at a foreign Host Institution  and whose grant is still active on October 25, 2022 (Call deadline), Applicants must submit a complementary or consequential proposal with respect to the ERC activities. The project duration must be up to 36 months, with a budget of max. 1 million euros. 

Applicants must submit a complementary or consequential proposal with respect to the ERC activities. The project duration must be up to 36 months, with a budget of max. 1 million euros.  

Employment conditions
Successful candidates will be appointed to a position as Associate Professor by direct call.
The contract with the selected Italian Host Institution must be signed by May 31, 2023. Implementing the ERC grant portability is required.

Available budget for this call
Up to 100 proposals are expected to be funded, 40% of which at universities and public research bodies in the Southern Regions of Italy.

How to apply with UniPD?
Padua offers a number of available positions, each one associated to a specific ERC panel and published on the MUR website. Applications must be submitted in English, exclusively online via the MUR portal: https://www.gea.mur.gov.it starting from September 22, 2022 – h 12:00 pm until October 25, 2022 at 12:00 (noon, Italian time). Candidates interested to apply with the University of Padua as Host Institution must select the relevant ERC panel and vacant position, where available, in the online application form, indicating UniPD among their preferences.

Evaluation timeline and criteria

  • September 22 – October 25, 2022: applications submission timeframe. PI’s choose up to 3 vacant available positions within a single ERC panel.
  • October – November 2022 (tentative): The Host Institutions appoint an Evaluation Committee to carry out the evaluation of submitted projects. The assessment is made on the basis of Scientific adequacy, Impact and Implementation criteria, worth 5 points each. Eligible proposals must score at least 9 out of 15 (and higher than 1 out of 5 in all criteria).
  • November – December 2022 (tentative): The Ministry draws up and publishes online the list of available positions and the individual candidates that are matched to them, ranked in descending order of score.

  Funding for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual or Postdoctoral Fellows

Eligible applicants
Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual or Postdoctoral Fellows of any nationality, having concluded their MSCA project at the time of submitting the application for funding and in any case no more than 48 months prior to the date of publication of the Notice (between 24/08/2018 and 23/08/2022).
Applicants must submit a complementary or consequential proposal with respect to the one of their MSCA Fellowship. The project duration must be up to 36 months, with a budget of max. 300,000 euros. Commitment to an ERC application with the Italian Host Institution is required.

Employment conditions
Successful candidates will be offered a three-year RTDA contract as fixed-term researcher with direct call, pursuant to art. 24, paragraph 3, letter a), of Law no. 240 of December 30, 2010. The contract will be entirely funded by the MUR Programme. The contract should be signed in any case by December 20, 2022.  

Available budget for this call
Up to 200 proposals are expected for funding, 40% of which at universities and public research bodies in the Southern Regions of Italy.

How to apply with Unipd?
Candidates choosing UniPD as Host Institution within this call are invited to contact a Department consistent with their research area https://www.unipd.it/en/departments and to have the Head of the Department sign a declaration of support oftheir application before October 15, 2022.

A project application dossier including the following mandatory documents must be sent to individual.grants@unipd.it by October 15, 2022:

  1. Project proposal (Annex 5B)
  2. Economic-financial plan, for amounts greater than or equal to € 200,000) (Annex 4B)
  3. Valid ID/Passport
  4. First submission MSCA funded project
  5. Evaluation Summary Report obtained by the European Commission
  6. Updated Curriculum Vitae
  7. Self-declaration of compliance with the DNSH principle (Annex 2Bplease complete all fields of the self-declaration and thoroughly fill in the justifications
  8. Self-declaration on ethical aspects (Annex 3Bplease complete all fields and workflow if applicable
  9. Declaration of support of the candidate’s application, signed by the Head of the Host Department selected at the University of Padua (Please use the UniPD declaration template

The subject of the email must specify "PNRR MSCA Young Researchers | Candidate surname and name". 

The Evaluation Committee will release an Evaluation Report for each application by 21 October 2022. Successful candidates may then contact their Host Department for the mandatory Preliminary Agreement signature.

Eligible candidates must subsequently submit the complete application dossier to the MUR, exclusively online via the MUR portal: https://www.gea.mur.gov.it

Check out the MSCA meets ERC and UNIPD SuccessStories @Unipd for more information about the University of Padua MSCA lively community of Fellows and Supervisors!
https://www.unipd.it/en/success-stories-msca
https://www.unipd.it/en/success-stories-erc-meets-msca

Evaluation timeline and criteria

  • Before October 15, 2022: applicants must obtain from a UniPD Host Department a signed Declaration of support of their application
  • By October 15, 2022:: applicants must submit an application folder to UniPD (individual.grants@unipd.it) including the above mentioned mandatory documents
  • By October 21, 2022: UniPD Evaluation Committee releases the Evaluation Report to the candidate. The assessment is made on the basis of Scientific adequacy, Impact and Implementation criteria, worth 5 points each. Eligible proposals must score at least 9 out of 15 (and higher than 1 out of 5 in all criteria).
  • Between October 21 and October 24, 2022: eligible candidates and their Host Department must sign the mandatory Preliminary Agreement (Annex 6B to the call)
  • By October 25, 2022 (noon, Italian time): candidates must submit their application dossier online to the MUR.
  • November – December 2022 (tentative): the Ministry draws up and publishes online the list of the selected applicants and associated Host Institutions, ranked in descending order of score, based on the Evaluation Report

  Funding for MSCA Seal of Excellence awardees

Eligible applicants 
Researchers of any nationality, receiving the “Seal of Excellence” under the Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (MSCA IF) or Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA PF) calls, having received the “Seal of Excellence” in the 48 months prior to the date of publication of the call (timeframe: August 24, 2018 – August 23, 2022).

Applicants must submit a project proposal based on an adaptation of the initial MSCA proposal awarded with the Seal of Excellence The project duration must be up to 24 months, with a budget of max. 150,000 euros in the form of a lump sum.  

Employment conditions
Successful candidates will be offered a contract as fixed-term researcher with direct call. The contract should be signed in any case by December 20, 2022.  

Available budget for this call
Up to 400 proposals are expected for funding, 40% of which at universities and public research bodies of the Southern Regions in Italy.

How to apply with Unipd?
Candidates choosing UniPD as Host Institution within this call are invited to contact a Department consistent with their research area https://www.unipd.it/en/departments and to have the Head of the Department sign a declaration of support oftheir application before October 15, 2022. 

A project application dossier including the following mandatory documents must be sent to individual.grants@unipd.it by October 15, 2022

  1. Project proposal (Annex 4C)
  2. Valid ID/Passport
  3. First submission proposal (which has received the Seal of Excellence)
  4. Evaluation Summary Report obtained by the European Commission
  5. MSCA Seal of Excellence
  6. Updated Curriculum Vitae
  7. Self-declaration of compliance with the DNSH principle (Annex 2Cplease complete all fields of the self-declaration and thoroughly fill in the justifications
  8. Self-declaration on ethical aspects (Annex 3Cplease complete all fields and workflow if applicable
  9. Declaration of support of the candidate’s application, signed by the Head of the Host Department selected at the University of Padua (Declaration template

The subject of the email must specify "PNRR SoE Young Researchers | Candidate surname and name". 

The Evaluation Committee will release an Evaluation Report for each application by 21 October 2022.  Successful candidates may then contact their Host Department for the mandatory Preliminary Agreement signature. 

Eligible candidates must subsequently submit the complete application dossier to the MUR, exclusively online via the MUR portal: https://www.gea.mur.gov.it. 

Check out the MSCA meets ERC and UNIPD SuccessStories @Unipd for more information about the University of Padua MSCA lively community of Fellows and Supervisors!

https://www.unipd.it/en/success-stories-msca
https://www.unipd.it/en/success-stories-erc-meets-msca

Evaluation timeline and criteria

  • Before October 15, 2022:: applicants must obtain from a UniPD Host Department a signed Declaration of support of their application. 
  • By October 15, 2022: applicants must submit an application folder to UniPD (individual.grants@unipd.it) including the above mentioned mandatory documents.
  • By October 21, 2022: UniPD Evaluation Committee releases the Evaluation Report to the candidate. The assessment is made on the basis of Scientific adequacy, Impact and Implementation criteria, worth 5 points each. Eligible proposals must score at least 9 out of 15 (and higher than 1 out of 5 in all criteria).
  • Between October 21 and October 24, 2022: eligible candidates and their Host Department must sign the mandatory Preliminary Agreement (Annex 5C to the call)
  • By October 25, 2022 (noon, Italian time): candidates must submit their application dossier online to the MUR.
  • November – December 2022 (tentative): the Ministry draws up and publishes online the list of the selected applicants and associated Host Institutions, ranked in descending order of score, based on the Evaluation Report.

Annexes:

PNRR logo MUR

International Research Office

Individual grants Unit

Individual.grants@unipd.it