Basic information

Practice setup

When setting up/expanding the small grant scheme towards international PhD students and young researchers, the following needs to be considered:

• Strong support by the top management


• Identifying the source of funding (e.g. institutional resources, sponsorship, subsidy from public resources) and allocated amount; in case a well-operating scheme exists for local PhD students/young academics - it might be desirable to enlarge the available total budget to ensure realistic chances of support


• Defining of the strategic priority you are going to support or goals the small grants shall achieve (interdisciplinary research projects, international research projects, start-up projects, cutting-edge projects, grants for female PhD students and young researchers, projects with social impact, science popularisation, citizens involvement)  


• Appointment of a responsible person for the preparation and administration of the grant scheme


• Design of the grant scheme - eligibility criteria (e.g. eligibility in terms of years of research experience after finishing studies allowing the researcher to enroll for PhD studies, calculated as full-time equivalent, or year of PhD studies), funding terms/conditions (including maximum amount of the financial support, total budget available per call, eligible costs), deadlines and periodicity for applications submission, time schedule of various steps: formal, eligibility and quality evaluation of applications - contracting - funding provision - implementation period - reporting schedule - assessment/review of results, call text preparation - in English, and/or other international languages


• Preparation of necessary forms in English, and/or other international languages (application form, project outline form, project report template, declarations, etc), and guide for applicants; allow the submission of the applications in English and/or other international languages (without the requirement to submit it in a national language), contract/grant agreement, a guide for beneficiaries - both in English


• Determining ways for application submission (electronic/printed, online system/email/office); in case an online system would be preferred, liaise with IT department on suggested options (operating in English), or look for available options via networks with local grant agencies


• Preparation of a transparent selection procedure (including formal, eligibility and evaluation criteria)


• Nomination of the selection committee members with a sound command of English and/or other international language and desirable expertise in various disciplines (based on clear criteria and preventing a conflict of interest - e.g. including also experts from outside your HEI, outside the academic community)


• Ensuring various ways of promoting of the grant scheme (welcome package, institutional website, newsletter, intranet, emailing to supervisors, team leaders, etc)


• Ensuring the predictability and repeating of the scheme annually with the same time framework

Cost of practice setup
Time required for practice setup
Personnel effort required for practice setup
Actors involved in practice setup	Research office Doctoral school IT support department Rector's office / Vice-Rector for International Affairs
Partners involved in practice setup	Other HEI/research organisation in city/region Local/national funding agencies
Indicators for evaluating progress/quality of practice setup	User procedure and manual designed Relevant documents/forms prepared Institutional grant scheme set up

Description of collaboration

Internal Actors

@ IT department - could provide consultations on the optimal solution for an online grant application system operating in English

External Collaborators

@Other HEIs/research organisations in city/region - the selection committee should preferably comprise various stakeholders including also experts from outside your HEI, outside the academic community in order to avoid a conflict of interest

@Local/national grant agencies/other HEIs -  can help with experience sharing (various aspects and phases of the institutional grant scheme setup procedure). 

External funding - local/national/EU subsidies opportunities, non-academic RDI organisations,

Practice delivery

• Publish the Call for applications with all the relevant documentation in English at the relevant organisation´s website pages (choose the most appropriate place, where it could be intuitively searched for


• Promote the grant scheme via various communication channels (welcome package, newsletter, intranet news) 


• Support prospective applicants by providing information/counseling services in the application phase (e.g. a seminar/webinar held annually describing details of the grant scheme and application process, or individual consultations, IT support/helpdesk in case an online tool is used)


• Secure a transparent selection process (formal and eligibility check and qualitative evaluation)


• Ensure a fast and easy contracting process


• Ensure suitable implementation conditions in cooperation with supervisors, heads of respective departments, team leaders, etc.


• Instruct beneficiaries about the necessary implementation and financial rules (reporting duties, budget spending rules - purchase of goods, travel arrangements, publishing guidelines) (e.g. via a seminar/webinar for beneficiaries, booklet/leaflet/terms and conditions in a nutshell)


• Promote and disseminate results via HEIs communication channels (newsletter, social media, press release)

Cost of practice delivery
Time required for practice delivery
Personnel effort required for practice delivery
Actors involved in practice delivery	IRO/welcome centre Study department Research office Project management office Incubator Science park
Partners involved in practice delivery	Other HEI/research organisation in city/region
Indicators for evaluating progress/quality of practice delivery	Number of researchers involved in events annually

Description of collaboration

External Collaborators

@ Other HEIs/research organisations in city/region - if it is required by the nature of the research, the home institution/department should provide assistance in addressing external partners and guarantee its personal credibility as well as the relevance and correctness of the research, especially in cases when:

• an interview/s is/are needed to be conducted as part of the research


• samples need to be obtained


• the research takes longer than initially expected


• research infrastructure is owned by external partners