YOUNG RESEARCHERS MOBILITY PROGRAMME CALL 2024

The Guido Berlucchi Foundation young researchers Mobility Programme 2024 aims to support oncologic research by facilitating young researchers training, competence acquisition and development, dissemination activities and knowledge transfer in the field of experimental and translational research.

Applications can be submitted from March 4th to April 4th, 2024, at 13:00 (Central European Time). Incomplete or late applications will not be considered.

Eligibility
The Guido Berlucchi Foundation Young Researchers Mobility Programme is open to PhD (or equivalent doctoral degree, including medical school speciality) students and fellows awarded their first PhD (or equivalent doctoral degree) up to 2 years prior to the ending date of the Call for proposal. No extensions will be considered.
PhD students must be registered to a PhD Programme and carry out their PhD work in an Italian public or private Organisation or in the Italian branch of an International University. In the latter case, the mobility cannot be used for going to the same Country of citizenship.
The post-doctoral fellows must work in an Italian public or private Organisation at the time of application.

Applicants, of any nationality, must be 35 years old or younger by the time of the call deadline (i.e., the Applicant’s 35th birth date must be on April 4th, 1989, or after). One-year age limit extension is allowed for each parental, sick and military duties leave, when the leave has been longer than four months and reported into the Application Form.

The Applicant is not eligible when he/she:
1) is a winner of the previous Mobility calls;
2) in the past 3 years has worked with-or currently works with- a member of the Guido Berlucchi Foundation Technical Scientific Committee;
3) in the past 3 years has published with a member of the Guido Berlucchi Foundation Technical Scientific Committee, and both persons hold a relevant position (first, last, or corresponding author) in the publication.

Only inter-country mobilities are allowed. Inter-sectorial/disciplinary mobilities are recommended.

The project to be implemented during the mobility should be related to oncologic research and cover one or more priority areas identified by the Technical Scientific Committee of the Guido Berlucchi Foundation.

Priority areas:
•    molecular biology
•    cell biology 
•    innovative cellular models
•    -OMICS approaches
•    pre-clinical research 
•    clinical trial
•    development of an experimental part of a research project
•    use of facilities/instruments not available at the sending organisation
•    acquisition of a new technique/skills development
•    development of clinical research activities as part of a research project
•    development of a translational research activity as part of a research project
•    grant/paper writing
•    preparation of materials for dissemination/communication activities


Rules for mobility
The mobility period must range from a minimum of one month to a maximum of six months.
The Guido Berlucchi funded mobility period can be part of a longer mobility period; however, the candidate must indicate in the application the entire length of the mobility, and detail the other resources used to finance his/her mobility.

The mobility period must be included between 1 November 2024 and 31 October 2025.

On the first day of mobility, the Hosting Organisation has to confirm the Applicant’s arrival and the duration of his/her stay.

On the last day of mobility, the Hosting Organisation has to confirm the Applicant’s departure.

Within fifteen calendar days from the end of his/her visit, the Applicant has to send the duly filled Mobility Report. The Mobility Report template is annexed to this Call.

Funding rules and payments
During the mobility period, the successful Applicant will continue to perceive his/her fellowship/grant/salary and must be insured by his/her Sending Organisation, i.e., the Guido Berlucchi Foundation does not cover any fellowship or salary or part of it.

The Guido Berlucchi Foundation mobility grant supports travel costs and living allowance. The total grant awarded will depend on the distance between the Applicant’s Sending Organisation and the Hosting Organisation and the number of days of the visit. The maximum total grant allowed is 7.500 euro per mobility.

Travel Allowance
The contribution to travel costs is a lump sum of 500 euro if the Hosting Organisation is geographically located in Europe and of 1.000 euro if the Hosting Organisation is geographically located outside Europe (i.e., UK is in Europe, therefore the travel allowance is 500 euro; USA are outside Europe, therefore the travel allowance is 1.000 euro).

Living Allowance
The living allowance is to cover normal living and incidentals expenses (food, daily travel to and from work, etc). The contribution is based on unit costs expressed in person-day. The unit cost is defined as 40 euro/day.

Costs not granted
- Costs pertaining to administrative procedures, such as passports and visas, medical coverage, insurance of any kind, relocation, bank charges and family travel are at the expense of the successful Applicant. Successful Applicants will not be privileged to any tax exemptions on the grant received.
- Laboratory costs and bench fees are not granted. These costs are covered by the Hosting Organisation.

The successful Applicant will receive from the Guido Berlucchi Foundation a prepayment equivalent to the 70% of the mobility grant, within three weeks from the Hosting Organisation’s communication of the Applicant’s arrival and upon signature of the Self-Declaration of Acceptance. A pre-filled Self Declaration of Acceptance will be provided by the Guido Berlucchi Foundation upon reception of the Hosting Organisation’s communication of the mobility starting date. A Self Declaration of Acceptance template can be viewed as annex to this Call.  
Any changes in the effective number of days of mobility has to be approved by the Guido Berlucchi Foundation. The balance payment of the due mobility grant will be made after the Technical Scientific Committee of the Guido Berlucchi Foundation has approved the Mobility Report. If the Mobility Report is not provided or approved, the Applicant will not receive any further reimbursement.

Application procedure
Applicants should submit their Application in the “Bandi” area of the www.fondazioneberlucchi.org before the deadline.

In order to be considered eligible, Applications must include:
- Application Form, duly filled in all its parts;
- Applicant’s Curriculum Vitae, preferably in Europass format, including a complete list of grants and publications reporting the Impact Factor of the latest JCR;
- Privacy statement, duly filled in all its parts;
- Sending Organisation’s endorsement letter, signed by both the sending scientific supervisor and chief administrator, attesting that the applicant is employed/registered by the Sending Organisation during the mobility period;
- Hosting Organisation’s acceptance letter, signed by both the legal representative and chief administrator, indicating the Hosting Organisation’s willingness to accept the Applicant, if successful and to cover the eventual laboratory costs and bench fees.

The templates of the Application Form, Sending Organisation’s endorsement letter, and Hosting Organisation’s acceptance letter, are annexed to this Call.

Evaluation procedure and funding
Applications will be subjected to an administrative eligibility check. They will then be evaluated by the Technical Scientific Committee of the Guido Berlucchi Foundation, plus an eventual external referee chosen on the basis of the topic of the mobility project.
Applications will be evaluated accordingly to the Evaluation Criteria published as annex to this Call. Only the applications scoring above the threshold for eligibility of 12/25 points will be ranked and awarded upon funds availability. In the present Call, the Guido Berlucchi Foundation will support a maximum of four mobility grants.
The application to the Call implies the acceptance of the unquestionable decisions concerning the selection of projects and the subsequent awards.

Contact
If you have any queries regarding the Call or the application process, please contact the Guido Berlucchi Foundation at info@fondazioneberlucchi.org. In your email indicate also a phone number, where you could be reached, if needed, during working hours. You will receive a written answer within three working days.

The awarded applicants will be given access to a personal area in the Fondazione Guido Berlucchi web portal to be used for any contact with the Guido Berlucchi Foundation, including the upload documents.


Annexes
Application Form -Template
Privacy statement -Template
Sending Organisation’s endorsement letter - Template
Hosting Organisation’s acceptance letter - Template
Evaluation Criteria - for vision
Mobility Report -Template –for vision
Self-Declaration of Acceptance – for vision