The Call to submit the applications in the frame of the Grant Programme for postdoctoral fellows of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in 2024

The Presidium of the Slovak Academy of Sciences announces hereby the Call to submit the applications in the frame of the Grant Programme for postdoctoral fellows „PostdokGrant“

Date of the Call announcement: 15th January 2024
Deadline for applications: 29th February 2024
Date of publication of application evaluation results: June 2024
Duration of project implementation: 1st July 2024 – 31st December 2025

The Call intentions

The Grant Programme for SAS postdoctoral fellows "PostdokGrant" is an activity of the Slovak Academy of Sciences intended to support financially the high-class project proposals of young scientists employed in the SAS organizations within all fields of science and technology.

Eligibility criteria

A grant application may be filed by any SAS postdoctoral fellow under condition in the same day of starting the project of the current Call of the Programme, not more than five years have passed since the successful completion of his/her doctoral studies. This period does not include time spent on maternity or parental leave. The applicant must be employed for the fixed weekly working hours in a single SAS organization at the time of application being filed and during the entire project duration. The grant application is filed by the postdoctoral fellow as an independent researcher; the research teams are not eligible to submit an application. The eligible recipients in the present Call are not recipients of R2-R4 Research Excellence Scholarships.

Filing the applications

The grant applications are submitted via an electronic system that is accessible through the Programme website (postdokgrant.sav.sk). The paper version of the application signed by the relevant persons (the applicant and the statutory representative of the SAS organization) shall be sent by post to the following address:

    Úrad Slovenskej akadémie vied - Odbor vedy a výskumu
    Štefánikova 49
    814 38 Bratislava

The envelope shall be marked with the keyword: "PostdokGrant“. The paper version must be sent within three working days after the application deadline. The date of the postmark on the envelope or date of filing it to the SAS office shall be decisive whether the deadline has been met.

More information about the structure of the application and its filing may be found in the Statute of the SAS Grant Programme for postdoctoral fellows (hereinafter referred to as " the Statute") and the Handbook for the applicant.

Evaluating the applications

After the deadline for filing the applications, the department staff shall evaluate the fulfilment of formal requirements, as specified in Art. IV, par. 2 of the Statute. Those applications that do not meet the abovementioned requirements shall not be evaluated any further. Applications that advance to the second round of evaluation will be evaluated by the Evaluation Committee, which shall ensure that each application is evaluated by at least two expert evaluators. After the initial evaluation done by the experts, there is an assessment being done by the Committee. The Evaluation Committee will then propose the classification of applications into the categories (A, B and C). The SAS Presidium makes decision on the proposal. Applicants and relevant organizations will be informed about the result. More detailed information on the evaluation of applications and the Evaluation Committee can be found in the Statute of the Programme and the Statute of the Evaluation Committee.

Financing the projects

The maximum amount of Grants is 12,000 Euro for applications classified in A category or 6,000 Euro for applications classified in B category. The Grants classified in C category shall not be financed. Grant funds can be used for goods, services, travel and conference expenses, expenses related to the publication of results, or machine time. Wages and indirect expenses are not eligible expenses under this Call. All expenses must be related to the project funded by the Grant. Travel expenses related to participation in the conference will be assessed as eligible up to 20% of the Grant amount. Travel expenses related to the collection of experimental material or samples, visits to archives, visits to cooperating workplaces to exchange experiences, or due to implementation of the experiment may be justified, in case of proper justification in the application up to 70 % of the Grant amount. A transfer between the items Material, Services and Travel cost is possible during the research up to €1000. A higher transfer must be approved by the Vice-Chairperson of the Evaluation Committee for the science department from which the Grant researcher comes from and by the Vice-Chairperson of the Evaluation Committee. The transfer request shall be sent to the address postdoktogrant@savba.sk. Money according to the modified budget may only be drawn after the transfer is approved. Non-consumable material purchased with Grant funds is the property of the SAS organization in which the Grant holder is employed.

Project Implementation

The Grant holder implements the project during the time interval specified in the Preamble of the Call, and this namely in the SAS organization in which he/she is employed full-time. In another organization, he/she is authorized to implement the project for a maximum of six months. The results of the project shall be evaluated in the final project report. It is submitted by the Grant holder by the end of the calendar month following the month in which the project was completed. If this deadline falls on a day off or a bank holiday day, the deadline is moved to the next working day.

The final report shall contain a brief evaluation of the project results, which arose during its implementation, in relation to the declared goals. If the planned goals could not be met, it is necessary to justify why. The report shall also include a list of outputs, such as presentations at conferences and articles in scientific journals. The copies of published outputs, including conference abstracts, shall be attached to the final report. Publications are not a criterion for project success, as in most cases one and a half year is a short time for quality publication output. Acknowledgments of the project, identified by its number, must also be included in outputs that include data obtained within the project. The report shall also include an overview of expenses. It is necessary to specify what funds were used for in each category. For consumables, categories are sufficient (e.g. disposable plastics), it is not necessary to list all goods. For conference expenses, the name, time and place of the conference and the title and contribution authors must be stated. For other travel, their purpose, place and duration must be stated.