QUTE.sk Mobility Call
Deadline: open until the funding is exhausted
This call aims to provide financial support for research/training visits of academic scholars and employees working in quantum technologies. The scholarship is at most 4000 eur/month (on average). The maximum length is 6 months. The call is open until the resources for the given year are spent. Total number of yearly (calendar year) awarded person months is 24.
Call open for Partners of the Association:
Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology STU Bratislava
Faculty of Informatics and Information Technologies STU Bratislava
Faculty of Materials Science and Technology in Trnava STU Bratislava
Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, CU
Faculty of Science UPJŠ
Institute of Electrical Engineering SAS
Institute of Experimental Physics SAS
Institute of Physics SAS
International Laser Center of SCSTI
Mathematical Institute SAS
Definition of terms
Applicant – the person applying for the mobility funding
Home institution – legal entity sending applicant for the mobility stay
Host institution – legal entity accepting applicant for the mobility stay
Mobility scholarship holder – selected and awarded applicant
QUTE.sk – Slovak National Center for Quantum Technologies
QUTE.sk mobility program – financial scheme for the research and training visits in quantum technologies provided by QUTE.sk
Responsible QUTE.sk partner – institution that receives funds for the mobility scholarship holder from QUTE.sk and is responsible for its proper spending and reporting
Mobility program manager – QUTE.sk representative responsible for the QUTE.sk mobility program
Eligibility
Eligible applicants are:
- Students
- Early-stage researchers (within 10 years after finishing PhD)
- Employees of quantum technology-related companies, or the public sector (eligibility is decided by committee)
Either the host’s, or applicant’s home institution must be a partner of QUTE.sk. That is, outgoing applicants are necessarily affiliated with QUTE.sk partners and incoming applicants are eligible to visit only QUTE.sk partners.
Duration of the stay is between 1-6 months, for undergraduate students at most 3 months. The minimum time between two visits of the same mobility scholarship holder (independent of the host) is 6 months.
Application
The application consists of:
- curriculum vitae (including research/professional achievements),
- mobility plan description
- recommendation letter from the involved partner of QUTE.sk.
The application must be prepared in English and sent by the applicant to email address application@qute.sk. Recommendation letter is sent directly from the official email address of the partner’s statutory representative. Failure to submit the required documents will result in excluding the application from the selection procedure. The dates of the intended mobility have to be explicitly stated. The application has to be submitted at least 40 days before the mobility. The mobility has to start within 12 months after the submission.
Selection
Applications are evaluated individually by the selection committee in the order of submissions within 30 days after the submission. The selection committee consists of three members – mobility program manager, one member nominated by QUTE.sk Executive board, one member by iQUTE board (QUTE.sk). The nominations are valid for at most 12 months. Member of the selection committee cannot be in any direct work relation with involved QUTE.sk partner specified in the application. The selection committee may ask for an expert opinion. The selection process is managed by mobility program manager.
Budget and eligible costs
Total budget cannot exceed 4000 x M eur, where M is the number of months. Eligible costs are personal and travel expenses connected with the scholarship holder’s mobility. Other costs are considered eligible only if approved in advance by the mobility program manager. There are no indirect costs.
Payment and Reporting
After signing the agreement, the approved budget is transferred in one installment within 30 days on the account of the involved QUTE.sk partner who is processing the form of payment for incoming/outgoing mobility scholarship holder. Spending report is sent within 30 days after the mobility is accomplished. Report consists of list of expenses and mobility summary report. Mobility program manager must be informed in advance about any changes in the dates of the mobility. Mobility can be shifted at most by 6 months. It cannot be prolonged.
QUTE.sk has right to control the expenses and request supporting documentation (tickets, bank transfers, etc.). Unused budget must be returned to QUTE.sk within 30 days after the mobility is accomplished. Unless any request regarding the spending is made within 30 days after the report submission, the expenses are considered authorized. Unauthorized expenses must be returned to QUTE.sk within 30 days after request is made.
The QUTE.sk mobility program is financed from public sources. For the mentioned reason, the following conditions and obligations arise for the mobility scholarship holder and the responsible QUTE.sk partner who receives the payment for the mobility scholarship holder:
- the responsible QUTE.sk partner is obliged to ensure that all documents submitted in connection with the approved mobility stay are complete, correct, and true,
- it is prohibited to finance the same expense for the same purpose from the same source. Therefore, it is the duty of the responsible QUTE.sk partner to inform the mobility program manager if the mobility scholarship holder is going to receive other support (connected to his stay) from the state budget of the Slovak Republic during the duration of the scholarship support from the QUTE.sk mobility program,
- the responsible QUTE.sk partner is obliged, if necessary, to provide full cooperation to the authorities of the Slovak Republic or persons authorized by these bodies, namely in the course of their activities (in particular control or monitoring activities or the performance of audits) in connection with the funds provided within the scholarship,
- the mobility scholarship holder acknowledges and, by accepting the scholarship, agrees that his personal data, to the extent provided by the scholarship application, its annexes, and other documents submitted to the mobility program manager, may be provided to the authorities of the Slovak Republic for the purposes of their control or monitoring activities, or during the performance of an audit in relation to funds provided within the scholarship.