Remote Laboratory 2025: International grant program is open to apply
The Higher Education and Science Committee of the Ministry of Science, Education, Culture, and Sports of the Republic of Armenia announces the Call for Proposals “Adjunct Research Professorship Program 2025” (Remote Laboratory).
The Call for Proposals aims to establish new scientific subdivisions in prospective and cutting-edge research areas under the supervision of foreign scientists under the umbrella of the organizations carrying out a program within the framework of basic funding for scientific and technical activities from the state budget of the Republic of Armenia. It covers all research fields of scientific and technical activities.
At the same time, the Call will contribute to the improvement of the scientific environment, promote domestic and international collaboration, encourage the involvement of the scientific potential of the Diaspora and foreign countries, foster the participation of young researchers and PhD students, support the integration of young researchers into the international research community, and more.
The 60-month-long projects should be developed and implemented by a group of researchers consisting of a maximum of two Principal Investigators (PIs) from abroad as adjunct research professors and 2-5 group members, particularly a Co-Investigator (CI) and researchers. The members of the Group can hold any citizenship, and during the whole implementation of the Project the CI and the members of the Group should be either citizens or residents of the Republic of Armenia, as well as reside in Armenia.
The PI can be an individual who:
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Holds an academic degree,
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Works on a permanent/contractual basis in a foreign scientific research institution (university, research center, or equivalent organization) as a professor, lecturer, researcher, or equivalent position and is actively engaged in scientific research,
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Meets the publication and h-index requirements specified in Section 5.2 of the Call.
To encourage the involvement of young researchers in the scientific field, the following provisions have been established:
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The CI of the team must have been born after January 1, 1984,
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At least two team members must have been born after January 1, 1989, and can be students in at least their third year of a bachelor’s program.
During the project implementation period, a new scientific unit (group, laboratory, or department) will be formed at the Armenian host organization where the research group is based, no later than 24 months from the project’s initiation. This unit will include the CI (as the head of the unit) and the group members (staff members of the unit), with a cumulative weekly working time of at least 120 hours (3 Full-Time Equivalents, FTE).
The project provides remuneration for the PI for their time spent in Armenia (up to 3 million AMD for the entire duration of the project), and the average monthly salary for group members is set at 300,000 AMD.
The budget also includes expenses for purchasing equipment, materials, and services, covering travel costs, improving laboratory infrastructure, and other necessary project-related expenses.
During the scientific expertise of submitted projects, the professional relevance of the PI, the CI, and group members to the project’s objectives, the prerequisites for implementation in the organization, alignment with the field’s development trends, the feasibility of collaboration, management and dissemination of scientific results, and other factors will be considered.
For detailed information on the requirements for team leaders and members, as well as the expected outcomes during and after the project, please refer to the call.
The submission deadline for the Call for Proposals via the Online Application System grants.hesc.am is December 20, 2024, 18:00, Yerevan time (GMT+4).
The deadline for submitting the paper-based documents to the Committee is December 27, 2024.