Project Support Office

• PIF – Incoming
  • The applicant must hold a PhD degree or equivalent, awarded no more than 4 years before (excluding possible interruptions, e.g., parental leave) 30 September of the call year.
  • The applicant must be an excellent early-career researcher with long-term international experience (at least 2 of the last 3 years spent studying or employed at a foreign institution).
  • On the day the call is announced and throughout the application period, the applicant must not be employed by any research institution in the Czech Republic.
  • The project may not include any co-applicants.
    
    
• PIF – Outgoing
  • The applicant must hold a PhD degree or equivalent, awarded no more than 4 years before (excluding possible interruptions, e.g., parental leave) 30 September of the call year.
  • The applicant must be an excellent early-career researcher currently employed at an institution in the Czech Republic.
  • The project may not include any co-applicants.

• for incoming postdoctoral researchers, the fellowship lasts three years at a domestic institution.
• in case of outgoing postdoctoral researchers, the investigator spends the first two years at a foreign institution and the final year at a domestic institution.

PIF – Incoming

• Minimum employment rate: 0.7 FTE for the applicant
• The applicant must be present at the host institution corresponding to the declared employment rate
• The PIF project investigator may not simultaneously act as a principal investigator, co-investigator, or participate in any other role in another GA ČR project
• Each employee may have, across all GA ČR projects and all employers combined, a maximum total employment rate of 1.0 FTE
• Maximum salary funding for the applicant: CZK 65,000 per month per 1 FTE
• No additional expert collaborators may be involved in the project
• Technical and administrative staff and Master’s students may be involved up to a combined total of 1 FTE, with a maximum salary funding of CZK 35,000 per month per 1 FTE, or CZK 400 per hour for short-term contracts

PIF – Outgoing

• Minimum employment rate: 0.7 FTE for the applicant
• The applicant must be present either at the host institution or at the foreign institution where the fellowship takes place
• The PIF project investigator may not simultaneously act as a principal investigator, co-investigator, or participate in any other role in another GA ČR project
• Each employee may have, across all GA ČR projects and all employers combined, a maximum total employment rate of 1.0 FTE
• Maximum salary funding for the applicant:
• CZK 25,000 per month per 1 FTE during the foreign fellowship, and
• CZK 65,000 per month per 1 FTE during the return phase at the host institution
• During the fellowship, the employee is also eligible for an allowance for increased living costs (method of payment to be consulted with OPP)
• No additional expert collaborators may be involved in the project
• Technical and administrative staff and Master’s students may be involved up to a combined total of 1 FTE, with a maximum salary funding of CZK 40,000 per month per 1 FTE, or CZK 400 per hour for short-term contracts

General Conditions

• The total possible budget is not fixed
• Investment costs are not eligible in PIF projects
• Overhead costs: 20% of direct costs (excluding the allowance for increased living costs)
• The grant covers 100% of eligible costs, except for the limitations regarding personnel and investment costs (see above)

In this call, we distinguish two types of international projects:

• Bilateral projects – independent evaluation on each side, followed by an agreement between the agencies.
  Currently involved:
  • Taiwan – National Science and Technology Council (NSTC)
  • South Korea – National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF)
    
    
• Lead Agency projects – based on agreements between agencies, project proposals are evaluated by only one of the national agencies, and the other agency adopts the results of the evaluation process (a necessary condition for the Czech Science Foundation to award an international project). The agencies take turns in evaluating projects (except for the NSF, which always acts as the evaluating agency).
  Currently involved agencies:
  • Austrian Science Fund (FWF – Austria)
  • German Research Foundation (DFG – Germany)
  • National Science Centre (NCN – Poland)
  • Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS – Slovenia)
  • Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF – Switzerland)
  • Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR – Luxembourg)
  • Croatia Science Foundation (HRZZ – Croatia)
  • National Science Foundation (NSF – USA)

In both cases:

• project proposals may be submitted from all areas of basic research (with the exception of the NSF, which defines the areas it supports)
• the project topic is chosen by the Czech applicant in cooperation with the foreign applicant
• approval by both national funders is a condition for receiving support for an international project from the Czech Science Foundation
• each national funder finances the activities related to the part of the project carried out within its territory

• 2 - 3 years

• the maximum possible budget amount is not specified
• the recommended minimum employment level is 0.2 for the Principal Investigator and 0.1 for the Co-Investigator
• the Principal Investigator must be physically present at the applicant’s institution according to their employment level
• each employee may have a maximum combined employment level of 1.0 across all GA ČR projects and all employers
• the maximum funding for salary is CZK 65,000 per month per 1 FTE
• the maximum funding for agreements (temporary contracts) is CZK 400 per hour
• investment costs are eligible only up to the amount of depreciation and usually require co-financing from the institute (for more information, contact OPP); they may not
• exceed 10% of the total direct costs
• overhead costs amount to 20% of total direct costs
• the grant is provided at 100% of eligible costs, except for the limitations on personnel and investment costs (see above)

• project proposals may be submitted in all areas of basic research
• the applicant must be a researcher holding a PhD (or equivalent) awarded no more than 10 years before the call announcement (extended by any career break), who has demonstrably been engaged in basic research after completing their studies and who wishes to return to basic research after a career break
• the project proposal may be submitted during the career break or no later than two years after its end. The career break must last at least 1 year before the start of the Return Grant project
• before the start of the project, the applicant’s total employment across all research and academic institutions must not exceed 0.50 FTE (employment not involving research activities, as well as employment contracted before maternity/parental leave that continues during such leave, is not counted)
• during the implementation of the Return Grant, the applicant may participate as a Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator in other competitions or calls announced by the Czech Science Foundation. If the applicant succeeds in another competition and wishes to carry out another project, they must request the termination of the Return Grant
• during the project, the applicant’s total employment across all research and academic institutions must not exceed 1.00 FTE
• the project may not have a co-investigator

• from 2 years at up to 100% employment to 4 years at 50% employment for the project implementation

• the maximum possible budget amount is not specified
• for a project duration of 2 years, the Project Investigator’s employment level must be between 0.50 and 1.00; for longer project durations, the employment level is
• proportionally reduced, down to 0.25–0.50 for a project duration of 4 years
• the maximum salary funding for the Principal Investigator is CZK 65,000 per month per 1 FTE
• no additional expert collaborators may be involved in the project
• technical staff and students may be involved up to a combined total of 0.5 FTE (for a two-year project), with a maximum salary funding of CZK 40,000 per month per 1 FTE
• as material costs, the project may include expenses for childcare and care for other dependents of the investigator, up to CZK 150,000 per year
• investment costs are not eligible
• overhead costs amount to 20% of direct costs (excluding childcare costs)
• the grant is provided at 100% of eligible costs, except for the limitations on personnel costs (see above)

• The exact conditions and deadlines of the projects are published in the specific call.
• One person may submit a maximum of 3 proposals within all competitions and calls announced by GA ČR in a given calendar year – see the complete list of possible combinations here.
• It is recommended to prepare and consult the project proposal well in advance, given the large number of project proposals prepared each year.
• If EKV approval is required, the necessary materials must be prepared at least one month before the project submission.
• At least 2 weeks before the deadline, it is necessary to inform OPP (see contact persons) about the intention to submit a project — whether you are the principal investigator, co-investigator, or whether the Faculty of Science participates as a partner of another MU faculty.
• At the same time, the project HR officer must be informed and provided with a list of persons planned in the project proposal (for consultation on salary planning).
• The project proposal is completed in the GRIS application. Unless stated otherwise, the proposal must be filled out in English.
• Proposals must also be entered into ISEP before submission and must have an approved project proposal cover sheet.
• The final file from the application must be submitted via data box before the deadline (submission ensured by OPP).

The application includes:

• Part A – Basic identification data, abstract, and scientific objectives
• Part B – Financial budget including justification
• Part C1 – Scientific section
• Part D – Curriculum vitae and bibliography of the applicant and co-applicants
• Part E – Information on other projects of the applicant and co-applicants