Ernst Mach – ASEA-UNINET Short-term Research Grant

Country of origin:
Cambodia; Indonesia; Lao People’s Democratic Republic; Malaysia; Myanmar; Philippines; Thailand; Viet Nam

Target country:
Austria

Area of study or research:
Natural Sciences
Technical Sciences
Human Medicine, Health Sciences
Agricultural Sciences
Social Sciences
Humanities
Arts

Detailed type of grant:
Research grants

Funding:
National

Target group:
PhD holders, post-docs

Funding organization:
Republic of Austria, Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF);

Awarding organization: OeAD-GmbH – Austria’s Agency for Education and Internationalisation; Mobility Programmes and Cooperation in cooperation with ASEA-UNINET

Duration:
1 to 2 months

Grant benefit paid:
Supplementary grant, own funds are required

1. Monthly grant rate: 1,300 Euro

2. Assistance in arranging accommodation and health insurance

  • It is possible for OeAD scholarship holders to book accommodation (dormitory or apartment) with the OeAD student housing. The monthly costs are:
    – monthly rent: 330 Euro to 800 Euro (depending on the amenities)
    – monthly administrative fee: currently 24 Euro
  • OeAD scholarship holders need to have health insurance that is accepted by the Austrian authorities for the duration of their stay in Austria. The OeAD can help with taking out such insurance. The monthly costs can vary, at the moment you should reckon with 55 Euro to 200 Euro (depending on age, scholarship category and state of health). Scholarship holders have to pay the costs for accommodation and insurance themselves.
  • Applicants from non-EU/EEA countries who are planning a research stay of more than 6 months: if the monthly costs for accommodation in Austria exceed 300 Euro, proof of additional funds to the Austrian residence authority when applying for the residence permit. This amount may vary depending on the individual costs for health insurance and other liabilities.

3. Scholarship holders with citizenship and travel from Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, or for their return, will also receive a travel costs subsidy of up to 2,000 Euro upon submission of original travel invoices. No travel costs subsidy from the Austrian side for scholarship holders from other countries!

Closing date for applications:
31.12.2030

Advice on how to apply:
Goals:

  • To promote research cooperation
  • To promote young academics in the early stages of their scientific careers
  • To establish an effective network of researchers with relations to Austria

Eligible for application are:
Postdocs who are involved in teaching and research at an ASEA-UNINET member university in
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand or Vietnam.

Eligibility for application: Only those candidates who hold the citizenship of
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand or Vietnam.

Applicants must not have lived/studied/pursued research/pursued academic work in Austria in the last six months before taking up the grant. Applicants who are permanently residing in Austria or who have completed their academic education mainly in Austria are not eligible to apply.

Maximum age at the time of application:
45 years (child-raising periods will be taken into account)

Language skills: very good knowledge of English and/or German

Required documents for the application:

  • Written consent of the supervisor at the Austrian host university. Such a written consent may only be issued by a researcher or lecturer who is affiliated with an Austrian ASEA-UNINET member university and who holds a “Venia Docendi”, e.g. a Full or Associate Professor.
    Written consent of the ASEA-UNINET university coordinator at the cooperating university in Austria.
    Written consent of the ASEA-UNINET university coordinator at the cooperating university in Asia.
    Written consent of the ASEA-UNINET national coordinator of the Asian member country. For these letters of consent no specific form is required; however, they must bear the letterhead, date and signature of the coordinator as well as the stamp of the university/department and must not be older than six months at the time of application.
    Scan of your passport (page with name and photo).

List of ASEA-UNINET member universities and university coordinators [https://asea-uninet.org/network-members/member-universities/]

List of ASEA-UNINET national coordinators [https://asea-uninet.org/network-members/national-coordinators/]

General information:

  • The grant programme is fully financed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF).
    The selection process for all grants is competitive, i.e. there is no legal claim to a grant even if all application requirements are fulfilled. The number of grants that will be awarded during one call depends on the quota and/or the available budget. Applicants may apply for several grants at the same time.
  • Applicants who come to Austria to do research and, therefore, do not need to seek admission to university, have to prove sufficient knowledge of the language they need to pursue their project. The written consent of their Austrian supervisor is necessary.
    The written consent of their Austrian supervisor is necessary.
    Short-term grants (1 to 3 months) have a priority in the period from January to June. In other cases Problems can arise with regard to accommodation. When applying for a short-term grant therefore consideration should be given to applying primarily for the period of January to June.
    Grant holders must be continuously present at their place of study in Austria to study or conduct their research project.
  • Once an application has been rejected, it will not be considered any further within the call. However, it is possible to re-apply for this grant with a revised application in the future.
    Applicants must comply with the admission regulations of the respective university.

Data protection:
Applicants agree that the personal data provided within their application will be processed diligently on the legal basis of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU)2016/679 and Austrian Data Protection regulations, in particular:

  • §2g Research Organisation Act (Forschungsorganisationsgesetz – FOG), Federal Law Gazette No. 341/1981, and
  • OeAD Act (OeAD-Gesetz), Federal Law Gazette I No. 99/2008, all in their current version,

for the purpose of handling their application and compiling statistics. The OeAD is responsible for processing the applicant’s data. More information is available at https://oead.at/en/privacy-policy/.

Selection procedure:
Incomplete applications and applications not complying with the application criteria will not be accepted for the further selection process.

The selection is based on a multistage process:

  1. Examination of the formal requirements
  2. Final decision by the ASEA-UNINET National Coordinator Austria

Further information:
The Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF) and the OeAD do not guarantee that a stay in Austria or at the host institution, including the journey, will be possible if a scholarship is granted. The scholarship holders have to decide themselves whether or not they want to embark on their studies or research stay. The BMBWF and the OeAD do not assume any liability – especially in case of trips to/through countries or regions for which travel warnings exist – for any complications or resulting additional costs or damages that may arise during your stay at or the journey to your destination or host institution. It is strongly recommended that you take out adequate health, accident and repatriation insurance that is valid at your destination. You, the scholarship holder, are responsible yourself for taking out insurance. The scholarship holder must observe the current conditions of the host institution regarding attendance/participation as well as the current entry conditions and the travel advice of the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs (BMEIA).

Scholarship holders are not allowed to engage in gainful employment. Exempt is marginal employment within research/the Arts at universities, universities of applied sciences and research institutions in compliance with residence laws and employment laws for foreign nationals (in 2024: 518.44 Euro per month).

Reporting commitment:
Scholarship holders are obliged to submit a final report at the end of their scholarship stay.

Grant contract/grant award:
Grant recipients will be issued a grant contract (Letter of Award and Letter of Acceptance). It defines the following: start and end date of the grant, grant amount, payment modalities (including any travel expense reimbursement), compulsory attendance at the guest institution, performance report and final report, data protection, repayment obligations and other conditions and requirements.

Legal basis in Austria:
Federal Ministries Act 1986, in its current version Federal Law Gazette I No. 164/2017

Ordinance of the Federal Ministry of Finance on General Framework Agreements for the Granting of

Federal Funds (Allgemeine Rahmenrichtlinien), Federal Law Gazette II No. 208/2014, in its current version as subsidiarily applicable

OeAD Act, Federal Law Gazette I No. 99/2008, in its current version
Research Financing Act (Forschungsfinanzierungsgesetz), Federal Law Gazette I No. 75/2020, in its current version

Federal Finance Act (Bundesfinanzgesetz) as in force at the date the scholarship was awarded

Special Guideline for the Granting of Federal Funds “Stipendienprogramme INCOMING” of the Federal Minister of Education, Science and Research
https://oead.at/fileadmin/Dokumente/oead.at/ICM/MPC/SRL_INCOMING_fuer_24-29_–_2024-05-21_genehmigt.pdf
Approval of the announcement by the BMBWF Decree GZ 2024-0.531.844