Joint Fellowships of the French Government and the SAS in the field of humanities and social sciences 2023 edition

The French Embassy in Slovakia, the French Institute of Slovakia and the Slovak Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the French Centre for Research in Social Sciences (CEFRES) and the research group “Knowledge of Median Europe” (CEM), are offering a programme to support scientific stays in the field of humanities and social sciences in France during the year 2023. This programme is intended for young researchers working in institutes and centres of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. The objective of this programme is to support Slovak-French cooperation in this field through a two-month research stay with the scientific support of the French partner, teams of CEFRES and members of CEM. Consequently, applications will be submitted individually by young researchers, but the support from members of CEFRES and CEM will be an essential element of their evaluation. The ambition of the programme is to create sustainable research synergies between French and Slovak partners working in collaborative networks on innovative and interdisciplinary research objects in humanities and social sciences.

Benefits :

These scholarships offer the following benefits:

  • A stipend from the French Embassy in Slovakia, the French Institute of Slovakia and the Slovak Academy of Sciences, the amount of which will depend on the status of the candidate and will range from 1704€ to 2055€ per month, for two months;
  • Assistance in finding accommodation by the French agency Campus France.

Expected outcomes:

  • A presentation of the results at the CEFRES seminar of the collaboration following the stay in France will be expected before the end of 2023 (in situ or online; CEFRES will cover the travel and accommodation costs of the speaker in Prague).
  • The organisation of a seminar (research and/or doctoral training) to be held in Slovakia. No financial support will be given for the organisation of the seminar in Slovakia and the search for adequate funding will be the responsibility of the applicant.
  • The beneficiaries of the exchanges in the framework of the joint scholarships of the French government and the Slovak Academy of Sciences will be encouraged to apply to the CNRS’ IEA funding tools (https://international.cnrs.fr/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Fiche-IEA-2020.pdf) with recommended scientific theme “Constructing, deconstructing, exploiting fear: an interdisciplinary place”. However, applicants may propose their own theme.

Application schedule:

  • Opening date of the call for applications: 15 November 2022
  • Deadline for submission of applications: 23 December 2022
  • Interviews with applicants: week of 9-13 January 2023
  • Publication of results: 17 January 2023
  • Period for the stay in France: from 15 February to 30 November 2023
  • Franco-Slovak seminar in Slovakia: from 1 January to 31 August 2024.

Contact information:

All requests for information or applications should be sent to:

Yan Pautrat, Attaché for scientific and academic cooperation

Tel : + 421 918 563 113                 EMail : yan.pautrat@diplomatie.gouv.fr

Conditions for eligibility:

The call for proposals is open to researchers who are enrolled in a doctoral program or who have defended their doctorate at most eight years before submitting their application, who do not hold French nationality and who work at an institute or centre of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. Knowledge of the French language will be considered an asset but is not a requisite for application.

Evaluation criteria:

Applications will be evaluated by the joint committee of experts created by the CEFRES-SAV cooperation agreement. They will have to present both an interdisciplinary scientific cooperation project and a seminar project (research and/or doctoral training) to be held in Slovakia that would lead to the submission of an International Emerging Actions project between the National Centre for Scientific Research and the Slovak Academy of Sciences, in partnership with the Prague CEFRES. The evaluation will take into account both

  • the applicant’s individual scientific record;
  • the scientific quality of the project to which the proposed scientific stay will contribute;
  • the scientific quality of the proposed seminar that the applicant would organise in Slovakia between 1 January and 31 August 2024, and its impact on the scientific cooperation between the Slovak Academy of Sciences, the CEM and CEFRES.

Scientific fields:

All areas of the humanities and social sciences are eligible but the recommended theme is: “Constructing, deconstructing, exploiting fear: an interdisciplinary space”.

Content of applications:

Applications should include, in either English or French:

  • The attached information sheet;
  • A curriculum vitae of the candidate researcher;
  • A presentation of the scientific project in which the research stay is to take place (2 pages maximum);
  • A presentation of the objective of the stay and its expected impact, mentioning the dates planned for the stay (2 pages maximum);
  • A letter of invitation from the director of the French host organisation, preferably describing their support for the application, written in either French or English;
  • A letter of authorisation from the director of the Slovak host institute or centre, preferably describing their support for the application, written in either French or English.