The Slovak Academy of Sciences and Pavel Jozef Šafárik University in Košice are announcing a call for proposals within the program “SAS-UPJŠ ERC Visiting Fellowship Grants”. The call is open to scientists from all disciplines. The main criterion is the excellence of the research and the potential of the applicant to receive an ERC grant. It is a program that supports the stays of potential applicants for ERC grants with ERC project developers and their teams abroad.
Call opening: 20 July 2026.
Application deadline: 30. September 2026.
The grant is awarded by the SAS for a period of 1 – 3 months in the amount of max. 12,000 euros (up to 4,000 euros per month). It is intended to cover travel costs, including local transport costs, accommodation costs, meals and allowances for applicants who are employees of the SAS.
Submission of proposals for applicants from SAS:
Grant proposals are submitted online this year, via the Intranet. It is necessary to log in to the SAS intranet – intranet rights – standard rights – select SAS – UPJŠ ERC Project Proposal and fill it in. The application must be accompanied by 4 documents in pdf format:
Applicant ‘s CV:
Letter of support from from the ERC Principal Investigator
Outline of the project proposal that shall be submitted to the ERC call
Approval of the Director of the SAS Institute
Conditions for awarding the grant
The “SAS-UPJŠ ERC Visiting Fellowship Grants” is open to scientists from all disciplines. The tenderer must meet the following conditions:
must be an employee of the SAS organization (applies to applicants from SAS organizations) or UPJŠ (applies to applicants from UPJŠ),
it must demonstrate the quality of research and outputs at a level corresponding to the conditions of the ERC,
must submit a plan of stay, including an outline of the future ERC project proposal (so-called outline),
must submit an invitation letter from the ERC project leader,
in the case of a grant, the applicant undertakes to submit an application for an ERC project to one of the ERC calls no later than two years after the end of the stay, while the project will be addressed in the SAS organization (applies to applicants from SAS organizations), resp. at UPJŠ (applies to applicants from UPJŠ),
if the applicant does not meet the condition to apply for an ERC project within two years of the end of the stay, he is obliged to return the financial support in full.
Evaluation and selection of candidates
The evaluation process is open and transparent. Each proposal will be evaluated by two independent external internationally recognized evaluators. The main evaluation criterion is the excellence of the research and the potential of the applicant to receive an ERC grant.
Selection of applicants from SAS
The selection of candidates from the SAS will be made on the basis of an evaluation by an ad hoc commission based on a decision of the SAS presidency. The final decision on the award of grants will be made by the Presidium of the SAS.
A list of ERC project developers who are willing to accept an applicant to stay at their place of work will be available at Department for International Cooperation on request.
Financial rules for the awarding of SAS grants for international research
projects: Microsoft Word – Finančné pravidlá na udeľovanie grantov SAV pre MVTS od 1.2.2026.docx
Contact person for SAS:
Ľudmila Dolná, PhD.
Odbor medzinárodnej spolupráce
Tel.: +421 2 57510 179
E-mail: ludmila.dolna@urad.sav.sk