** Until the end of 2025, only applications for mobility taking place in 2026 can be accepted.

International Mobility for Early-stage Researchers (ESR)

The mdw offers grants for short stays abroad that serve a dissertation, a research project or the active participation in an international conference.
The funding is a grant towards the actual costs of the international research stay.   

Early-stage researchers (ESR) at the mdw are eligible to apply:

• PhD students (Prae-Doc) in the research phase of their dissertations whose primary supervisor is at the mdw
• PhD graduates (Post-Doc) of the mdw who completed their doctoral studies within the past four years (care responsibilities are taken into account)

Funding is available for the following research mobility activities:

• Active participation in conferences abroad as a speaker with accepted paper submissions (in exceptional cases, active participation in international conferences within Austria may also be funded)
• Research stays (max. 2 months) for research in archives and collections, as well as for field research and interviews abroad, which are necessary for the dissertation or a research project which cannot be funded in ERASMUS+

Eligible expenses:

• Costs for travel transfers, accommodation, conference fees, visas, library use

Each applicant is eligible for one grant (or several in justified individual cases) per calendar year, up to a maximum of €1,500 per calendar year or applicant. 

Delimitation:

The fund is complementary to other sources of funding and resources of the departments. Study visits (e.g. attendance of seminars/lectures/courses), which can be funded e.g. within the framework of ERASMUS+ mobility, will NOT be funded.
Please send herefore in advance an inquiry if your planned mobility could be funded via a short-term Erasmus+ mobility grant to the International Office (Melanie Karner) or for an Erasmus+ Staff-Training grant to the Center for Further Education (Bernhard Karl) of the mdw.

Similarly, participation in conferences and summer schools is NOT funded if these do not primarily serve the active presentation of one's own research project.
Furthermore, any double funding is excluded. Applicants are obliged to disclose the receipt of any third-party funding when submitting their application.
Grants are awarded on a first come, first served basis and according to availability of funds. First-time applicants will be given preference. There is no legal entitlement to the reimbursement.

Submission of applications:

Submissions are accepted on an ongoing basis. An application should be submitted in good time, at least 6 weeks before the start of the journey. The application is only complete with the submission of the application form and all relevant attachments. Please send your full application by e-mail to forschungsfoerderung@mdw.ac.at. 

Assessment criteria:

Submitted applications will be evaluated based on whether and to what degree the proposed activities serve the career development of ESR, as well as whether they meet the requirements of cost-effectiveness, proportionality, and environmental sustainability. This includes, for example, avoiding short distance flights wherever possible (see https://www.mdw.ac.at/gruene-mdw/).

Funding decision and settlement preparation:

After evaluating your application, the Research Support Office will notify you of its decision.

In the event of a positive funding decision and an ongoing employment relationship with the mdw, the researcher must additionally submit either an application for a business trip ("Dienstreise") or a travel expense subsidy ("Reisekostenzuschuss") to the Research Support Office via e-mail (and subsequently to the Human Resources department) before the start of the trip. If there are work obligations during the period of absence, applicants must also submit a leave of absence application to their superiors.

If you are not employed by the mdw, expenses will be reimbursed to you via the expenditure refund form ("Spesenersatz") which has to be submitted to us via e-mail upon return from your trip, including all original receipts of the expenses. 

Reporting and reimbursement:

Please send us a short report about your research mobility activities and give a testimonial for the mdw's International Blog.

If you are employed by the mdw, you will be contacted by the Human Resource department for your expense reimbursement. If you are not employed by the mdw, please send us your filled out expenditure refund form ("Spesenersatz") with original cost receipts.

Information:

If you have any questions, please contact Marita Schaaser from the Research Support Office for advice, by telephone or email as early as possible and before submitting your application.

 

 

Research Support

Mag.^a Marita Schaaser, MA 

Anton-von-Webern-Platz 1
1030 Vienna
First floor, Office room nr. B 01 23
Tel. +43 1 711 55-6100

forschungsfoerderung@mdw.ac.at