EMBRC-ITALY LAUNCHES ITS 2^nd CALL FOR FUNDED ACCESS

This Access Call enables researchers to apply for funding to access to research services offered by selected marine biological research institutions of EMBRC-IT (herein “Operators”) for short-term projects.

EMBRC-IT will sponsor funding to individual researchers for:

• access to the service of EMBRC-Italy (access to ecosystems, experimental facilities, technology platforms)
• reimbursement of travel (one round trip, economy class) for a maximum of 400€
• reimbursement of meals and accommodation (up to 14 days, weekends included) with an upper limit of 100€ per day, covering meals up to a maximum of 40€ per day.

Who can apply?

To apply for access to EMBRC-IT Access Call you must meet these eligibility criteria:

• You must work/study in an Academic Institution, or be employed by a not-for-profit organisation or registered company (PhD Student, Post-Doctoral Researcher, Permanent Staff);
• You must work/study in a different University/Research Institute from the Operator you are applying to access;
• Your home institution should be based in a Country of the European Research Area. Access for researchers not working in the EU or an Associated Country is allowed but with some limitations;
• You must submit an innovative project proposal through the ARIA portal as the sole applicant.

Other important considerations regarding the Access Call

1. The applicant must be the Project Leader (the sole executor of the Project) in case the Project is accepted. The Access Call funds service provision and accommodation expenses only for one applicant per project;
2. An active contract with a Home institute (covering insurance and other provisions) is required during the period of the access;
3. Before submitting an application it is advisable to informally contact the Local Access Officer to check the feasibility of the project. The list of EMBRC-IT Operators and Local Access Officers is available HERE;
4. A positive feasibility check from the Local Access Officer does not necessarily lead to a funded proposal;
5. Scientific collaborations with research and technical staff at the EMBRC Operator providing Access is encouraged but is not in any way obligatory;
6. In case your project is accepted, you abide to archive and make the data obtained from the Access period on Open Access (opt-outs are allowed), and to allow any related refereed publications to also be Open Access.

Selected Proposals

All funded proposal should be carried out by June 2026.

Owners of the awarded applications will be notified via email. After that, the User and the Operator will sign a contract (download here) with the detail of the period of the user permanence to the Operator institution

At the end of the User Access:

1. 1. the User must submit an activity report (download here)
   2. the hosting Operator must submit a Confirmation Access (download here).

Reimbursement procedures

1. The User must reach the email rimborsi.esterni@szn.it for all the authorization and reimbursement procedures needed for the Access. All the costs have to be traceable payments by card. Extra costs not allowed are not covered by the 2° User Access Call.
2. The hosting operator have to sent by e-mail (ufficio.protocollo@cert.szn.it; protocollo.amm@szn.it; and cc. embrc_it@szn.it) all the document (see 3 of the Selected Proposal section) with the invoice for the reimbursement of the services cost for a maximum cost approved and covered by the Grant.

Please check the EMBRC-ERIC privacy policy and the EMBRC-ERIC – Terms of Submission for further information.

To submit an application, follow the instructions in the ARIA Application page: https://aria.embrc.eu/submit-call/embrc-italy---access-call---2

Data Treatment and Acknowledgement

EMBRC-IT offers the opportunity to apply for funding for access visits to services of the EMBRC-IT catalogue with a Transnational Access Call through the ARIA web platform.

Such applications are made by submitting proposals which go through peer review. Additional data are required in the form of your research history, biography and your project proposal. Personal data for the Transnational Access programme will be kept private and will only be visible to those involved within the EMBRC-IT Governance who check the eligibility and feasibility of your proposal, to the Proposal Selection Panel members who peer-review your proposal, to the EMBRC-ERIC Access Officer for recording of services and to ARIA web platform administrators.

We use the personal data you provide for the purpose of reviewing your application, arranging the services, and to communicate with you throughout the process. We process your data on the basis of the “EMBRC-ERIC Terms of submission” , which we ask you to agree with the last step of the online proposal submission process. We are required to maintain personal data for the purposes of reporting, and to comply with applicable EU and national laws on data protection.

All reasonable steps will be taken to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with the EMBRC-ERIC privacy policy.

If you wish to have your account removed from the system, please send an email to access@embrc.eu.

Call Submission Guidelines

How to apply?

1. Check the eligibility criteria (“Who can apply?”) in the box above
2. Explore our dedicated Service Catalogue:
   • Download it from the Media Section of the EMBRC-Italy website or
   • Click on the button “Begin new application” (registration and login to ARIA required)
3. Start to write your application on the ARIA portal selecting one or more services from the same Operator. The application will be checked for feasibility with the Local Access Officers of the selected Operator. You can find here a Proposal Template and a Guide to ARIA on the Media section of the EMBRC-IT website. CAREFUL: Proposals including services not included in the 2° Access Call Service List will not be evaluated.
4. If the application passes the feasibility check, it will be evaluated by a Scientific Advisory Board, that will select the proposals to fund in this call.
5. Funded proposals will be announced on the EMBRC-IT Website and successful applicants will be informed via email to plan the period and the needed services for their stay;
6. For more information about this Access Call, check the EMBRC-ERIC Terms of Submissionor contact the EMBRC-IT Governance at embrc_it@szn.it.

Priority will be given to:

• New applicants to access calls and programs, applicants from outside the EMBRC-ERIC consortium;
• Project proposals requiring physical access to local ecosystems/species/models or to unique technological platforms;
• Early-career research applicants, eager to foster their career with experience in a novel scientific environment, learning from new collaborations and experiences.