The NTNU MSCA Challenge

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), with campuses in the cities of Trondheim, Ålesund and Gjøvik, is the primary Norwegian university in engineering and technology. NTNU is, however, a full range university. More than 300 PhD-degrees are awarded yearly, within the fields of technology, science, arts and humanities, social sciences and medicine. NTNU is Norway’s largest university, counting approximately 38 000 students.

Participation in H2020 is a high priority strategic matter for NTNU. NTNU has therefore, over many years, developed a professional administrative project support team to secure a high quality of proposals and a smooth implementation of H2020 projects.

NTNU is committed to the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers (C&C) and has implemented a HR strategy in line with the recommendations in these documents.

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (MSCA) aim to support the career development and training of researchers in all scientific disciplines through international and inter-sectoral mobility. By funding excellent research and providing attractive working conditions, the MSCA offer high quality professional opportunities open to researchers of   any age, nationality or discipline.

The MSCA have a bottom-up approach, i.e. research fields are chosen freely by the applicants. All domains of research and technological development are eligible for funding (except areas of research covered by the EURATOM Treaty 3).

The goal of the Individual Fellowships is to enhance the creative and innovative potential of experienced researchers wishing to diversify their individual competence in terms of skill acquisition through advanced training, international and inter-sectoral mobility. Individual Fellowships provide opportunities to acquire and transfer new knowledge and to work on research and innovation in Europe (EU Member States and Associated Countries) and beyond.

The scheme particularly supports the return and (re)integration of European researchers from outside Europe and those who have previously worked here, as well as researchers displaced by conflict outside the EU and Horizon 2020 Associated Countries.  It also promotes the career restart of individual researchers who show great potential.

TYPES OF INDIVIDUAL Standard European Fellowships (EF-ST) AND ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS

Proposals for IF involve a single beneficiary located in a Member State (MS) or Associated Country (AC).

Applicants have to indicate at submission stage in which of the eight scientific areas their research topic fits best:

•            Chemistry (CHE)
•            Social Sciences and Humanities (SOC)
•            Economic Sciences (ECO)
•            Information Science and Engineering (ENG)
•            Environment and Geosciences (ENV)
•            Life Sciences (LIF)
•            Mathematics (MAT)
•            Physics (PHY)

Proposals will be evaluated in the selected scientific area, in order to have an optimal expert allocation.

The Standard European Fellowships are divided into eight scientific areas and provide financial support to individual researchers undertaking international mobility.

 

Humanities and Social Sciences

Projects:

• Language Variation and Multilingualism
  Terje Lohndal, NTNU & UiT
  Apply here

• "Missing girls in historical Europe"
  Francisco Beltrán Tapia, NTNU
  Apply here

Read full project description by clicking on the panel name

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Life Sciences

Projects:

• Developmental Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience
  Audrey van der Meer, professor, Department of Psychology &
  Ruud van der Weel, professor, Department of Psychology.
  Apply here
   
• Cultural and Historical Studies and School Science
  Annette Lykknes, professor, Departement of Teacher Education
  Apply here
   
• From Segmentation of Three-dimensional Echocardiography to Numerical Analysis of Mitral Valves
  Victorien Prot, Associate, Department of Structural Engineering
  Apply here

Read full project description by clicking on the panel name

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Economic Sciences

Projects: 

• Digital Innovations in the Supply Chain
  Godfrey Mugurusi, Associate, Department of Industrial Economics & Technology Management, Gjøvik (IØT-G)
  Apply here
   
• Team Entrepreneurship
  Ekaterina S. Bjørnåli, Associate, NTNU Business School, Faculty of Economics
  Apply here
   

Read full project description by clicking on the panel name

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Chemistry 

Projects: 
(See the Information Science and Engineering panel website for full project descriptions)

• Multi-objective Building Information Modelling for Cementitious Composites (Apply here)
• Multi-functional Energy Efficient Cementitious Composites (Apply here)
• Additive Manufacturing of Sustainable Cementitious Composites (Apply here)
• Recycling Plastic Wastes in Cementitious Composites (Apply here)
• Advanced Bio-based Cementitous Composites (Apply here)
  Mohammad Hajmohammadian Baghban, Associate professor, Departement of Manufacturing and Civil Engineering, Gjøvik 

Read full project description by clicking on the panel name

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Information Science and Engineering

Projects:

• Multi-objective Building Information Modelling for Cementitious Composites (Apply here)
• Multi-functional Energy Efficient Cementitious Composites (Apply here)
• Additive Manufacturing of Sustainable Cementitious Composites (Apply here)
• Recycling Plastic Wastes in Cementitious Composites (Apply here)
• Advanced Bio-based Cementitous Composites (Apply here)
• Mohammad Hajmohammadian Baghban, Associate professor, Departement of Manufacturing and Civil Engineering, Gjøvik 
   
• Runout Analysis of Landslides using Material Point Method 
  Gustav Grimstad, Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering 
  Apply here 
   
• Dynamics of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines and Multidisciplinary Design Optimization
  Erin Bachynski, Associate, Departement of Marine Technology
  Apply here

• Ship Collisions with Marine Structures - Local and Global Analysis
  Jørgen Amdahl, Professor, Department of Marine Technology
  Apply here

• Validation and Verification of Dynamic Analysis for Submerged Floating Tube Bridge Design under Environmental Loads (Apply here)
• Optimization of Monitoring System for Hull Response of Ocean-Going Vessels (Apply here)
  Bernt Johan Leira, Professor, Department of Marine Technology
   
• Machine Learning Techniques and Life-time Prediction of Marine Structures
  Svein Sævik, Professor, Department of Marine Technology
  Apply here

• From Segmentation of Three-dimensional Echocardiography to Numerical Analysis of Mitral Valves
  Victorien Prot, Associate, Department of Structural Engineering
  Apply here
  (See the Life Sciences panel website for full project description)
   
• Development of Test Regimes and Numerical Procedures for Concrete Subjected to High-intensity Loading
  Martin Kristoffersen, post-doc, Department of Structural Engineering
  Apply here
   
• Sustainable Structural Design
  Jochen Köhler, Professor, Department of Structural Engineering
  Apply here
   
• Smart Proxy Models for Reservoir Simulation
  Ashkan Jahanbani Ghahfarokhi, Associate Professor, Department of Geoscience and Petroleum
  Apply here

• Turbulent Combustion Modelling for Fire Analysis
  Ivar S. Ertesvåg, Professor, Department of Energy and Process Engineering
  Apply here

• Hydrological Risk Assessment
  Tor Haakon Bakken, Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  Apply here

Read full project description by clicking on the panel name

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Environment and Geoscience

Projects:

(See the Information Science and Engineering panel website for full project description)

• Runout Analysis of Landslides using Material Point Method 
  Gustav Grimstad, Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering 
  Apply here

Read full project description by clicking on the panel name

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Mathematics

Projects:

 

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Physics

Projects:

 

The following chapter describes a non-exhaustive list of relevant tasks required of the supervisor and the candidate.

 

Our experience at NTNU is that proposals succeeding the in the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (MSCA-IF) program are the joint effort of the candidate and supervisor. We recommend that the proposal is prepared by the candidate in cooperation with the supervisor, who should take an active role from the start of the application process and throughout the project.

The application

The MSCA-IF programme stresses the transfer of knowledge between the candidate and the supervisor, and the ability to demonstrate the complementary skills of the two parties is the key in developing a successful project. The proposal should clearly outline the involvement of supervisor to prove a strong level of commitment from the host institution. As part of the proposal, the supervisor must demonstrate a strong track record of previous training at an advanced level within the field of research, international collaborations, publications, participation in projects and other relevant results. Thus, we recommend that the candidate and supervisor have regular meetings during the application process to develop a clear understanding of how the collaboration will benefit both parties in the project, and to get this convincingly described in the proposal.

NTNU arranges a preparatory workshop for supervisors april 25th., providing information about the call and the role of the supervisor. We want all first-time supervisors for a MSCA-IF application to attend this workshop.

In addition, NTNU also arranges a seminar for candidates in late May. This year, the seminar will take place 22-23 May. NTNU covers travel and accommodation for candidates approved by the supervisor through the «Challenge» programme.* The seminar provides information about the call, as well as sharing of best practices from ongoing MSCA-IF fellows and experienced evaluators. We recommend that both the candidate and the supervisor participate at the seminar, and that they work together on the application during these days. The candidate’s stay can be prolonged by one day to allow more time to work together.

During the project

The supervisor will be mentoring the candidate through regular meetings to discuss the status and progress of the project. The supervisor should provide guidance for training-through-research through making a Career Development Plan together with the candidate. The plan should include training in transferable skills, planning for publications and conference participation, in addition to the research activities. The supervisor must also support the candidate’s integration in the research community at the host institution.

*Up to 15 000 NOK. Candidates recruited by supervisors outside the program can also have their travel expenses covered, through application to NTNU.

• The researcher must be an experienced researcher*. Periods of inactivity in research (e.g. unemployment, periods of employment outside research, parental or sick leave) do not count towards the time of research experience.
  The researcher may be of any nationality. No age restrictions apply.
• The researcher cannot have resided or carried out his/her main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of beneficiaty for more than 12 months in the three years immediately before the call.

*The experienced researcher (ER) must be, at the date of call deadline, in posession of a doctoral degree or has at least four years of full-time equivalent research experience.

During the implementation of the action the experienced researcher may be seconded outside their host organisation to an organisation in a MS or AC. Secondments of the researcher to partner organisations are encouraged, but they should be relevant, feasible, and beneficial for the researcher and in line with the project objectives. Applicants should therefore consider carefully whether the research would be advanced by a secondment, and whether it should take place in the academic or non-academic sector.

The maximum duration of secondments is defined according to the total duration of the fellowship:

Duration of the fellowship         Maximum duration of secondment

≤ 18 months                                    3 months

> 18 months                                    6 months

 

The secondment phase can be a single period or can be divided into shorter mobility periods. It can take place at one or more organisations, which can be located in the same country as the beneficiary. A secondment is allowed during any phase of the project to any entity located in a MS/AC. While secondments can take place within the same sector, inter-sectoral secondments are highly encouraged. Entities with a capital or legal link with the host organisation cannot host secondments.

*Short stays are characterised by the type of activity rather than by a specific number of days. A period can only be considered as a short stay if the researcher did not reside or did not have their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country during that period (such as holidays).

• Experienced Researcher (ER): fellowship applicant, Postdoc from abroad. Requirements are listed at the bottom of this document.
• Supervisor: Formerly called «Scientist in charge» (normally professor/associate professor) at NTNU who will supervise the ER through his/her fellowship. Selection criteria listed at the bottom of this document.
• Beneficiary: Host institution, NTNU as a legal entity.