The programme takes place February - October 2024.  Participants must commit to attending all of the following online and in-person mandatory sessions, which are: 

• 27th of February – 9am-12pm (UK time) - Virtual – Online introduction 
• 8th of March – 9-11.30am (UK time) - Virtual – Storytelling workshop  
• 19-21st of March - In Person Kick off London – Networking and finding collaborators  
• April/May/June (dates TBC) – Virtual workshops in Abstract and Impact workshop & Idea project clinic 
• 26-28th of June – In Person retreat in Milano - Project Development (proposal writing + training)  
• July-June (dates TBC) – Virtual session(s) Project Idea Review clinic 
• 22-24th of October - Closing session in München – Impact and Dissemination  

In addition to the above required modules: 

• participants will be offered the opportunity to visit potential colleagues and partners immediately after the Kick off session in London. £500 per Imperial researcher is allocated for the in-person exploratory research visits, for use within College travel guidelines.   
• participants will be offered optional virtual training sessions.  A minimum of 5 participants will need to register for an optional session for us to run them. Optional sessions will be detailed after participant selection. 

• Applicants’ contracts with Imperial must be active until December 2024, and their research must connect to the theme for this year.
• Applicants must commit to exploring EU research collaboration and funding opportunities. 
• Applicants should ideally discuss their intent to participate in this programme with their research leads or line managers.
• Apply by the deadline of 25 January 2024 by submitting an online application form.  
• Applicants must be independent fellows or newly appointed lecturers who are within 2-7 years of experience since completion of PhD*.  

*These periods exclude any career break, for example, due to: 

• family care 
• health reasons 
• reasons related to COVID-19 such as home schooling or increased teaching load. 

 Notes: 

The PFDC and the International Relations Office will be monitoring the expressions of interest. In order to offer the opportunity to a wide range of people if you have been put forward for previous programs (eg. World Economic Forum, Wilbe Ventures course, Broadening horizons) you will not be eligible to apply.  

• Up to 7-8 Imperial participants will be selected for this programme to participate with TUM and Poli Milano counterparts. 
• Imperial will pay for train and air travel, meals and accommodation (according to College guidance on overseas travel rates) for Imperial participants to attend in-person workshops and research visits.  £500 per Imperial researcher is allocated for the in-person exploratory research visits, for use within College travel guidelines. 
• Imperial, PoliMi, and TUM are all contributing equally to the costs of delivering the training and networking sessions, both online and in-person.  At Imperial, funding is made possible for this programme via the Research England, Enhancing Research Culture Fund. 

You must agree to this to apply.

As the three university partners invest significant funding and staff time to this competitive programme to support early career researchers, all researchers who apply to the programme must agree to the following should they be selected: 

• To ensure at the time of application availability on the mandatory session dates (both in-person and online) commit to joining these sessions for the duration of the programme.    
• To bring an enthusiasm for meeting and engaging with other researchers and establish relationships. 
• To prepare and submit any necessary pitch or other materials in advance of training and networking sessions. 
• To discuss participation in the programme with your line manager to ensure support for your participation in the programme. 
• Engage with other researchers to develop initial ideas for collaborative research projects. 
• Be available to host researchers from other institutions in your lab/facilities. 
• Be proactive and invest time to work collaborative and create new research proposals / papers / research outcomes. 
• Produce interim / final reports to the programme team. 
• Provide feedback on the programme that we can use to improve it. 

• As an alumnus of the programme, to act as an ambassador & mentor for the programme to help us promote the programme to others, so more people might benefit from the opportunity.  
• To periodically engage with new participants and other alumni e.g. in alumni gatherings, funding networking sessions, and similar.