The candidate may include up to a maximum of 3 secondments up to about 3 months each with a mandatory one at a non-academic institution. The total duration of all the secondments shall not exceed 9 months.

The GNeuS project consists of 5 different pillars, as shown in the figure. The 5 pillars are:

• Neutron facilities (reactors, spallation sources, compact brilliant sources, …)
• Scientific applications (biology, condensed matter, magnetism, materials sciences, soft matter, …))
• Method development (instruments, sample environment devices …)
• Industrial applications
• Others (patenting, data management, scientific communication, project management …)

Any interdisciplinary activities lie inside the same pillar and differ from the main topic of the application, while any activity that belong to a different pillar is considered as intersectoral activity.

The Letter of Commitment is marked as optional in the GNeuS application package because it depends on the Research Project submitted by the candidate. Optional does not mean that the applicant can arbitrarily decide whether to submit the LoC for its secondments, but she/he has to meet the following conditions.

When the Research Project proposed by a candidate includes secondments only at institutions that are already GNeuS partner  no Letter of Commitment (LoC) is required for the submission.

However, when the Research Project proposed by a candidate includes secondments at institutions that are not already GNeuS partner, for each institution that is not a GNeuS partner the candidate must submit a Letter of Commitment duly filled by an institution representative and signed by its legal representative.

The institutions that are already GNeuS partners, and therefore have already signed the Letter of Commitment, are listed at https://gneus.eu/partner-organisation/.

One of the eligibility criteria for the candidate regards the Possession of a doctoral degree OR at least four years of full-time equivalent research experience. Please find here below additional details on this criterion:

1) Possession of a doctoral degree, by January 18, 2023.

This means that the Ph.D. must be present by the deadline. Provisional certificates do not meet this GNeuS eligibility criterion.

2) At least four years of Full-Time Equivalent research experience.

Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) research experience is measured from the date when a researcher obtained the degree entitling her/him to embark on a doctorate, even if a doctorate was never started or envisaged. 

When calculating experience, only postgraduate research experience is relevant for this purpose.

If a candidate have been working on her/his Ph.D. for longer than 4 years without obtaining the Ph.D., the second condition (at least four years of FTE research experience) is fulfilled, and the candidate is eligible for a GNeuS grant.

The eligibility criteria for a GNeuS grant are:

• possession of a doctoral degree or at least four years of full-time equivalent research experience;
• at least one original publication in a peer-reviewed journal;
• background in a neutron scattering technique;
• a complete application package submitted through the GNeuS portal (including CV and detailed research plan);
• the proposed research programme may include up to three secondments with at least one mandatory secondment in a non-academic partner organisation;
• MSCA mobility rules: researchers must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of their host organization (MLZ, Germany) for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the co-funded programme’s call deadline. Compulsory national service, short stays such as holiday and time spent as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention, are not taken into account.

GNeuS is a COFUND project where the EU provides about 40% of the needed funds and the three MLZ partners FZJ, TUM and HEREON match the remaining 60%. In particular, 33, 10 and 2 grants are financed by FZJ, TUM and HEREON, respectively.

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) encourage individuals to work in other countries, making the whole world a learning environment. They encourage collaboration and sharing of ideas between different industrial sectors and research disciplines. MSCA also back initiatives that break down barriers between academia, industry and business.

Official MSCA web site https://ec.europa.eu/research/mariecurieactions/msca-actions_en

Each GNeuS grant will last 24 months and cannot be prolonged over the initial granted funding period. Employment after the end of the GNeuS grant must be financed from other sources.

GNeuS offers 15 grants per call, a total of 45 grants in three calls.

The GNeuS project launches three calls on November 1^st  2021 (Call n. 1), 2022 (Call n. 2) and 2023 (Call n. 3), respectively.

Yes, you are warmly encouraged to discuss with the selected MLZ supervisor during the preparation of the research project to submit. Either you pick up one topic offered by the GNeuS project or you freely choose a different one, the MLZ supervisor will not only give advice on the research project, but will also be assisting you and provide any other support you may need.

The candidate can tune the research programme according to new ideas and opportunities than described in the selected topic, but is warmly recommended to discuss any tuning with the associated MLZ supervisor.

The available topics are listed on the web page https://gneus.eu/topics-supervisors/. The candidates may select one of the available topics as well as propose any new one. It is recommended to discuss with the supervisor at MLZ about all details prior to the application submission.

Yes, on top of the GNeuS available topics, the candidate may propose any research topic. In this latter case, it is warmly recommended to discuss with the supervisor at MLZ about all details prior the application submission.

All GNeuS partners listed at the official page (https://gneus.eu/hosting-institutions) is ready for hosting a secondment of a GNeuS fellow.

You are welcome to propose a secondment at another institution/industry than the official GNeuS ones. When a new institution/industry is proposed for secondment, the institution/industry shall have to sign a letter of commitment, as available at https://gneus.eu/application-package/. Without the formal commitment of the institution/industry to sign the GNeuS Fellowship Project Agreement and to provide the necessary training and hosting opportunities for the secondment the GNeuS Fellow, the request is considered invalid.

You will find all the information on the status of the review process in your private account at https://my.gneus.eu. A traffic light system will help you to identify the results of each step.

Please find here a calculator for German taxes
https://www.brutto-netto-rechner.info/gehalt/gross_net_calculator_germany.php
Gross and net salaries are calculated here according to different options explained in the text therein.

Information on the use of the calculator
Tax-Free Allowance: no entry
Tax Category: please read the description below
State: Bayern
Health insurance: select “compulsory insured”
HI add on: select “AOK Bayern 0.9%”
Pension insurance: select “compulsorily insured”
Unemployment insurance: select “compulsorily insured”

Click on “berechnen” to start the calculation.

Please contact the GNeuS Management Office if you need further assistance.