Scholarships - open call is closed

The European Economic Area (EEA) States – Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway (i.e. Donor States), through the EEA and Norway Grants, contribute to the reduction of disparities between and the strengthening of bilateral relations with 15 countries in the Central and Southern Europe, including Latvia. The EEA and Norway Grants have contributed in total  5 510 250 EUR to the Research and Scholarship Programme (LV05) in Latvia (hereinafter – the Programme).

The Programme is aimed at enhancing human capital and knowledge base in Latvia and increasing the institutional cooperation in research and development between the Donor States and Latvia by promoting partnerships and mobility between Latvia and the Donor States. The Programme consists of two components: the Research component and the Scholarship component. The Research component is co-financed by the Norway Grants. The Scholarship component is co-financed both, by the EEA and Norway Grants.

The Scholarship Activity shall strengthen bilateral relations by enhancing two-way mobility between higher education institutions (hereinafter – HEI) in Latvia and the Donor States (Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein) in order to increase the capacity and competence-building in Latvian institutions. The cooperation is to be based on equal partnerships between institutions, with the leading role of the Latvian institution. The Scholarship Activity will be implemented in close cooperation with the Research Activity. An important objective of the Scholarship Activity is to contribute to bilateral research cooperation within the Research Activity of the Programme through facilitating international relations and involving PhD, master’s and bachelor’s students in the projects.

There will be one Call for proposals under the EEA and NFM (2014).

There are no specified thematic areas for the projects.Mobilities of any type of students and academic staff from Latvia to Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland (the Donor States) and from the Donor States to Latvia can be funded from the project budget. Each application should include only one study field, i.e. mobility action.

Nevertheless, since an important objective of the Scholarship Activity is to contribute to bilateral research cooperation within the Research Activity of the Programme through facilitating international relations and involving PhD, master’s and bachelor’s students in the research projects, cooperation between the research and mobility projects is welcome. The following thematic areas have been nominated as priority areas within the Research Activity of the Programme:

a) Social sciences and humanities;

b) Health including aspects connected with pharmaceuticals, biomedicine and prevention.

Projects can be inter-disciplinary within the scope of thematic areas and may cover both areas.

The programme offers scholarships for studies in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein:

• Students – 3-11 months;
• Academic staff – 1 to 6 weeks.

Eligible Project Promoter is an accredited higher education institution (HEI) from Latvia, including colleges, holding valid Erasmus Charter for Higher Education. 

Cooperation with at least one project partner (HEI/college holding valid Erasmus Charter for Higher Education) in Norway, Liechtenstein or Icelandis mandatory. Prospective applicants can contact the Donor Programme Partner (Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation on Education)to ask for assistance in finding the project partners from donor states. 

Research institutions may be involved as partners, where relevant.

Other institutions including those from other countries than Latvia and the Donor states can participate in the project as partners, but aren’t eligible for grant from the Scholarship activity.

The total budget for the Scholarship activity is:

• EEA Grants - 482 973 EUR;
• Norway Grants - 457 560 EUR;
• Latvian budget co-financing - 104 504 EUR.

There is no minimum amount of grant assistance applied for in the project, but the mobility included in the project application must comply with minimum duration requirements for particular type of mobility. Eligible costs:

Direct costs:

•  Scholarships for student mobilityshould be calculated as a lump sum on the basis of real costs (travel costs, per diem, accommodation, insurance). Stipends can be foreseen for a duration of 3-11 months:
  - TO Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein - up to 1 200 EUR per month. Uncompleted month not least than 14 days 600 EUR;
  - FROM Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein - up to 800 EUR per month. Uncompleted month not least than 14 days 400 EUR;

• Tuition fees for students (excluding registration costs) - up to 1 000 EUR (excluding registration costs) per person;

• Scholarships for academic staff mobility for a duration of 1 - 6 weeks. The minimum grant amount applied for is 1 600 EUR, the maximum is 3 000 EUR;
• Information and publicity costs.

Indirect costs – up to 7% of the direct costs.

The minimum duration of the project is 1 month. If the mobility action includes both the mobility of students and the mobility of academic staff, the minimum duration of the project is 4 months.

Grants from the Programme cover 100% of the total eligible project costs up to the applicable thresholds, provided that all applicable national and EU rules on state aid are complied with (if applicable). Any remaining costs of the project shall be provided or obtained by the Project Promoter and the project partners, according to their respective shares of the project budget.

The currency used for completing the Project Budget, payments from the Agency and settlements between the Project Promoter and project partners will be the Euro (EUR).

The detailed description of the categories of costs listed above can be found in the “Guide for applicants” attached to this Call paper as Annex 1.

The costs incurred before the financing decision will not be treated as eligible project cost. Expenditures incurred after 30 September 2016 shall not be eligible.

Payments to Project Promoters will be in the form of advance payments, interim payments (if applicable), and a payment of the final balance.

Evaluation will consist of formal (eligibility and administrative criteria) and content-related quality appraisal. Only the applications that meet the formal criteria will be subject to content-related evaluation. The formal appraisal is carried out by the Agency according to the formal criteria (see the selection criteria in Annex 3).

The quality evaluation is carried out by at least two independent experts. The proposal can receive a total number of 70 points in this stage. To be recommended for funding, the application must pass the threshold of 35 points.

The assessment of the compliance with the programme strategic objectives is carried out by the Cooperation Committee consisting of an equal number of officials appointed by the Programme Operator and the Donor programme partner (the Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation on Education). The Cooperation Committee agrees on the final ranking list and recommends the applications for funding. Funding decisions will be adopted by the Agency. A grant for funding is awarded by means of a formal project contract between the Agency and the Project Promoter. The list of successful applications, including the identification of the Project Promoter, Project Partner(s), title, the grant from the Programme and the total eligible cost of the project will be made public on the web site of the Agency.

More detailed information on evaluation procedure is presented in the “Guide for Applicants”.

Only the Latvian PP is authorised to submit a proposal.

Proposals are submitted electronically in English through the on-line submission system.

The on-line submission system is available for applicants as of November 10^th , 2014.

The deadline for applications is at 24:00 Latvian time (23:00 CET) on January 23^rd ,2015.

Applications sent in on paper, removable electronic storage medium (e.g. CD-ROM, diskette), by email or by fax, will not be considered as having been received by the Agency.

Detailed instructions for applicants on how to complete and submit the application form are available in the ‘Guide for applicants’.

Guide for applicants 

Application form 

Project selection criteria 

1. Regulations on the implementation of the EEA and NFM Financial Mechanisms 2009-2014
2. Regulation No. 649 of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia of October 21^st, 2014 “Open Tender Rules of the Scholarship Activity Project Applications of the Programme ‘Research and Scholarships’ of the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2009-2014 and Implementing Conditions”

For additional information, contact (working days, from 8.30 am to 17.00 pm):

1. Reinis Tralmaks, Jana Sīle: +371 67830837
2. Gunta Arāja: +371 67047875

The contact point at the Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation on Education:

•  Veena Gill, senior adviser, tel. +47 55 30 38 24 / + 47 947 91 672; veena.gill@siu.no
•  Frank Moe, senior adviser, tel. + 47 55 30 38 48/ + 47 91 78 59 30, frank.moe@siu.no

Questions and queries concerning the Call can also be sent to info@viaa.gov.lv. Questions and queries shall be answered within five working days.