Short Term Mobility Award (STMA)

ISEBTT is launching a competitive, inaugural Short-Term Mobility Award (STMA) designed for PhD and specialization students, as well as early-stage postdoctoral researchers. This award supports short research stays abroad, enabling candidates to advance their academic and professional development. It provides opportunities for work-related mobility, allowing recipients to undertake research stays at leading academic institutions or industries abroad, outside their home institution and country. The aim of the award is to allow candidates to acquire new techniques and specialized methodologies, and to access cutting-edge data, instruments, and processes that are not available at their home institutions.

Schedule of the call

• Applications open: 15 July 2026
• Application deadline: 15 October 2026
• Notification of results: 1 December 2026

The mobility period may take place between 11 January and 20 December 2027.

Candidate eligibility

• Students must have at least a Master’s degree.
• Early-stage postdoctoral researchers must have completed their PhD within the past five years (excluding any parental leave).

Mobility duration

The short-term mobility must have a minimum duration of one month. Shorter stays, as brief as two weeks, may be considered if strongly justified in the project proposal. Longer stays are also possible. Applicants are encouraged to secure additional funding sources to top up the STM grant.

Host institution / industry

Each candidate may choose the institution or industry where they will carry out their research activities. Preference will be given to candidates who select a laboratory or industry aligned with ISEBTT’s key partners.

Funding

Funding will be awarded to up to five applicants. Each selected recipient will receive US $3,000 in financial support.

How to apply

Candidates must submit their Application Form together with the required supporting documents by email to , specifying “STMA Application” in the subject line. The Application Form must include a project description, motivation, experimental plan, and expected results.

Documents to download and complete

• STMA Application Form (Word)
• Curriculum Vitae template (Word)
• Full call text (PDF)

Supporting documents to include

• A detailed curriculum vitae including the list of scientific publications.
• A brief supporting letter from the candidate’s supervisor at their home institution.
• A brief letter of acceptance from the supervisor at the host institution.

Selection criteria

The Awards Committee will evaluate applications based on:

1. Relevance, quality, and clarity of the proposed project.
2. Feasibility of the planned activities with respect to the mobility duration.
3. Profile of the applicant — previous work and scientific achievements, taking career stage into account.
4. Choice of host laboratory/industry, which the applicant must clearly justify.

Scientific report

Within two months of completing the stay abroad, selected candidates must submit a report (max 2000 words) on their research stay to the Awards Committee, highlighting the key results achieved, publications in preparation, and potential future developments with the host laboratory or institution. The most interesting experiences will be featured, written by the candidates themselves, in the ISEBTT newsletter.