FAQ

Eligible candidates are non-EU citizens who at the time of application deadline

a. are enrolled in a PhD/doctoral programme or have already started their PhD/doctoral studies

b. are postdoctoral researchers (i.e. in possession of a PhD/doctoral degree)

Postdoctoral researchers who have successfully defended their PhD/doctoral thesis but who have not yet formally been awarded the PhD/doctoral degree will also be considered eligible to apply. The successful defense must be unconditional (no further requirements/corrections that need to be addressed) and take place before the call deadline. In addition, eligible candidates must be facing or have faced qualifying risks such as discrimination, threats, persecution, imprisonment, suffering, violence.

Yes, but only if you can provide evidence that you have started your PhD/doctoral research project. You will also be asked to provide a brief outline of the status of your doctoral research.

PhD/doctoral candidates must be enrolled in a doctoral programme or, alternatively, have started their doctoral studies either outside the EU or within the EU to be eligible. However, only a research project conducted at a host institution in the EU can be funded under the SAFE project.

Please note that, in both cases, proof of enrollment or start of doctoral studies, along with an outline of the doctoral research progress, must be submitted with the application.

Unfortunately, no. In order to be eligible for the SAFE project, you need to have started your own research as PhD/doctoral candidate.

Yes, if you are registered as a refugee in the EU, you are eligible to be nominated for Track 2 of the SAFE project.

Please note that in general, researchers with recognised refugee status in the EU may be permitted to conduct their research projects only at host institutions located in the EU Member State where they were granted that status. When applying, host organisations must ensure that the researcher’s residence status in the EU allows them to conduct the proposed project at their institution.

Please note that your status as recipient of international protection (i.e. refugee/subsidiary protection) has to have been granted by the time of application.

Unfortunately, asylum seekers or individuals with pending protection status applications in the EU are not eligible to apply for the SAFE project.

No, non-EU researchers holding permanent residency status in the EU are not eligible for the SAFE project.

Yes, if you are a non-EU researcher at risk currently outside the EU andare not a recipient of international protection in a third country, you are eligible to be nominated for Track 1 of the SAFE project.

Researchers must have the language skills necessary to successfully conduct their research activities at the potential host institution. It is the responsibility of the host institution to check that a candidate has the necessary language skills. Language certificates are not required for an application, but it is up to the host institution to decide whether to request official certificates from a candidate.

Researchers at risk within the scope of the SAFE project include PhD/doctoral and post-doctoral researchers who face threats to their life, personal freedom, or research career, or who have been forced to flee because of such threats. Risk may arise from factors such as:

• General circumstances (e.g. armed conflict, civil unrest, low level of academic freedom);
• Researcher’s academic work, actions and/or associations (e.g. due to his/her field of research, or due to his/her involvement in political, civic, or social activities grounded in liberal and democratic principles, or due to his/her associations with similarly threatened individuals or groups);
• Researcher’s personal identity (e.g. his/her ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religious beliefs).

Researchers must provide detailed information about their risk situation to their potential host institution, such as a personal testimony supported by relevant documentation. On this basis, the host institution will describe the risk situation of the candidate in the risk description form required for the application.

The risk situation will be evaluated based on:

• Particularity: why is the researcher at risk?
• Extent: What types of threats and consequences has the researcher faced?
• Severity:
  • Track 1: Is the candidate still in the country where the risk exists, or has he/she been able to flee?
  • Track 2: How long has the candidate been in the EU, and what residency status does he/she hold? How long is it valid?
• Evidence: Any supporting documentation available.

During the selection, regional experts will assess the researcher’s risk situation.

Evidence of risk is not mandatory but, if available, may be submitted with the application by the applicant host institution. Evidence proving your status of risk may include dismissal notices, court summonses, imprisonment records, credible written threats, censorship attempts, social media posts related to personal activism, documents detailing specific incidents, supporting documentation from humanitarian organisations, witness statements, reports and news articles from reliable journals on relevant conflicts, official evacuation orders, etc. The official recognition of a protection status is also considered objective evidence of the risk situation.

The applying host institution will have to provide the supporting documentation together with the application.

No, there is no age limit to apply for a SAFE fellowship, nor to participate in the SAFE matchmaking service.

Potential candidates cannot apply directly for a SAFE fellowship. Applications can only be submitted on behalf of a researcher by the potential host institution located in an EU Member State.

Yes, a host institution can apply on your behalf, even if you are currently receiving other funding or have applied for other funding opportunities. However, double funding is not permitted, so any previous funding must end before the start of a SAFE fellowship.

In this case, the fellowship will be paid until the month following the award of the doctoral/PhD degree.

No, the mobility rule does not apply to the SAFE project.

No. In such cases, only the first application submitted on behalf of the same researcher will be considered for evaluation.

Unfortunately, no. The SAFE matchmaking service is specifically designed for researchers who are currently enrolled in a doctoral/PhD degree programme (or have already started their PhD/doctoral studies) or are postdoctoral researchers. If you do not hold a PhD or are not enrolled in a PhD/doctoral degree programme, you do not meet the eligibility criteria for the SAFE project. However, you may consult the ‘Resources’ section of the SAFE project website to see if there are other suitable funding programmes for you.

Institutions eligible to apply for the SAFE project and host researchers at risk are academic or non-academic research organisations established in an EU Member State. This includes Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) or research organisations as defined by the European Commission.

“Academic organisation” means public or private higher education establishments awarding academic degrees, public or private non-profit research organisations for whom one of the main objectives is to pursue research or technological development.

“Non-academic organisation” means any socio-economic actor not included in the academic sector.

No, unfortunately, only institutions located in EU Member States are eligible to apply for SAFE. This means that institutions in Switzerland, Norway, the United Kingdom, and other non-EU countries cannot submit applications.

No, applications must be submitted by a single host institution, not by consortia or alliances as collective entities. In the case of a SAFE fellowship award, the selected researcher must be employed at a single host institution where he/she will conduct his/her research project.

The same host institution can submit only one application in total, on behalf of a single researcher. To ensure that only one application is submitted per institution, the head of the respective institution will have to endorse the application before it is submitted.  If more than one application is submitted by the same applicant, only the one submitted the earliest will be taken into account while the other(s) will be automatically rejected.

In this context, the term ‘host institution’ refers to a single legal entity as a whole. Each legal entity may submit only one application, regardless of how many institutes, faculties, or departments it includes.

The applicant institution must identify a contact person at the host institution (a staff member) who will be responsible for the application and serve as the point of contact throughout the application process. The contact person must not be the same person as the candidate-researcher.

The head of the host institution must endorse the application, i.e. he/she must be informed of and approve the application. This official approval is expressed by the head of the host institution signing the Hosting plan form required as part of the application. Failure to provide this signature will result in a formal rejection.

The head of the host institution is not required to personally submit an application; the submission of the application can be done by the contact person (see previous question).

The head of a host institution is the individual with the highest level of authority within the institution. This person is typically responsible for overseeing the institution’s operations and holds the final authority for approvals and endorsements.

Applications must be submitted online on the application platform of the SAFE project. The online application platform will be accessible from 18^th November 2024 to 20^th January 2025, at 23:59 (CEST).

All application requirements are indicated in the Terms of Reference for Applicants of the SAFE project. For selected application documents templates will be made available on the SAFE website.

To help potential host institutions assess the potential eligibility and risk of the researchers, the SAFE project has made an eligibility and risk questionnaire available. Institutions are strongly encouraged to make use of this tool before considering handing in an application.

An academic supervisor or mentor must be a member of the host institution authorised to supervise PhD/doctoral candidates or mentor postdoctoral researchers, as specified by the institution’s faculties and departments in their regulations. As a general rule, professors, junior professors, private lecturers, university lecturers, and university professors are eligible to serve as supervisors.

During the application, the academic supervisor/mentor is responsible for interviewing the candidate prior to the application. He/she must provide a confidential statement evaluating the candidate’s academic profile and research project as part of the application. He/she must also help the researcher to complete the ethics self-assessment as part of the application, together with the designated ethics contact person at the institution.

During the fellowship, the supervisor will ensure the candidate has access to the necessary workplace and will serve as the primary point of support throughout the research project, helping the researcher further develop his/her academic qualifications.

The external assessment letter must be written by a professor in the same academic field as the proposed research project, who is not or will not be the candidate-researcher’s supervisor or mentor. The referee must not be employed at the applicant host institution but should work at an academic or non-academic research institution in the EU. Before writing the letter, he/she should interview the candidate, ensuring a well-informed evaluation. He/she commits to providing an objective and unbiased assessment of the candidate’s academic potential.
The letter must be submitted exclusively by email from the referee’s institutional email address to review.safe@daad.de by 20 January 2025, at 23:59 (CET).

The hosting plan should provide comprehensive information on the planned administrative, academic, personal and social support measures, as well as outlining a post-fellowship plan. It is therefore recommended that the hosting plan be developed by an administrative staff member of the host institution in collaboration with all relevant departments (e.g. the International Office, the Human Resources Department, the relevant academic institute and the academic supervisor or mentor, etc.). It must be signed by the head of the host institution.

• Track 1 includes researchers at risk without EU citizenship currently outside the EU, who are facing threats in their country of residence or have fled their country of residence to a third country due to such threats and have neither refugee nor subsidiary protection status there.

• Track 2 includes includes researchers at risk without EU citizenship who are already in an EU Member State, either with recognised refugee or subsidiary protection status in the EU, or researchers outside the refugee process holding or applying for temporary permits/visas in an EU Member State.

The SAFE project welcomes applications from all domains of research and innovation.

Each SAFE project application must comply with national and EU ethics regulations for research as well as with EU policy interests and priorities (environment, social, security, industrial policy, etc.).

The following research activities are not eligible under any circumstances:

a) activities directed at human cloning for reproductive purposes

b) activities intended to modify the genetic make-up of human beings that could make such changes heritable (apart from research relating to cancer treatment of the gonads, which may be financed)

c) activities intended to create human embryos solely for the purposes of research or stem cell procurement, including the technique of somatic cell nuclear transfer

d) activities that lead to the destruction of human embryos

Each application must include an ethical self-assessment. For more information on ethics, please refer to the European Commission’s guidelines, EU Grants: How to Complete Your Ethics Self-Assessment.

The SAFE project does not target researchers from specific countries. However, only researchers who are non-EU nationals and who are currently facing or have previously faced qualifying risks, as defined by SAFE, are eligible to apply.

Fellowships may be requested for a minimum of 12 months and a maximum of 24 months. They must end no later than August 2027.

It is planned to communicate the selection results by May 2025.

The salary allowance will be be transferred to the host institution as gross amount, including both employer and employee contributions and taxes.

The mobility and family allowances can be paid to the researchers separately or as part of the salary, as a living allowance (subject to deductions), depending on national and host institution’s rules.

The special needs allowance will be paid to the host institution as an actual cost upon receipt of supporting documents. It is intended as a reimbursement of costs for items or services helping the researcher to implement his/her main project (e.g. to buy a special screen, to pay an accompanying person during the conferences, etc).

There is no country correction coefficient within the SAFE project. The SAFE fellowships’ amounts are the same regardless of the EU country in which the host institution is based.

No. The researcher’s employment contract financed by a SAFE fellowships must be full-time.

No, the host institution will receive the monthly contributions for research and management from the SAFE project. However the host institution is free to offer more if it is able to.

The matchmaking process begins with researchers checking their eligibility and submitting an expression of interest form. Eligible candidates’ pseudonymised profiles are shared with potential host institutions, which can request further information and conduct interviews. Final decisions to apply for the SAFE fellowship project are made based on mutual interest and compatibility.

No, researchers do not need prior contact with a potential host institution to apply for the matchmaking service. The SAFE project helps connect researchers at risk with suitable host institutions even if they do not have existing contacts.

No, it is not mandatory to participate in the matchmaking service if you already have existing contacts with potential host institutions. You can refer directly to the host institution to prepare the fellowship application. The matchmaking service is only for those who need assistance in finding a suitable host institution.

Host institutions can fill out the expression of interest form on the matchmaking tool, providing details about their institution, research areas available for hosting, and the type of assistance they require. For more information, please contact us at info.safe@uni-med.net.

Yes, host institutions may specify their preferences in terms of research fields, required qualifications, and language skills. This information helps in matching institutions with suitable at-risk researchers who meet the criteria required.

Once a researcher is matched with a host institution, both parties engage in further discussions to jointly collaborate on the SAFE fellowship application. This may include refining the research proposal, discussing research project’s implementation, gathering more information on the researcher’s risk situation, and generally preparing for the fellowship application which will be submitted by the host institution.

No, it is not. Being matched with a host institution does not automatically ensure a fellowship. The host institution will need to submit an application for the SAFE project, which is a competitive process. The matchmaking service supports this process but cannot ensure that the fellowship application is eligible and successful.

info.safe@daad.de (information on the call for applications)

info.safe@uni-med.net (information on the matchmaking service) 

safe.pause@college-de-france.fr (information on policy recommendations)

safe@campusfrance.org (other questions)