Call for applications for Visiting Scholarships at Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society at University of California (CITRIS)

1. Partnership agreement between the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation and CITRIS at University of California

With the aim of boosting scientific collaboration between Denmark and California, the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation has entered into a partnership agreement with the innovative Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) within the University of California. CITRIS encompasses faculty at UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz and UC Merced and a wide variety of research in IT, health care, energy, infrastructure, services science etc. Please visit the CITRIS-website for further information: www.citris-uc.org. 

As part of the partnership agreement the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation invites PhD students and scientists employed by a Danish University or a Danish public research institution to submit applications for visiting scholarships at CITRIS at University of California.

1.1 Application deadline

Applications must be submitted no later than:

Friday 30 January 2009 at 1 pm

2. Grant type

As part of the partnership agreement the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation has acquired two so-called “Visiting Slots” of a total duration of 24 months. The Agency thereby invites eligible candidates to submit applications for:

• Visiting scholarships of a duration of 3-6 months

The slotting fee paid by the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation will only cover the University of California fees for visiting researchers. Visiting Scholars from Denmark will accordingly fund their own lodging and living expenses, and assume responsibility for their own salaries, benefits, and health insurance.

In addition to the Visiting Scholarship, a Visiting Scholar has the possibility of receiving a prepaid travel grant of 10.000 DKK (c.f. the application form at the bottom of this page). The travel grant cover expenses related to travel in connection to the visit at CITRIS. It is stressed that the travel grant is prepaid.

3. Assessment criteria

The present call is open to PhD students and scientists employed by a Danish university or a Danish public research institution.

In the assessment of applications importance will be attached to:

• The scientific focus of the research project.
• The quality of the research project.
• The value added by collaborating with a counterpart from the University of California.
• Potential for future scientific collaboration.
• The applicant’s experience in international scientific collaboration.
• Given CITRIS’s core mission, the identification of the “societal pull” of the collaboration.
• Given that CITRIS also has a mission of long-term industrial development, the identification of potential industrial collaborators for long-term impact of the research.

4. Requirements and procedures for applications

Applications must be submitted in English and applicants must use the application form for the present call (bottom of this page) with the following appendices:

• CV of the applicant and the collaboration partner at the University of California.
• Expression of interest from a member of the CITRIS research group who will act as official host at University of California.

Only incited appendices will be accepted.

Applicants can apply for Visiting Scholarships at CITRIS at University of California in the period of 1April 2009 – 1 April 2010. Since the result of the processing of the applications only can be expected in the beginning of March 2009, applicants wishing to visit CITRIS from 1 April 2009 will have to make preparations for visa applications in advance.

The application must be co-signed by the head of department at the Danish university or research institution.

Each Visiting Scholar must have a member of the CITRIS research group who will act as official host at University of California. In general, the host will be a member of the CITRIS research group with whom the visitor wishes to collaborate. Although visitors may change their CITRIS host at any time (subject to the agreement of all parties concerned) an initial host must be identified and appointed by CITRIS prior to the visitor’s arrival. This is normally done at the intended visitor’s suggestion. Gary Baldwin, Director, Special Projects of CITRIS, will be the CITRIS entry point for assisting Danish applicants on this matter.

It should be underlined that the purpose of the partnership program is research collaboration, not education or training for the Danish visitor. In particular, a CITRIS faculty host is intended to be a research partner of the visitor, and is not expected to provide basic education or training in how to conduct research. A visitor’s degree of participation in the program is expected to be commensurate with that of CITRIS’ core researchers.

The applications will be reviewed by an appointed evaluation committee at CITRIS at University of California and granted by the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation.

Of the acquired 24 months, up to 12 months are reserved for PhD students while the remaining 12 months are reserved for recognised scientists. Depending on the quality of the applications received, the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation and the evaluation committee at CITRIS reserve the right to allocate only parts of the Visiting Slots. With regards to an optimal use of the acquired 24 months, the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation and the evaluation committee at CITRIS furthermore reserve the right to grant Visiting Scholarships of shorter duration than initially applied for. This, however, will only be done in dialogue with the applicants in question.

Upon completion of the visit at CITRIS, the applicant is required to submit a debriefing report to the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation.

Since the travel grant is prepaid, the Visiting Scholar is furthermore obligated to document all expenses related to the travel of the visit by sending in the original appendices, hereunder the plane tickets. Unused funding must be returned to the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation.

5. Submission of applications

Applications must be submitted:

• On paper, as one unstapled original with original signature and
• Electronically, as one continuous pdf-file by e-mail

Applications should be sent to:

Forsknings- og Innovationsstyrelsen
Att.: Karen Agnethe Harild
Bredgade 40
1260 København K

E-mail:

Applications must reach the Agency (Forsknings- og Innovationsstyrelsen) no later than the time and date specified on the cover of this call for applications.

Applications may be rejected without substantive consideration if the deadlines and requirements set out in this call for applications are not met or if the application form is not completed correctly.

No later than three weeks after receiving the application, the main applicant will receive an acknowledgement with a schedule for the processing of the application.

Further information

The Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation,
Karen Agnethe Harild, Head of Section, tel.: +45 3544 6222, e-mail:

Science and Technology attaché at Innovation Center Denmark in Silicon Valley,
Lars Beer Nielsen, e-mail

CITRIS at University of California,
Gary Baldwin, Director, Special Projects of CITRIS, e-mail

• Download the application form