The internship program aims to train European structural and cell biologists in a wide range of technologies, not just one specialism. These researchers will be able to integrate different technologies to open up new areas of research. 

The Instruct Internship Programme funds research visits of 3-6 months duration to Instruct Centres for pre-doctoral and early-stage postdoctoral fellows. Internships need to be transnational and the Internship programme covers travel plus subsistence of the intern up to 5000 Euro (with a maximum contribution of 1000 Euro per month). Additional funds can be obtained to contribute to the consumable costs in the host laboratory via the submission of an access proposal associated to the internship. Funding through this route is proportional to the internship duration for covering costs of hosting centre and is capped to 6000 Euros. These Internships facilitate valuable collaborations with Instruct research groups applying techniques that are not available in the applicant's laboratory and the longer duration of awards allows interns to gain in depth experience in the host laboratory. Applications should specifically focus on the benefit to the applicant's research. Incomplete applications will not be considered.  

To be eligible, the applicant will have to: 

-provide letters of support from both host and home organisations on their headed paper (you can request the letters template from madalena@instruct-eric.org) 

-Complete the applicant profile online 

-Be an early career researcher (pre-doctoral or early-stage post-doctoral fellow) from one of the Instruct members country at the deadline of submission  

-Apply to an host Instruct laboratory in a different country 

Deadline for proposal submission is 28th February 2022.

Applicants must register on the Instruct website  where the proposal submission forms and further information is available or contact us directly at support@instruct-eric.eu. Applicants must be resident in one of the Instruct member countries 

Call Submission Guidelines

Internships funding has two components: One component covers travel and subsistence expenditures for the fellow up to 5000 Euros. The second component which will contribute to the host centre costs is a regular Instruct Access Project associated to the internship which needs to be submitted once the internship is approved indicating the technologies which will be used in the internship. 

Internships facilitate valuable collaborations with Instruct research groups applying techniques that are not available in the applicant’s laboratory and the long duration of awards allows interns to gain in depth experience in the host laboratory.

In preparing your application, please consider the points below, incomplete applications will not be considered. A complete application requires the agreement of both the applicant’s host Instruct Centre and home institution:

• Applications should focus on the benefit to the applicant’s research.
• Internships cover travel plus subsistence of the intern only and not of employees.
  
• Applicants should be pre-doctoral scientists (PhD students) or early-stage postdoctoral fellows at the deadline of submission.
  
• Internships are awarded for exchanges between laboratories in different countries.
• Internships are awarded for scientists spending a research period in an Instruct-ERIC centre.
• The home laboratory (applicant’s usual workplace) must be within an Instruct-ERIC Member country at the deadline of submission.
  
• Applications should be presented as a research project utilising at least one Instruct technology not available in the home laboratory.
• Instruct-ERIC does not consider applications for Internships to prolong visits begun under other auspices, or as bridging internships between, or prior to, long term stays funded by other organisations.
• Applications for internships to attend courses, workshops or symposia will not be considered.
• Successful interns are encouraged to submit an access proposal to contribute to their consumable costs during their visits. The proposal must clearly indicate its connection to an awarded internship. Funding through this route is proportional to the internship duration for covering costs of hosting centre and is capped to 6000 Euros.
• On completion of the internship applicants must return to their home laboratory for at least 1 month.
• Within 2 months of the completion of the internship applicants must submit a report.
  
• The intern must acknowledge Instruct in any publications arising from the internship.
  
• Internships must start between 2 and 6 months from the submission deadline.

 The Application and Review Process

The application process is handled via the online application system and written in English.

• The receiving Institute/Laboratory should consider carefully their ability to support the intern applicant and the proposed work. This is a significant commitment and Instruct may need to contact the receiver to confirm this before the application is approved. Instruct reserves the right to cancel any internship if there is doubt. The Receiving Institute/Laboratory Acceptance Form must be attached to the online application.
• Applications will be refereed by at least two experts in the area of the research project within the training committee. Proposals are moderated by the Instruct Hub and reviewers selected excluding the centre hosting the internship and the intern country of origin.
  
• The training committee is asked to judge the quality of the candidate and the research project with the major criterion being the projected benefit to the applicant’s research project of accessing Instruct expertise and technologies towards the research outcome.
  
• The Internship call will be open for continuous submission throughout 2022 – there will be three evaluation deadlines, with decisions made on all submissions within 1 month of each deadline:

28th February

30th June

30th September

Duration of support

Internships are intended for visits of minimum 3 and maximum 6 months. Internships should take place within 1 year of the award and start within 6 month of the award.

Travel costs and subsistence expenditures

The internships cover travel plus subsistence expenditures of the intern but not of any dependents. According to the length of the internship the support for subsistence will be capped to €3000-€5000.

The hosting centre will support the applicant in sourcing accommodation. Successful interns are encouraged to apply for funding to contribute to their consumable costs through an Instruct access proposal clearly indicating the connection to an awarded internship. Request of funding through this route will be commensurate with the internship project, limited to access costs.

End of Internship report

Within 2 months after completion of the internship the intern must submit an Internship report through the online submission system available in the intern dashboard.

The end of Internship report should detail the Application and Review research objectives, results and further work to be undertaken. Diagrams, charts or figures may be included in the report.

There should be acknowledgement of Instruct-ERIC for all publications of research resulting from the internship using the following text:

"This work benefited from access to the [Name of Institute or facility], an Instruct- ERIC centre. Financial support was provided by Instruct internship APPIDxxxxx”