The total available funding is € 1 million and shall be made available through five programmes: Brain Gain Grant (BGG), Short- Term Mobility Grants, Publication Funds, Special Research Grants and Research Awards.

Applications for the following priority fields of research are eligible for
funding:
1. Natural Resources, Energy and Environment
2. Agricultural Production and Food Safety
3. Medical Research
4. Social and Economic Studies
5. Linguistic, Cultural and Historic Studies
6. Cross-Horizontal Research in Information and Communication Technologies

Brain Gain Grant (BGG)

The objective of the Brain Gain Grant is to attract the best Kosovar researchers living abroad and to enable them to pursue professional scientific careers in Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244). The awardees should accomplish the grant through regular work at a public university or a public research institution (i.e. host organisations), where they have to be actively involved in research, teaching and mentoring. They need to be able to lead the selected project autonomously, even before obtaining a tenure position. The host organisation should guarantee that it will employ the candidate after the end of the support provided by the BGG for at least the double duration of the given Brain Gain Programme. Outstanding researchers may apply if they have finished at least a doctorate and if they want to return to Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244). Candidates must have stayed and worked abroad in a dedicated scientific research environment for at least three years after finishing their PhD. The total amount foreseen for the BGG in 2010 is limited to € 250,000. The total grant for a project for one year cannot top the amount of € 70,000. Only in duly justified cases extra additional top-up funding of a maximum of € 30,000 per year can be exceptionally granted for research equipment or personnel costs for further team members. Proposed projects have to last for a minimum period of 12 months and a maximum of 24 months.

Short-Term Mobility Grants

This programme aims to enable scientists to work at universities or reputed research institutions abroad, with the purpose of gaining research experience. Furthermore, Kosovar scientists shall be enabled to participate in scientific conferences to present their own research results abroad. The maximum amount will be € 1,500. In case of a two months’ stay, the grant can be extended to € 3,000 for the entire period.

Publication Funds

This programme provides funds for the production costs to support the publication of scientific, non-profit oriented research findings and the translation of relevant international scientific publications into Albanian or Serbian language. Only publications of excellent scientific quality, which anticipate a significant enhancement of scientific knowledge and a further advancement of research in the framework of the respective specialist area in an international context shall be funded or translated. The maximum support for the production of a publication amounts to € 6,000. In exceptional cases, this amount can be raised up to € 10,000. The maximum level of support for the translation of a scientific publication amounts to € 10,000, and only in duly justified cases it can be extended to a maximum subsidy of € 12,000.

Special Research Grant

The objective of the Special Research Grant is the establishment of a research programme based on international standards through autonomous research concentration at a single research institution/university location. The projects funded by the Special Research Grant must be unique and with a long-lasting perspective. They should have an added value compared to small sized research projects through the establishment of programmatic research endeavours. The grant is aimed at researchers from Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244) working together in research projects. The awardees should accomplish the grant through regular work at a public university or a public research institution, where they have to be actively involved in research, teaching and mentoring. The total funding available for 2010 is € 625,000. The grant for a single project cannot be higher than € 125,000.

Awards

The Research Programme established a fund for yearly awards for extraordinary achievements with the aim to promote scientific excellence, to encourage science careers and to recognise the efforts and commitment of those researchers, who are advancing in their area of expertise. The award “Kosovar Researchers of the Year” annually will be given to the five most outstanding researchers in Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244). Each of them will receive a prize money of up to € 6,000 to support the continuation of their research career and to enable them to build up or consolidate and lead research groups. The award “Best newcomer researchers of the Year” will be given to the best five newcomer researchers with a prize money of up to € 2,000.