CERFA Traineeship Programme 2025

 

Call for proposals is now open

Would you like to act as a Host Supervisor?

The Society of Spanish Researchers in Germany (CERFA/SWBRD) is pleased to announce the launch of the CERFA Traineeship Programme 2025. In its sixth edition, up to 15 trainees/students of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) and the Universidad de Castilla la Mancha (UCLM) will make a research Traineeship in laboratories of Germany, with a CERFA member as a host scientist.

The goal of these international Traineeships is to further develop the participant’s skills and competencies. Trainees will gain deeper knowledge on how-to procedures, increase their employability, and gain international experience, while the host scientist will increase managerial and leadership skills. The trainee will be a student enrolled in Bachelor or Master studies at the Faculty of Science of UAM or at the UCLM. She/he will be supported by the Mobility Program for Students of the Faculty of Science of UAM or the International Mobility Program of the UCLM and funded by the Erasmus + Placement Program. Please find all the information about the Erasmus + Program here.

Election of the host scientist will be made on a competitive basis on research excellence, training plan, CV of the applicant, and expected impact on the host.

This Traineeship Program is the result of the commitment between UAM and CERFA and UCLM and CERFA to collaborate in different modalities and resulted in the establishment of the International Cooperation UAM and CERFA Framework (Convenio CERFA-UAM) and UCLM and CERFA Framework (Convenio CERFA-UCLM).

Deadline: CERFA members interested in hosting a trainee must apply before the 27th of January 2025.

For further information, contact coord.traineeship@cerfa.de

Terms and conditions of CERFA Traineeship application

1. Conditions and awards
2. Host eligibility criteria
3. Selection of host candidates by CERFA
4. Process of matching between selected host and potential trainee
5. Application Forms
6. Further Details

 (Please, read our FAQs here)

1. Conditions and awards

• Up to 15 host positions are available in different areas (all areas are listed at the end of this page and in the application form) (the number of summer studentships awarded to each scientific area will be proportional to demand).

• A host scientist could apply for up to 2 trainees. In this case, two independent applications, with different research projects, must be sent.

• Host supervision can be certificated by the Science School of UAM or the UCLM. Only in case this supervision includes ECTS credits for the students the activity will be certificated as “curricular” (see our FAQs for more details).

• Traineeships must have a minimum duration of 2 months.

• Traineeships can take place between 1^st June and 31st of December 2025 (in case of UCLM students) or 31st May 2026 (in case of UAM students)(summer preferred) *

• Grant funded by Erasmus + Program is directly awarded to the trainee and provides only funding for mobility of the trainee.

• The trainee will be fully covered with the insurance of UAM or UCLM and Erasmus + Program.

* The final dates of the Traineeship can be agreed by consensus between the student and the supervisor. Please, consider that most of the students would prefer a summer period for the traineeship because they may need to come back to their Sending Institution (UAM or UCLM) to continue with their studies.

2. Host eligibility criteria

• The host supervisor must be part of an Institution (located in Germany) that participates in the Erasmus + Internship Program**

• This call is open to scientists (PhDs or PhD-students) that are CERFA regular members of the Society. Non-members can apply only after submitting their membership registration form, provided they have paid their annual membership at the moment of the application. Find out about our different membership fees and how to register here.

• The host must prove availability of funding to ensure resources for project development, this should be specified in the application form (point 15 in the funding information of the application form). If no independent funding is available, the applicant must provide support to the project from their Line Manager, Head of Project or Principal Investigator in the Acceptance Form.

• Applicants must confirm eligibility with their German host institutions (point 14 of the application form),

** The host organisation can be private or public. They must be active in the labour market, though, or in the fields of education, training or youth.  Ineligible host organisations for traineeships include EU bodies and other EU institutions, including specialised agencies; and organisations managing EU programs, for example, National Agencies.

3. Criteria of selection of host candidates by CERFA

• Applications will be evaluated by a joint Committee composed of members of the CERFA Traineeship Programme Coordinators and the Board of Directors of CERFA. Members who have applied to the programme will not be part of the Evaluation Committee.

• Evaluation will be based on the following criteria:
  • Training plan (points 4, 5 and 6, of the project description in the application form, evaluated up to a maximum of 35 points in total)
  • Research Excellence (point 3 of the project description in the application form, evaluated up to a maximum of 25 points)
  • CV of the applicant (evaluated up to a maximum of 25 points)
  • Impact of the traineeship on the applicant’s career (point 7 of the project description in the application form, evaluated up to a maximum of 10 points)
• In case of more than one evaluation resulting in the same number of points, and if one supervisor has applied with more than one project, only one of the projects will be prioritised to offer a broader variety of subjects.

4. Matching process between selected hosts and trainees

The matching process between selected hosts (CERFA members) and trainees will proceed as follows:

1. Distribution of Projects:
   CERFA will allocate projects between UAM and UCLM based on the areas chosen by applicants, maintaining a 2:1 ratio.
2. Trainee Preferences:
   Future trainees will select their preferred destinations from the projects offered by host supervisors (applicants of this call).
3. Initial Matching:
   • For UAM: The university will match the hosts’ specifications (e.g., mobility timing, degree requirements, experience criteria, and willingness to evaluate the project) with the trainees’ profiles.
   • For UCLM: The university will share all applicants’ information directly with the supervisors.
4. Online Interviews:
   Supervisors and students will arrange online interviews to assess compatibility and suitability.
5. Candidate Nomination:
   • For UAM: If multiple trainees choose the same host, the host will nominate at least two candidates following the interviews.
   • For UCLM: Supervisors will directly finalize their preferred candidate.
6. Final Matching and Communication:
   • For UAM: The university will finalize the matching of pre-selected candidates with hosts and communicate the decision to both parties.
   • For UCLM: Supervisors will independently finalize their choice and provide the selected student with an acceptance letter.

The expected time for final resolution is between the 23rd of April and the 10th of May, but those are not fixed dates, and the development of the process can modify the dates of resolution.

5. Application Forms

• Download and complete the following Application Form (send in word format) and the Acceptance Form (sign and scan or sign digitally), and submit together with a CV (max 2 pages) to coord.traineeship@cerfa.de with the subject: “CERFA – Traineeship Programme 2025: Name of the applicant”. 
  • Application Form 
  • Acceptance Form 

• All documents of the applications must be filled in English.

6. Further Details

• Once the selection from both sides is done (Trainee and Trainer), before the traineeship starts the UAM or UCLM and the receiving organisation must sign a Learning Agreement for Traineeship under Erasmus + Program to ensure a transparent and efficient preparation of the exchange abroad

• After the traineeship abroad, the receiving organisation/supervisor should send a Traineeship Certificate to the education institution, normally within 5 weeks after successful completion of the traineeship

• At the end of the traineeship, awarded CERFA Researchers (hosts) must fill out an internal evaluation survey that will be sent by mail before 31st of December

 

The deadline to apply for CERFA Traineeship 2024 is now the 27th of January 2025.

Areas: Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Physics, Mathematics,  Food Technology, Pharmacy, Architecture, Biotechnology, Nanoscience and Molecular Nanotechnology, Informatics and Engineering (Aerospace, Agricultural, Building, Chemical, Civil, Computer, Electrical, Electronics and Automation, Forest, Industrial, Mechanical and Mining) or others from UCLM