COFUND

The COFUND scheme aims at stimulating regional, national or international programmes operating in Europe to foster excellence in researchers’ training, mobility and career development, spreading the best practices of Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. COFUND provides co-financing for funding a programme which leverages other regional, national or international funding. The programmes can be new or already in existence, but they must be either:

• Postdoctoral Programmes or
• Doctoral Programmes

All programmes must have an element of transnational mobility, either bringing new researchers into the country (incoming mobility), sending researchers outside of the country for a defined period (outgoing mobility) or assisting researchers previously active in the country to re-establish themselves there (reintegration). On top of transnational mobility, applicants are encouraged to include elements of cross-sectoral mobility and Interdisciplinarity into their programmes.

Any organisation in a Member State or Horizon Europe Associated country that can manage a doctoral or fellowships programme for researchers can apply. This includes universities and other higher education institutions, research centres, funding agencies, charitable bodies, enterprise, etc. The financial support offered by the action varies but is up to a maximum of €10 million per beneficiary, by way of a fixed amount (COFUND allowance) equivalent to the minimum salary that researchers should receive, and can be used to support any cost items in the programme. The participation of other sectors such as the private, public or other sectors, where appropriate, is strongly encouraged.

For COFUND Postdoctoral Programmes, researchers must be in possession of
a doctoral degree at the deadline of the co-funded programme’s call. Doctoral programmes are open to researchers, who do not have a doctoral degree, and must be enrolled in a doctoral programme leading to the award of a doctoral degree in at least one EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country.

Researchers should comply with the mobility rule: they must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the recruiting organisation or implementing partner for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the deadline of the co-funded programme’s call.

Summary Details

• Applications must be submitted by a single beneficiary from an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country.
• Can also include other participants (from the same country or another Member State or Horizon Europe Associated country), if required.
• New and existing programmes are eligible for co-funding.
• Project Duration up to 5 years.
• Typical EU contribution to budget €200k to €10 million

COFUND Programmes in Ireland

• SPARKLE, A Fellowship programme in Photonics operated by IPIC at University College Cork.
• ELITE-S, a data science, content analytics and data preservation Fellowship programme, operated by the ADAPT Centre at Dublin City University.
• MedTrain, Career Development and Mobility Fellowships in Medical Device Research and Development, operated by Cúram Centre at National University of Ireland Galway.
• ALECS, Advanced Learning in Evolving Critical Systems, operated by LERO Centre at University of Limerick.
• Research Leaders 2025, A Fellowship Programme developing the Next Generation of Agri-Food Research Leaders, operated by Teagasc.
• INTEGRATE: A Doctoral programme in Integrative Genomics operated by the CRT in Genomics Data Science at National University of Ireland, Galway.
• Human+: A fellowship programme in human-centred approaches to technology development operated by the Trinity Long Room Hub and ADAPT Centre at Trinity College Dublin.
• DevelopMed: A fellowship programme in Precision oncology operated by the Systems Biology Ireland Centre at University College Dublin.
• NeuroInsight: Postdoctoral fellowships in advanced skills for data analytics in neurological diseases operated by the RCSI-hosted SFI Research Centre FutureNeuro in partnership with the Insight SFI Research Centre.
• INSPIRE: a fellowship programme in intersectoral microbiome research in support of the UN SDGs operated by the APC Microbiome Ireland SFI Research Centre at University College Cork.
• Talent4BBI: a PhD training programme in bio-based industries operated by BiOrbic Bioeconomy SFI Research Centre at University College Dhttps://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101034270ublin.
• DOROTHY: a fellowship programme on research into public health crises operated by the Irish Research Council in partnership with the Health Research Board and the Environmental Protection Agency.
• DIGI PLUS: a fellowship programme on sustainable digital transformation operated by Lero SFI Research Centre at Maynooth University.
• MedTrainPlus: a fellowship programme in medical device research and development operated by the CÚRAM SFI Research Centre at University of Galway.
• SyMeCo: a fellowship programme on the systems, methods and context of software development operated by Lero SFI Research Centre at University of Limerick.
• MedDevDoc: a doctoral training programme that aims to equip biomedical doctoral candidates with the skills needed for medical device development, operated by the CÚRAM SFI Research Centre at University of Galway.
• ROSETTA: a fellowship research and training programme related to the impact of technology on the usage of time, operated by the University of Galway and supported by the Lero SFI Research Centre.