Estonian Doctoral School Mobility Grant for doctoral students of the Faculty of Social Sciences

The mobility grant is available to doctoral students (including junior research fellows) at University of Tartu’s Faculty of Social Sciences, who are not a part of a research grant, which enables financing participation in conferences or other specialty related activities. Preferred are candidates who have no other possibilities for travel support.

Doctoral students from the Faculty of Social Sciences whose doctoral studies have not been suspended may apply for a grant (academic leave is not considered as a suspension of studies).

Activities eligible for application (presented in the order of preferences):

• Participation in international conferences abroad with an oral presentation
• Participation in international conferences abroad with a poster presentation
• Participation in intensive courses, summer-/winter schools

You can only apply for funding for future events, the costs of past events cannot be covered from the mobility grant.

• Participation fee – compensated based on cost statements
• Travel allowance – compensated based on unit prices
• Accommodation allowance – compensated based on unit prices
• Daily allowance – 32 euros per day

If the doctoral candidate wishes to combine a doctoral school grant with another mobility grant, they must first check that the conditions of the latter allow this.

The maximum grant is 2000 euros per travel/person.

The costs of Doctoral School Mobility Grant are covered by the unit rates used in the national mobility grant scheme “Kristjan Jaak Programme”.

Travel allowance

The travel costs are covered by a travel allowance, which includes all the costs related to the round trip, e.g. local transport, travel insurance, etc. The distance will be calculated using the European Commission’s online calculator.

Accommodation allowance

Accommodation costs will be covered by the accommodation allowance, which will be paid during the event abroad and, if justified, one night before and one night after the event.

Daily allowance

The daily allowance is 32 euros per day. The days are counted according to the official time of the event, to which, in justified cases, one day before and one day after the event may be added for travel. If the trip is extended by more than one day before or after the duration of the event, it must be agreed in advance and a valid reason must be provided.

Participation fee

Participation fee will be covered based on cost statements. Estonian Doctoral School will not compensate costs of conferences’ social events, lunches/dinners, membership fees and excursions (except for excursions related to a doctoral student’s research topic) specifically mentioned in the attendance fee.

Bank transfer fees and VAT are not eligible for funding from the Estonian Doctoral School.

To apply for the mobility grant, the doctoral candidate must submit an application via Working Environment of Academic Mobility (to log in, use your UT ID). The following documents must be added to the application:

• A confirmation of acceptance of the presentation from the conference organizer, if you participate in a conference with an oral or poster presentation
• A confirmation from the host institution (e.g. registration confirmation, letter of invitation, etc.), if you participate in a course, seminar or other activity
• A confirmation of the amount of the participation fee, in case the student requests compensation of the participation fee
• A confirmation from the supervisor. If the supervisor or doctoral student is in possession of grants, please provide information on the possibility of funding for the mobility of the doctoral researcher

​NB! UT staff member! The application is also part of the travel order. Please fill out the travel order in the Working Environment of Academic Mobility! The predictable costs must be visible in the travel order comment section.

The financial account holder is Janek Saluse.

• For expenses based on unit prices (transport, accommodation, daily allowance) the financial source is NSVSV24207.
• For expenses based on expense documents (participation fee) the financial source is NSVSV24208.

The applications are assessed by the doctoral studies council of the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• The applicant is a doctoral student in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Tartu
• The applicant has not received a mobility grant from the doctoral school in the current calendar year
• The application has been correctly prepared
• The purpose of the mobility is clear, the destination and the tasks are suitable. The link between the trip and the substantive needs and completion of the doctoral thesis is strong
• The duration and budget of the mobility are well thought out and reasonable
• The supervisor of the doctoral student has also digitally signed the application
• The doctoral student has no other means to fund their mobility (e.g. grant)

The decision of the council will be communicated to the applicant on the last day of the month after the closing of the application period the latest.

To have the costs compensated, the doctoral student must:

• Submit a signed activity report to the project leader of the Estonian Doctoral School (helena.saare@ut.ee) on the Doctoral School form
• Submit cost statements
  • Junior fellow researchers must fill out a travel report in the Travel workflow
  • Doctoral students without an employment contract must submit an expense report – submit all the expense documents to the doctoral school project leader (helena.saare@ut.ee)

Documents to submit

• Expense documents (accommodation, transport, participation fee) – for every payment the student must present the invoice as well as the payment confirmation, for transportation costs bus and train tickets, boarding passes etc. must also be presented
• The following documents must be added to the travel report or expense report:
  • Documents to prove the payment of the participation fee – invoice and payment confirmation
  • The file of the presentation that meets the notification requirements (visible logo on the first slide of the presentation)
  • The program of the event where the name and presentation title of the applicant is marked
  • A letter of confirmation of participation from the organizer of the event, stating the name of the applicant, the name and the date of the event
  • Digitally signed activity report

All documents must be submitted in a file form and titled properly (including the name of the applicant and the type of the document).

NB! UT staff member! All documents related to the mobility must be added to the travel report in the Travel workflow.

A sentence must be added to the travel report or the expense report:

“The travel/study mobility is in accordance with the University of Tartu project “Cooperation between universities to promote doctoral studies” (2021–2027.4.04.24-0003) and its goals and action plan.”

If the doctoral student participates in the event with a presentation or poster presentation, these must comply with the notification requirements. A logo must be placed on the opening page of the presentation or poster: see the instructions, logo files.

When using the logo, please keep in mind:

• Be sure to use logos for the period 2021-2027
• Do not change the proportions of the logo
• The white security area of the logo must not be lost
• The logo must be in a legible size and visible
• The coloured logo must not be printed in black and white
• an Estonian logo for Estonian text, an English logo for foreign language text

In case of non-compliance with the notification requirements, mobility costs from the Estonian Doctoral School are not eligible.