Financial support for participation in AI SECRETT master programme’s extracurricular educational activities (First edition). Call identifier: AI SECRETT-FSTP-CALL-01-2026.
OpenDescription
The procedure follows the principles of: transparency, equal treatment, confidentiality, absence of conflict of interest. Admissibility and eligibility checks precede scoring; only eligible applications will be scored. Eligible proposals are ranked by total score within the available budget. The final award decision is endorsed by UVEG. All applicants will receive a written justification for the decision, with terms to appeal. Selected beneficiaries will be requested to sign a Financial Support Agreement (see text here: https://aisecrett.eu/bid-to-our-call/FSA) specifying the supported activity, eligible costs, maximum amount, payment schedule and reporting obligations. Failure to sign within the indicated timeframe may lead to loss of the grant by the autonomous decision of UVEG. Payments will be made by UVEG, normally after participation in the activity and approval of the beneficiary report and cost statement. Details are provided in the individual Financial Support Agreement (including e.g. the possibility of small prefinancing in justified cases).
Beneficiary & submission
The Call has 5 distinct cut-off dates. All submitted applications by each deadline will be evaluated jointly and awarded until funding resources are available. The AI-SECRETT consortium reserves the right of integrating the funding budget with an extra allocation, up to twice the initially allocated amount. A same natural person can apply multiple times at different cut-off dates but can receive the financial benefits of this Call only once.
Applications will only be possible electronically and exclusively managed through the GoodGrantsTM platform (https://aisecrett.grantplatform.com/) by filling in a form and attaching the required documentation.
Evaluation of received applications will be done by a special committee established at the Funding Body, Universidad de Valencia (UVEG). Each application will be evaluated from the perspectives of admissibility, eligibility, and merit.
Admissibility conditions will be that an electronic application has been received on or before the latest cut-off date, completed in all its parts, and with all required attachments, exclusively through the GoodGrantsTM platform. Incomplete applications or submitted by other means will be discarded and proposed for resubmission at the next cut-off date.
To pass the admissibility check, all applicants must submit at least:
- A signed application form;
- Their CV in Europass format (see https://europass.europa.eu/en/create-europass-cv);
- A motivation letter (explicitly stating employment status and financial need);
- Any documentation supporting disadvantaged background and/or priority categories (where applicable);
- Signed declarations (no conflict of interest, double funding, etc.) using the templates available on the GoodGrantsTM platform;
- A proof of enrolment or acceptance in the AI-SECRETT master’s programme, dated not earlier than the opening of this Call and not yet finalised by the chosen cut-off date;
- A proof of enrolment or acceptance in at least one extracurricular activity of the AI-SECRETT project, dated not earlier than the opening of this Call and not yet finalised by the chosen cut-off date; and
- An indicative cost breakdown (travel, accommodation, registration/participation fees, other costs).
All the above documentation must be provided in English language. Unofficial translations are allowed in case of submission of documents that are natively not in English, but the applicant will take the risk and bear the consequences of any misinterpretation during the evaluation process.
Eligibility conditions will be that
- The applicants must be natural persons and nationals of an eligible country for the Call (see Further information below);
- They must not be subject to restrictive measures or other disqualifying conditions according to the EU or national legislation in their country;
- They cannot receive double funding for the same operation;
- They must not be in a situation of conflict of interest with UVEG or any other AI-SECRETT partner.
Eligible applications received until the same cut-off date will be scored using the following criteria (max. 100 points):
| Criterion | Description | Max score |
|---|---|---|
| Excellence and relevance | Academic/professional background and fit with AI‑SECRETT vertical industries (*) | 30 |
| Motivation and expected impact | Learning objectives, career impact, clarity of plan | 25 |
| Financial need | Economic situation and justification of requested support | 25 |
| European added value | Cross‑border dimension, diversity contribution | 20 |
(*) Agri-Food, Cultural and Creative Industries, Energy and Environment, Housing, Manufacturing, Mobility and Transport, and Non-Touristic Services.
No minimum thresholds or weighting will be applied. In case of equal scores, the following priority rules will be adopted, in the same order:
- Applicants enrolled in more than one extracurricular activity.
- Applicants from countries not full members of the AI‑SECRETT consortium.
- Applicants from regions with average income below 75% of the EU average.
- Female applicants (if merit equivalent).
The maximum financial support per beneficiary is:
EUR 5 000 (five thousand Euros / 00)
The awarded amount is calculated on the basis of:
- Actual and justified travel costs,
- Actual and justified accommodation costs,
- Actual and documented registration/participation fees,
- Actual, justified and documented other costs.
as reported in the indicative cost breakdown (see above). The Selection Committee may cap specific cost items if considered excessive or not in line with typical market prices for the location and period.
The awarded amount will be adjusted to the recipient’s country of origin following the latest adjustment coefficients of the Marie Skłodowska Curie actions available (see e.g. https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/wp-call/2023-2024/wp-2-msca-actions_horizon-2023-2024_en.pdf).
Eligible expenses are those realised after the date of submission of the respective application.
The scheme reimburses up to 50% of total eligible costs, within the 5 000 EUR cap, so that the minimum number of supported beneficiaries with available resources (equally distributed across two yearly editions of this Call) will be at least 240.
Further information
Eligible applicants must hold the nationality of:
- an EU country;
- the following non-EU countries being eligible to the provisions of the Digital Europe Programme: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Kosovo*, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, North Macedonia, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, and Ukraine.
The above list is subject to change in the future without prior notice.
Disclaimer. This Call (as well as the financial support provided through it) is NOT an EU action. This Call is launched solely by UVEG on behalf of the AI-SECRETT consortium. The financial support to the selected successful applicants will be provided directly by UVEG in its own name and under its own responsibility. UVEG’s responsibility includes the preparation and drafting of this Call as well as the selection of successful applicants who will receive the said financial support. The publication of this Call in the EU Funding & Tenders Portal is made solely for information purposes with the aim of increasing the visibility of this call to the general public, including to potential applicants (i.e. students). The said publication shall not be construed as direct or indirect approval of the content and conditions of this Call by the relevant EU authorities or as any form of waiver from the above-described responsibility of UVEG.
The full text of the Call, the draft Financial Support Agreement (see Task description below) and a courtesy application form can be accessed and freely downloaded from the Call page: https://aisecrett.eu/bid-to-our-call/.
For more information, please contact fstp@aisecrett.eu