Duration of Secondments

1 min read Feb 15, 2018
Hello everyone, I would appreciate very much if some of you could give me a feedback on what was the USUAL duration of secondments in your network? (in total) I am an ESR at the moment and I am very interested in learning new techniques and gaining interdisciplinary insights in out partner institutions. However, recently there has been a new idea introduced by our coordinators that “usually ESRs only take secondments for 2 months”. Is it actually so? Please, could anyone share his/her experince? Cheers, Marina

7 Comments

Profile Default Image
Esther Githumbi

Hi Marina,

 

From my experience members of the project I was involved in went on secondments ranging between 6 weeks and 3 months. I think the co-ordinators in your project are using that as an average and not a rule but if you intend to have a longer secondment you need to provide a strong case and precise timetable to show how you would spend your time. I didn't go on secondment  (an accident derailed all my plans and I had to take time off work) but mine was meant to last 2 months.

Profile Default Image
Brian Cahill

Hi Marina,

I am not an expert on this. I understand that it depends on the duration of secondments defined in the proposal and confirmed at Grant Agreement Stage. The host institutions can define that as they like and if the evaluators and commission are fine with the secondment duration, then it is OK. Do you have access to the proposal and the description of your Work Packages?

Regards,

Brian

Profile Default Image
Sofia Bisso

It generally depends on what is written on the grant. We have fixed timeframes and length of the secondments. Theorically, you can change the duration and make your secondment shorter (with a min of 3 weeks) but not extend it. You could also shift the starting date but you should not change the partner institution where you go for your secondment. This is what was told us at the beginning. However, each single case is different... All of us ESR did changes to our secondments, mainly in the duration, some changed the partner institutions for personal reasons, some even cancelled the secondment because "not scientifically relevant for their project". At the end, the decision is basically up to your supervisor.

Profile Default Image
Sofia Bisso

It generally depends on what is written on the grant. We have fixed timeframes and length of the secondments. Theorically, you can change the duration and make your secondment shorter (with a min of 3 weeks) but not extend it. You could also shift the starting date but you should not change the partner institution where you go for your secondment. This is what was told us at the beginning. However, each single case is different... All of us ESR did changes to our secondments, mainly in the duration, some changed the partner institutions for personal reasons, some even cancelled the secondment because "not scientifically relevant for their project". At the end, the decision is basically up to your supervisor.

Profile Default Image
Sofia Bisso

It generally depends on what is written on the grant. We have fixed timeframes and length of the secondments. Theorically, you can change the duration and make your secondment shorter (with a min of 3 weeks) but not extend it. You could also shift the starting date but you should not change the partner institution where you go for your secondment. This is what was told us at the beginning. However, each single case is different... All of us ESR did changes to our secondments, mainly in the duration, some changed the partner institutions for personal reasons, some even cancelled the secondment because "not scientifically relevant for their project". At the end, the decision is basically up to your supervisor.

Profile Default Image
Roy Someshwar

I second what Brian mentioned. 


Your secondmend duration is explitly defined in the proposal with the description of all the Work Packages. And my personal guess is that - in this dcoument you will find that your secondmend is defined much longer than "2 months" to give MSCA proposal evaluators an ilusion of "interdisciplinary research" and "knowledge transfer".

The maximum length of a ITN secondmend, as defined by MSCA, is 1/3 rd of the funding period (1 year for ESR). I dont have the time to search for the document where I read it but if you google you should find it because I read it in one of the official EC documents.

All the best! 


 

Profile Default Image
Yaroslav Verkh

Hi Marina,

in my case the duration was defined by the Grant Agreement. My secondments were 1 year, 6 months, and 2 months, but was very different for other members of my ITN and depended strongly on the contract each of us had decided to sign.

 

Very best

Y