The ECSR offers approximately five Visitor Grants per calendar year in order to foster research visits of PhD students and young scholars from ECSR member institutions. The grant is designed to contribute up to 2,000 EUR towards travel and accommodation costs, depending on the duration of stay.
The call for applications for research visits during the calendar year 2027 is open from 10 September 2026 and closes on 23 October 2026. Applicants will be notified of decisions by the end of November 2026.
Rules and eligibility
- Applicants must be from an ECSR member institution and the host institution must be an ECSR member institution. Please note that in some member institutions only a specific department is eligible as a member. Please check carefully the ECSR member list.
- The scheme is not designed to facilitate visits to PhD supervisors, including joint supervisors.
- Priority is given to researchers in the early stages of their career. Applicants should be either registered as PhD students or have defended their PhD within the previous seven years.
- A grant cannot be awarded to anyone who received it in the previous year.
- Grants are limited to one per member institution per academic year. In exceptional cases, where two applications from the same institution are judged to be of equal merit, the value of the grant can be split evenly between the two candidates, i.e. max. 1,000 EUR each.
- For visits that span two calendar years, candidates can apply for a grant for either year, but preferably for the one in which the majority of the visit occurs. Only the costs directly related to the calendar year in question can be reimbursed.
- The ECSR’s Board will assess the applications.
- Grantees must accept the ECSR data protection regulations, as well as the declarations regarding consent to the use of photos and information, liability, and insurance requirements.
- The grant can be pre-paid requested to cover costs in advance. The final reimbursement requires the submission of a reimbursement form and valid receipts after the visit.
- The grant covers only travel and accommodation costs and cannot cover additional expenses, such as local transportation, food or insurance. Detailed rules for reimbursement are available here.
How to apply
Send application by e-mail to ecsr-visitinggrant@wzb.eu with
- A cover letter explaining the reason of visit.
- Proof of acceptance from the ECSR member institution to be visited.
- An abstract of the applicant’s thesis (for PhD students) or of the research project (for young researchers).
- An approximate cost calculation for the visit. We advise applicants that value for money is a consideration and that the amount applied for should not exceed 2,000 EUR.