1. What is match funding?
2. What can be granted / what sort of things are funded?
3. What costs are excluded / will not be paid?
4. What kind of visits are covered and of what length?
5. Who can be involved?
6. What is the available amount of funding?
7. When is the deadline for submitting an application?
8. What are the criteria for assessment of applications?
9. How do I apply for the PerAda funding?
10. What are my responsibilities if my application is successful?

What is match funding?
Match funding means that you must provide some funding yourself as contribution to your expected costs. PerAda can fund up to 50% of the total costs, and match what you are able to provide yourself (from your own organisation or from another). Your application should include a letter confirming the source and amounts contributed by your host or your own organisation.

What can be granted / what sort of things are funded?
PerAda can reimburse actual travel, accommodation and/or subsistence costs. This means that, after you return from the visit/exchange, you can claim expenses and the funds will reimburse your costs to the agreed amount. Receipts are required and payments will be remitted by bank transfer in your own currency. Advance payments cannot be made, all costs are reimbursed retrospectively.

What costs are excluded / will not be paid?
PerAda cannot pay salary costs to cover either temporary replacements or the time spent on the visit/exchange.

The objective of this funding initiative is to facilitate genuine collaboration and exchange between researchers. However, in keeping with EC regulations, travel costs to meetings organised to prepare new EC grant proposals are not allowed.

What kind of visits are covered and of what length?
The proposed visit or exchange can include:
- educational or research institutions
- companies or company representatives
- exchanges between two or more institutions
- exchanges between industry and academia.

The length of visit can range from several days to several weeks. Exchanges can be flexible in time and location, and they are not limited to members of the European Union.

Who can be involved?
The emphasis is on supporting cross-disciplinary visits/exchanges, trying to encourage greater cross-fertilisation between disciplines which have traditionally not worked closely together. You are expected to identify some output resulting from the visit/exchange.

For example, you might wish to invite a research expert from the another country to your research group, or consider initiating an RKT partnership with a particular company engaged in research pertinent to the general area of Pervasive Adaptation.

What is the available amount of funding?
A call for applications is made every six months (June and December) which has a total fund of €10,000 available for distribution. Applications are judged competitively and funds allocated according to which best match the criteria. This competitive selection process is overseen by the Executive Committee of the Coordination Action (PANORAMA) which runs PerAda.

When is the deadline for submitting an application?
The fourth call is now open and will run until 1 December 2009. One further call will be announced thereafter with a deadline of 1 June 2010.

What are the criteria for assessment of applications?
Applications will be judged against the following criteria:
- Inter-disciplinary character of proposed exchange
- Novelty of research topic/collaboration
- Proposed output of exchange
- Availability of matched funding
- Value for money

How do I apply for the PerAda funding?
First, make sure you, as applicant, and your collaboration partners are members of the PerAda research community. If not, you can join here; registration is free.

Second, complete an application form (see side column) and accompanying documents:
- a letter confirming availability and amount of match funding from the source
- a letter of support from the host institute/company confirming the visit
- a letter of support from your own institute/company

Send these documents to the PerAda Project Manager via:
- email: j.willies-at-napier.ac.uk
- fax: + 44 (0) 870 836 2345, or
- post: Jennifer Willies, Centre for Informatics Research, Edinburgh Napier University, School of Computing, 10 Colinton Road, Edinburgh EH10 5DT, UK.

What are my responsibilities if my application is successful?
After returning from your visit/exchange, you should advise the PerAda Project Manager who will send you several documents to complete. Please aim to do this within six weeks.

You will be sent and need to return:

a. A reimbursement claim form to itemise your costs and list your bank account details. This claim form is personal to you so that funds can be sent by bank transfer directly to your account in your own currency. You will need to send your original receipts (scans by email, or by fax, or by post) (please note that credit card slips do not count as receipts, full receipts are needed so ensure that these are retained).

b. An exchange evaluation form (see side column) which should summarise the main outcomes of the exchange, defining how the collaboration might continue. This should justify how the funds were used for the purpose outlined in your application.

c. A short article (800-1200 words), suitable for reading by a general audience, describing your visit/exchange and its benefits. Your article will be posted on the PerAda website to inform PerAda members and to encourage additional visits/exchanges. (see articles on previous exchanges).