Advancing Research Careers: UEFISCDI’s Role and Support Programs

The Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development, and Innovation Funding (UEFISCDI), Romania’s main funding agency for RDI competitive funds, under the authority of the Romanian Ministry of Education, operates under a contractual agreement with the Ministry of Research, Innovation, and Digitalization. It is tasked with defining, developing, managing and monitoring research funding programs within the National Research, Development, and Innovation Plan 2022–2027, which serves as the main instrument for implementing the National Strategy on Research, Innovation, and Smart Specialization for 2022–2027.

UEFISCDI’s mission is to promote quality and leadership in higher education, research, development and innovation, while contributing to the internationalization of Romanian higher education and research. Its strategic objectives include establishing a framework for higher education and scientific research funded through the national budget and other sources, supporting high-quality research projects and providing expertise in science policy. 

In this context, within the National Plan, UEFISCDI manages and launches research funding programs aimed at supporting researchers’ career development at all stages. These interventions enhance the attractiveness of research careers in Romania, promote the mobility and training of doctoral and postdoctoral researchers and increase the number of researchers in the Romanian RDI ecosystem by attracting and training talent. Additionally, the programs focus on developing researchers’ skills, fostering collaboration with industry, and promoting an entrepreneurial culture. 

Below are examples of funding programs designed to support researchers’ career development at all stages:

  1. Funding programs managed by UEFISCDI aimed at attracting and reintegrating researchers returning from abroad:
  • Simion Mehedinți Research Fellowships: The purpose of the funding programme is to stimulate scientific excellence in Romanian research, by ensuring adequate conditions for researchers from Romania, who have benefited from a research internship abroad and have a reintegration grant in progress, provided by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Germany) or another funding institution from abroad.
  • Centers of Excellence: The purpose of the funding programme is to strengthen Romanian scientific research by establishing partnerships in areas of demonstrated scientific excellence of research organizations, in order to meet the critical mass of researchers and the adequate level of interdisciplinarity to address challenges from the Strategic Research Agenda. One of the specific objectives is to create a stimulating research environment that allows attracting and retaining young researchers in the national research and innovation system, including those from the diaspora or foreigners.
  1. Funding programs aimed at promoting all forms of researcher mobility as a means to enhance their professional development, including the following: 
  • Senior Mobility Projects: The purpose of the funding programme is to strengthen scientific collaborations between researchers from Romania and abroad on common research topics, leveraging their expertise and experience, sharing best practices and identifying new research directions. These projects involve an experienced researcher from abroad, who contributes to an ongoing research project through visits and/or remote activities. 
  • Mobility Projects for young researchers from the diaspora: The purpose of the funding programme is to create a favorable environment for the exchange of experience and expertise between young Romanian researchers in the diaspora and those in Romania, strengthening cooperation between them. Funding is provided for a Romanian researcher from the diaspora who has gained visibility and international recognition, with 2-9 years of RDI experience, after obtaining a PhD from a prestigious institution abroad. 
  • Intersectoral mobility projects: The purpose of the funding programme is the training of doctoral students and their acquiring of new skills through intersectoral knowledge transfer. The PhD student benefits from a 3-6 month mobility project, carried out at an industrial partner in the country or abroad.
  1. Other funding programs supporting researchers’ career development:
  • First Job in the National RDI System: This program aims at helping public research organizations attract young master’s or doctorate graduates into the national research system by covering their salary costs for up to 24 months.
  • Doctoral Scholarship for Mobility Abroad: This program supports young PhD students in successfully completing their doctoral thesis by funding research internships abroad and providing access to research infrastructures, libraries, archives, or databases.
  • Postdoctoral Research Projects: This program supports young researchers with doctoral degrees, enabling them to continue the research initiated during their doctoral studies, acquire new skills and further develop their research careers

In conclusion, UEFISCDI plays an important role in advancing research careers in Romania by implementing comprehensive funding programs that support researchers at all stages of their professional journey.