Doctoral Networks are a popular and therefore highly competitive instrument of the European funding programme MSCA (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions). 946 project proposals were submitted in the current call, but only 158 were selected for funding.

One of these was the proposal for DONUT, the Doctoral Network at the HSRW that will focus on research on neural prostheses and brain-computer interfaces (BCI). The university is cooperating with a total of 15 partners in this project, including universities in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Denmark, Lithuania, and Slovakia. The aim of the consortium is to train talented young researchers in the field of brain research in a multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral Europe-wide approach.  

The project leader of DONUT, Prof. Dr Ivan Volosyak, emphasises how important the current developments regarding doctorates at UAS were for the project. “That we are receiving this funding is primarily due to the recently established Doctoral College North Rhine-Westphalia (PK NRW). This EU funding programme is usually reserved for large universities and research institutions, not UAS,” he says. He also points out the importance of the Research at UAS programme: the EU application for DONUT was largely enabled due to funding via FH-Europa which the HSRW received from May 2022 to April 2023 to prepare the DONUT application.

UAS usually find it more difficult than universities to successfully acquire funding – not only in Germany, but also at EU level. They often lack extensive international networks and have less experience in implementing and managing large consortia projects. The BMBF therefore supports UAS with funding measures such as FH-Europa in building up appropriate networks, writing applications and thus gaining greater international visibility.