The INTERACT program under EU FP7 has Transnational Access program that offers access to 18 research stations in Northernmost Europe and Russian Federation including:

• Free access for user groups/users to research facilities and field sites, including support for travel and logistic support
• Free access to information and data in the public domain held at the infrastructures

The call for Transnational Access proposals is open until 31^st August 2011 at 16:00 (+3GMT) at the INTERACT website http://www.eu-interact.org/

The Winter Season refers to the period Oct 2011–April 2012, with some variation depending on research station. The list of available field sites can be found from the INTERACT website.

The call also includes Summer Season 2012 (May – Sept) to field stations located in the Russian Federation. Assistance and support with visa applications and other required documents is available for the accepted user groups conducting field work in these stations.

Eligibility

The user group (= the research group that applies for access to one or more research stations) must satisfy the following three conditions:

1. the user group leader and the majority of the users must work in an institution established in a Member State or Associated State*
2. the user group leader and the majority of the users must work in a country other than the country(ies) where the legal entity(ies) operating the infrastructure is(are) established. In other words the users must come from outside the countries were the INTERACT stations are located
3. there should not be a corresponding infrastructure in the country hosting the institution employing the user group’s leader. If such an infrastructure exists, the applicant should show how the specific conditions of the requested visit cannot  be met by this national infrastructure.

(*Associate states: Switzerland, Israel, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Turkey, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia, Albania and Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina and the Faeroe Islands)

Priority is given to

• Researchers who have not previously used the infrastructure
• Researchers who want to conduct research at more than one location for generating comparative studies
• Early career scientists**

**Applicants must hold a position at an institution of advanced research and/or education. Applicants without a PhD degree or equivalent research experience must provide letters of support from a supervisor.

Travel arrangements

Users are required to make their own travel arrangements and keep all original tickets and receipts. The travel costs will be reimbursed after the visit to the station(s) where the visit(s) was/were made. Advice on travel options can be obtained on request.

On completion of their visit(s), successful applicants will be required to

• Provide a Project Summary Report on results obtained during the visit(s)
• Complete the User Group Questionnaire at http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/capacities/questionnaire_en.html
• Publish the results within a reasonable time in open literature, specifying in Acknowledgements that the research has received support from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement N^o262693
• Note that the European Commission has the right to publish the list of users, containing their names, home institutions and description of the work.

More information about the TA call and INTERACT can be found from http://www.eu-interact.org/ or by contacting WP4 coordinator Hannele Savela, PhD, hannele.savela(at)oulu.fi, or WP4 leader Kirsi Latola, PhD, kirsi.latola(at)oulu.fi.