The results of the MSCA-COFUND-2023 call, under the Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, have been announced. According to the results, TÜBİTAK’s application titled Co-Funded Brain Circulation 3 (CoCirculation3) for the “Postdoctoral Fellowships” panel has been selected as the highest-budgeted project by the European Commission under this call.
In this highly competitive call, the European Commission decided to fund a total of 27 projects, including 12 Doctoral and 15 Postdoctoral Fellowships. Besides Türkiye, projects from Spain, France, Ireland, Finland, Denmark, Czechia, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, and Sweden were also supported. TÜBİTAK secured a budget of €9.5 million from the European Commission under this call. With this budget, TÜBİTAK aims to attract and fund 100 postdoctoral researchers from abroad.
CoCirculation3 project intends to offer researchers higher salaries and higher research support than those provided in previous CoCirculation and CoCirculation2 projects. This journey, which began in 2011 with the CoCirculation initiative in collaboration with the European Commission, continued in 2017 with CoCirculation2 and now progresses with CoCirculation3 (2023).
We are pleased to announce that, like the previous CoCirculation and CoCirculation2 projects written and submitted by the EU Framework Programs National Coordination Office, CoCirculation3 will also be implemented as part of TÜBİTAK BİDEB 2236 Program.
Objectives of the Project
According to the Grant Agreement signed between the European Commission and TÜBİTAK, the CoCirculation3 Project will start on 1 June 2025. The project will launch 3 calls to attract 100 highly qualified postdoctoral researchers from abroad to Türkiye.
There will be no restrictions on research fields, allowing researchers from all disciplines to apply. However, proposals must align with the themes of the ‘Green Deal’.
Under CoCirculation3, researchers with doctoral degrees are expected to conduct their research projects at an academic or non-academic (industry etc.) institution in Türkiye for 24 months under the guidance of a supervisor. Applicants, regardless of nationality, must prove that they have not resided in Türkiye for more than 12 months within the last three years as of the relevant call deadline.
Call Schedule
The opening and closing dates of the calls have been determined and can now be shared with the eligible postdoctoral researchers from abroad:
Call 1: Opens on 1 September 2025, and closes in December 2025 (33 researchers to be funded).
Call 2: Opens on 3 August 2026, and closes in November 2026 (33 researchers to be funded).
Call 3: Opens on 1 July 2027, and closes in October 2027 (34 researchers to be funded).
(Exact closing dates will be announced on our website.)
Academic and non-academic institutions in Türkiye will have the opportunity to host one or more researchers, providing them with a research environment. During the three call periods under the TÜBİTAK BİDEB 2236 Program, 33 researchers will be supported in the first year (2025), another 33 researchers in the second year (2026), and another 34 researchers in the third year (2027). Researchers are expected to find a suitable host institution and submit their applications in line with the proposal format shared by TÜBİTAK when the calls are announced.
Host institutions may also start searching for suitable researchers, for example, by posting vacancies on international networking platforms like EURAXESS.
Unique Features of the Project
The distinguished features of the CoCirculation3 project compared to its predecessors, CoCirculation and CoCirculation2, are as follows:
All funded researchers will be supported for 24 months.
CoCirc3 is open to applications from all scientific areas (adding a 'Green Deal' aspect to the projects will be expected).
Researchers can apply under either the “Standard” or the “Society & Enterprise” panel, with the latter offering a dedicated evaluation process for those proposing to work in non-academic organizations (like in industry sector).
Enhanced participation of non-academic sector is foreseen with the brand new allowance defined as ‘Entrepreneurship Allowance’ to enhance the entrepreneurial initiatives of the PostDoc Fellows and creating an eco-system for Industry-Academia Partnerships.
Outstanding approach is foreseen by enhancing the career development of PostDoc fellows through CoCirc3 Mentor-Mentee Mechanism and creating a community in Turkish Research Area through Alumni Network.
Short-term secondments at different institutions, including those providing letters of support, will be encouraged to enhance academia-industry collaboration.
Researchers will be able to extend their stay in non-academic institutions (Non-Academic Placements) for up to one year after completing their 24-month projects, with additional funding provided by TÜBİTAK BİDEB.
All project details will soon be available on the official project website, which will be announced on both the Horizon Europe and TÜBİTAK websites.
Please access Horizon Europe website from here.
Acknowledgments
Finally but most importantly, we extend our gratitude to the 54 institutions (27 academic and 27 non-academic) that provided letters of support for our CoCircualtion3 project, helping us strengthen our proposal. These institutions, along with others in Türkiye, can equally participate in the upcoming calls with international researchers.
Researchers planning to come to Türkiye can contact these institutions to discuss potential collaboration or apply with any other institutions of their choice.
CoCirculation3 Project is supported by Letter of Commitments from 54 very R&D focused institutions:*
1. ACIBADEM MEHMET ALI AYDINLAR UNIVERSITESI
2. ARCELIK A.S.
3. BAHCESEHIR UNIVERSITESI
4. BASTAS CEMENT / ÇİMENTO
5. BETEK BOYA VE KIMYA SANAYI A.S
6. BILKENT UNIVERSITESI
7. BITNET BILIŞIM HIZMETLERI LTD ŞTI
8. BOGAZICI UNIVERSITESI
9. BRISA BRIDGESTONE SABANCI LASTIK SANAYI VE TICARET A.Ş
10.BTS GROUP
11. DOKUZ EYLUL UNIVERSITESI
12. ECZACIBASI YAPI GERECLERI SANAYI VE TICARET A.Ş.
13. EGE UNIVERSITESI
14. EMODA YAZILIM VE DANISMANLIK SANAYI TICARET LTD ŞTİ
15. ERCIYES UNIVERSITESI
16. ERICSSON ARASTIRMA GELISTIRME VE BILISIM HIZMETLERI ANONIM SIRKETI
17. FARPLAS OTOMOTIV A.Ş
18. FORD OTOMOTIV SANAYI A.Ş.
19. GEBZE TEKNİK ÜNİVERSİTESİ
20 .HACETTEPE UNIVERSITESI
21. ICTERRA BİLGİ VE ILETİŞİM TEKNOLOJİLERİ SANAYİ V TİCARET A.Ş.
22. ISTANBUL UNIVERSITESI - CERRAHPAŞA
23. ISTANBUL MEDIPOL UNIVERSITESI
24. ISTANBUL TEKNIK UNIVERSITESI
25. IZMIR BIYOTIP VE GENOM MERKEZI
26. IZMIR YÜKSEK TEKNOLOJİ ENSTİTÜSÜ
27. KADIR HAS UNIVERSITESI
28. KOC UNIVERSITESİ
29. KONYA CIMENTO SANAYI A.Ş.
30. KORDSA TEKNIK TEKSTIL A.Ş.
31. LIMAK CIMENTO SANAYI VE TICARET A.Ş.
32. ORTA DOĞU TEKNİK ÜNİVERSİTESİ
33. OZYEGIN UNIVERSITESI
34. PARABOL YAZILIM ELEKTRONIK DANISMANLIK EGITIM SAN VE TIC LTD STI
35. ROKETSAN ROKET SANAYII VE TICARET A.Ş.
36. SABANCI UNIVERSITESI
37. SELCUK UNIVERSITESI
38. SRDC YAZILIM ARASTIRMA VE GELISTIRME VE DANISMANLIK TICARET A.Ş.
39. TAV BILISIM HIZMETLERI A.Ş.
40. TED UNIVERSITESI
41. TEKNOPAR ENDUSTRIYEL OTOMASYON SANAYI VE TICARET A.Ş.
42. TIGA BILGI TEKNOLOJILERI A.Ş.
43. TOBB EKONOMI VE TEKNOLOJI UNIVERSITESI
44. TOFAS TURK OTOMOBIL FABRIKASI A.Ş.
45. UZAY TECH BILISIM ARASTIRMA MUHENDISLIK HIZMETLERI SANAYI VE TICARET A.Ş.
46. VIVEKA TEKNOLOJI YATIRIM VE DANISMANLIK A.Ş.
47. YASAR UNIVERSITESI
48. YEDITEPE UNIVERSITESİ
49. YILDIZ TEKNİK ÜNİVERSİTESİ
50. ZORLU ENERJI ELEKTRIK URETIM A.Ş.
51. DURMAZLAR MAKİNA SANAYİ VE TİCARET A.Ş
52. ISTANBUL UNIVERSITESI
53. YESILOVA HOLDING A.Ş.
54. HAVELSAN HAVA ELEKTRONIK SANAYI VE TICARET A.Ş.
* We would like to reiterate that it is also possible to apply with an institution outside this list. Please follow the TÜBİTAK BİDEB 2236 calls closely. The call schedule will be as follows:
Call 1: Opens on September 1, 2025, and closes in December 2025 (33 researchers to be funded).
Call 2: Opens on August 3, 2026, and closes in November 2026 (33 researchers to be funded).
Call 3: Opens on July 1, 2027, and closes in October 2027 (34 researchers to be funded).
(Exact closing dates will be announced on our website.)
