3501 - Career Development Program (CAREER)

The purpose of the Career Development Program (3501) is to encourage the studies of scientists with PhD degree, who have just started their careers by providing project support. It is a program aimed at supporting the work of the young researchers who will take the academic leadership of the 21st century, as well as maintaining the careers of the young scientists in the best way as researchers and lecturers, as well as improving our scientific level and increasing the role of science in the development of the country.

PROJECT DURATION

The project duration is maximum 36 months.

PROJECT BUDGET

The upper limit of the project support (including scholarship, excluding Project Incentive Bonus (PTI) and overhead) is 1.000.000 TRY without annual budget limitation.

Upper limits for scholarships are as below:

Scholarship Upper Limits

* If postdoctoral researchers are employed in projects, the scholarship upper limit is 43,200 TRY/month.

Projects aimed at developing infrastructure are not supported.

A. Principal investigators (PI), Researchers (excluding researchers outside Türkiye) and Consultants:

Principal investigators;

• should have PhD degree / specialty in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, veterinary medicine/proficiency in art and should be permanent/full-time staff (except for retirees and postdoctoral researchers not working in any institution/organization) of the institution (higher education institutions, public institutions or private institutions) where the project will be carried out,
• should apply within 7 years following the date of; doctorate degree / specialty in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, veterinary medicine / proficiency in art, (The date of doctorate degree for the person who will apply as a principal investigator in 2023 cannot be earlier than 01.01.2016. Within the mentioned time period, in case of a woman researcher goes on maternity leave; if the relevant maternity document or identity certificate of child is sent to deik@tubitak.gov.tr by e-mail in the attachment of a relevant petition, 1 year is added to this time period for each birth.)
• should have an academic title of associate professor and below,
• should not receive CAREER fund from TÜBİTAK previously,
• should participate in the panel in order to make a presentation about the project and to answer the questions that may be asked in the panel where the project proposal will be evaluated, in case the project is evaluated scientifically (If the principal investigator does not attend the panel on the specified date, except for force majeure, the panel process is interrupted and the project is returned.)

Researchers or consultants in project team (*);

· should have four years of university undergraduate education at least. 

Researchers or consultants in project team (excluding retirees and post-doctoral researchers not working in any institution/organization) should be permanent staff of the contributory institution/organization (university, public institution, private institution) where they are working.

Principal investigator, researchers and consultants (except for researchers/consultants outside Türkiye) should reside in Turkey. Non-Turkish citizens can be principal investigator/researcher/consultant in a project if they are working in an institution located in Türkiye.

Person who has academic title of professor cannot take part in projects as researcher.

A person who has a contribution less than 10% of the project workload cannot be researcher in projects but can be consultant. A consultant (*) is allowed if the project requires special expertise on a specific subject. The number of consultants in a project is limited to the number of specific subjects in the project. The role of consultant in the project should be explained in detail in the project proposal.

Retirees who do not work in any organization can take part in the project team as PI, researcher or consultant and post-doctoral researchers can take part in the project team as PI or researcher, provided that they do not receive Project Incentive Bonus (PTI). (In accordance with paragraph 2 in Article 16 of The Law on the Establishment of The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, only those who are permanent staff of public institutions or organizations can be paid PTI.) In order for the retirees and post-doctoral researchers to become PI, it is necessary them to get approval on that they can take part in the project from the senior authority of the institution / organization where the project will be carried out.

People working in TÜBİTAK Headquarters / Institutes cannot take part as PI / researchers / consultants in the projects proposed under this program.

TÜBİTAK ARDEB Governing Board and Advisory Board members can be PI or researcher, but they cannot be consultant (**) if they are still working in those positions during the application.

B. Researchers outside Türkiye

The requirements for researchers outside Türkiye to take part in a project are listed below:

• The researchers outside Türkiye who will take part in a project must be qualified to carry out and lead/guide a part of the project, where the competence of researchers in our country is limited, with the project team in the institutions of our country.
• The researchers outside Türkiye can take part in a project provided that their legal obligations belong to the organization where the project is carried out. The travel expenses of the researchers outside Türkiye are covered from the project's travel budget, and 50% of the full-time monthly gross fees they receive abroad in the same period of time, for the time they take part in the project, are covered as service cost from the project. If 50% of the full-time monthly gross wage that the researcher outside Türkiye receives abroad is less than the “2221 - Fellowships for Visiting Scientists and Scientists on Sabbatical Leave” coordinated by the Directorate for Science Fellowships and Grant Programmes (BİDEB), the highest monthly fee provided under that program is used. 
• Researchers outside Türkiye can take part in more than one project supported by TÜBİTAK, but they can get fee only from one project.

C. Scholar

Undergraduate, graduate students (except for special students and prep students) and “Research Assistants” studying in higher education institutions in Türkiye and post-doc researchers can take part as scholar in projects.

Undergraduate scholar should not work in any institution. If the student fails the class, scholarship is stopped. At most, 4 undergrad scholars can take part in one project.

The requirements to be a post-doc researcher scholar;

• Scholar should have a PhD but not work in any institution/organization,
• Scholar should not have an academic title of associate professor or higher,
• There should not be over 7 years between the date of getting PhD and the date when the person will be assigned in the project (petition date). (In case our female researcher takes leave due to childbirth within the specified period; If the birth certificate or the identity document of the children is sent to deik@tubitak.gov.tr ​​by e-mail in the attachment of the petition, one year will be added to this period for each birth)

Who cannot be Principal Investigator?

The highest level managers of the public institutions/organizations, deputies and assistants of them (Rector, Vice Rector, Chief Physician, Deputy Chief Physician, Hospital Director, Minister, Deputy Minister, General Manager, Deputy General Manager, Provincial Director of National Education, etc.) cannot act as PI if they are still working in those positions during the application, but they can be researchers in 3 (***) projects at most.

Conditions to Apply for ARDEB-BİDEB Programs simultaneously (Table)

Limits for taking part in projects (Table)

(*) Consultant: researcher or expert whose knowledge is used for a secondary subject of project, requiring special expertise.
(**) TUBITAK ARDEB Governing Board and Advisory Board members can take part as consultants in projects submitted to calls opened within the scope of European Union Framework Programs (projects where joint evaluation is carried out by international independent reviewers).
(***) International projects, 1000 and 1002 projects are not included in quota.

WARNING: Current "Application Form and its attachments (APPENDIX-1 References, APPENDIX-2 Budget and Justification)" regarding the program to which you are going to apply should be filled and uploaded to the online application system. In order for the project to be evaluated, the Application Form should be prepared in Arial 9 font, it should not exceed 22 pages except for APPENDIX-1 and APPENDIX-2, and the size of each file to be uploaded to the system should not exceed 20MB. Please note that if the specified conditions are not met, your project proposal will not be evaluated and returned!"

• Application Form (Document that needs to be uploaded to the electronic application system)
• Application Form APPENDIX-1 References (Document that needs to be uploaded to the electronic application system)
• Application Form APPENDIX-2 Budget and Justification (Document that needs to be uploaded to the electronic application system) 
• Data Management Plan (Document to be uploaded to the electronic application system | Detailed Information)
• Application Form APPENDIX-3 Other Projects of Project Team (It is formed automatically according to the information entered to electronic application system.)
• Project Proposal Modification Form (The form needed to be filled if the same/similar project proposal has been applied previously and rejected as a result of scientific evaluation, is formed automatically according to the information entered to electronic application system.)  
• The photocopy of the doctoral diploma of the PI (the document must be uploaded to the electronic application system.)
• Waiver Form (In case the projects that were previously submitted to our Institution and rejected / returned are resubmitted with the same / similar content, Waiver for those who were right holders in the previous application, but not mentioned as right holder in the new proposed project is formed automatically according to the information entered to application system. The form must be approved via the link to be sent to the relevant persons by e-mail.
• Project Application Permission Form for University Faculty Members Working in the Companies Operating under the Technology Development Zones Law No. 4691 (Document is formed automatically according to the information entered to application system and should be e-signed by the relevant persons (authorities of university and the company) during the electronic signature process.
• Information Form for Researcher outside Türkiye (in case there is a researcher outside Türkiye in the project team) (Form is automatically created automatically by the system in line with the information entered to online application system.)
• Participation Letter of Researcher outside Türkiye (in case there is a researcher outside Türkiye in the project team) (Letter is automatically created automatically by the system in line with the information entered to online application system. The Participation Letter which will be sent via e-mail by system should be approved by the researcher outside Türkiye.
• Curriculum Vitae for Researcher/Consultant outside Türkiye (in case there is a researcher/consultant outside Türkiye in the project team, curriculum vitae of researcher/consultant is automatically created by the system in line with ARBİS information. In order to upload detailed CVs of the researcher/consultant outside Türkiye, a field is also opened in the system.)

The following documents must be submitted fully in desired format within the time given by the relevant Research Support Group; If it is decided to support the project. If the documents cannot be obtained within the given time, the project will not be implemented.

• Intellectual Property Rights Protocol
• Ethics Committee Approval Document (If necessary | Detailed Information)
• Legal / Private Permits (If necessary | Detailed Information)
• Support Letters (If necessary)
• Proforma invoice (If necessary)
• SME Declaration (in case the managers and partners of SME enterprises and corporations that have not reached the requirements of being a SME are the principle investigator.)

Required Document for Defining the Authority of Private Institutions (Detailed Information)

• Commercial Registry Gazette (The page with the current title and address of the company)
• Copy of Chamber of Commerce Registration
• Authorized Signatures List
• Authorization Certificate (A document obtained from the relevant Registry of Commerce which indicates the person authorized to represent the company)

There is no time limit for applications. Applications can be made throughout the year.

In order to apply online, you can log in to http://ardeb-pbs.tubitak.gov.tr with your ARBİS information. If you do not have an ARBİS account, you can create it by entering http://arbis.tubitak.gov.tr.

For questions about the ARDEB Project Application System: ardeb-pbs@tubitak.gov.tr (Start the subject with the code [3501].)

Project proposals are evaluated under the following five dimensions:

• Career Development Potential
• Scientific Excellence
• Methodology
• Project Management
• Impact

Proje Sonuç Raporu Yazımında Uyulması Gereken Kurallar için tıklayınız.

Click here for

• Regulation on Programs Conducted by Research Funding Programmes Directorate and
• Administrative and Financial Principles to be Applied in Research Projects

TÜBİTAK Headquarter Call Center

444 66 90

For questions about the ARDEB Project Application System: ardeb-pbs@tubitak.gov.tr (Start the subject with the code [3501].)