The FENS/IBRO-PERC Exchange Fellowships fund short intra-European laboratory visits (4 weeks–4 months, maximum €4,000 covering economy travel and accommodation only) for master/PhD students and early postdocs currently based at European institutions. The programme exists to strengthen European neuroscience capacity through cross-border mobility, enabling researchers to acquire methodological skills unavailable at their home institution — it is a skills-transfer and European-network-building instrument, not a research grant.

• ELIGIBILITY (hard gates — all must be met): (1) Currently a master student, PhD student, or early postdoctoral fellow (within 5 years of postdoc start) based in Europe. (2) Both home laboratory AND host laboratory must be in Europe; exchange must cross country borders. (3) Member of a FENS member society, individual FENS member, or member of an IBRO Pan-Europe regional organisation (list includes Armenian IBRO Association, Austrian/Israeli/Slovak Academies, Royal Swedish Academy, BARD Turkey, T21RS Spain, Italian NeuroImmunology, Russian Academy). (4) Must hold a letter of acceptance from the host lab and a letter of recommendation from the home supervisor before applying. • SCORING DIMENSIONS (from published rubric): (1) Scientific and Training Quality — merit of proposed research during visit; quality and relevance of new methodologies to be acquired that are NOT available at home institution. (2) Added Value of the Exchange — concrete link to an ongoing or planned research project; benefit to the home laboratory (collaboration, capacity, method transfer). (3) Suitability of Candidate — match between current expertise/academic background and proposed training. (4) Expected Outcomes — clearly defined, realistic scientific and methodological deliverables achievable within the stay duration. (5) Feasibility and Need — demonstrated genuine scientific AND financial need. • COMPETITIVE CONTEXT: April 2023 call received 75 eligible applications from 23 European countries; 11 were funded (~15% acceptance rate).

From the April 2023 inaugural call (11 awardees publicly listed): career mix was approximately 2 Master students and 9 postdocs. Named examples include Emma Nesbit (LMU Munich Master → Oxford UK), Emma Delhaye (Université de Liège postdoc → Universidade de Lisboa), Clara Alice Musi (University of Milan postdoc → Aston University UK), Giulia Carini (University of Brescia postdoc → Oxford UK), Anna Lech (Łukasiewicz Research Network Poland → IGBMC France), and one anonymous Master student (Hellenic Pasteur Institute Greece → Institut Pasteur Paris). Oxford appears as a host institution twice in one cohort, suggesting prestigious established neuroscience hubs are preferred hosts. All winners were enrolled at or employed by formal European research institutions with a named supervisor. The archetype is an early-career European researcher moving from a smaller/national institution to a top-tier European neuroscience centre to acquire a specific, named technique (e.g., advanced imaging, electrophysiology) that will directly advance an existing project.

The platonic ideal applicant is a second-year PhD student enrolled at a mid-tier European university (ideally from a country with less-developed neuroscience infrastructure), with an active funded project, seeking 6–8 weeks at an Oxford/Pasteur/UCL-level lab to acquire a specific in-demand technique (optogenetics, two-photon imaging, multi-electrode array recording). They have a home supervisor who writes an enthusiastic, specific recommendation letter detailing exactly why the exchange is necessary, and a host PI who has formally agreed and framed the visit as a training collaboration rather than cheap labour.