__**Researchers eligibility criteria**__
To be eligible, each researcher must simultaneously fulfill the following criteria at the time of recruitment by the beneficiary concerned within the time frame of this project.
The researcher may be of any nationality.
At the time of recruitment by the beneficiary, the researcher must not have resided or carried out his/her main activity (work, studies, etc…) in the country of the beneficiary for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to his/her recruitment under the project. Compulsory national service and/or short stays such as holidays are not taken into account. As far as international European interest organisations or international organisations are concerned, this rule does not apply to the hosting of eligible researchers, however, the appointed researcher must not have spent more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the recruitment by the beneficiary in the same recruiting organisation.
Early stage researcher: means a researcher who, at the time of recruitment by the beneficiary, has not yet been awarded the doctorate degree and is in the first 4 years (full-time equivalent) of his/her research career.