Marco Polo Fund
As of 2013, the Marco Polo Fund, a fund that enables students to spend time studying or following a placement abroad, facilitates staff mobility. This facility has replaced the provisions previously made available by the IC Fund (International Curriculum Fund), which has arranged funding for staff mobility since 1997.
The Marco Polo Fund is available for lecturers, researchers and support staff and aims to finance trips for which no EU funding is available. In practice this usually means that visits to or from institutions outside the EU qualify for funding. Funding will occur via 50% Faculty matching.
Applications for trips abroad or receiving guests from abroad within the framework of the Marco Polo Fund can be submitted to the Faculty Board at any time.
Activities supported by the Marco Polo Fund include giving guest lectures, establishing and maintaining structural collaboration agreements and setting up collaboration programmes such as joint degree programmes. The Marco Polo Fund does not finance participation in conferences and seminars.
The Marco Polo fund webpage is providing further information about conditions and amounts available. The application procedure for faculty approval is explained below.
Application procedure
All Marco Polo Fund applications must be approved by the relevant manager and Departemental Board. The applications will then be assessed by the Faculty Board and in the event of a positive assessment sent on to the Marco Polo Fund.
The Faculty of Arts has a Marco Polo budget of EUR 6000 per calendar year. The Executive Board of the University also funds EUR 6000. In total, EUR 12.000 will be available for requests from staff members of the Faculty of Arts for incoming and outgoing mobility options via the Marco Polo Fund. Applications are assessed and, if relevant, approved in order of receipt. The application procedure to stay abroad has to be started at least 8 weeks before actual leave. Applications send in within 8 weeks before leaving, might not be processed in time.
Applications may be submitted at any time during the year by uploading and submitting via the Stay Abroad Portal:
- the signed Marco Polo Agreement (outgoing mobility) (note, projectcode to be filled is 150101744 Marco Polo fund)
- the signed Staff Mobility Agreement.
- the signed Marco Polo Agreement ( incoming staff mobility).
- the signed foreign trip application including budget proposal.
- a support letter from the departemental board
- letter of motivation
via the stay abroad portal. Important assessment criteria is the added value and expected outcome of the visit for the faculty and it's education programmes.
After approval, the trip can be booked with ATP Business Travel BV. The agency will advance the costs based on the approved application travel abroad. Registering in time means your trip abroad is automatically covered by the University of Groningen's travel Insurance.
Reimbursement of costs and trip report
- Complete the Claim form for a foreign trip , form Statement of the host + Marco Polo report form and submit it to the Mobility Office together with all receipts and other documentary evidence of costs incurred. Please also enclose your boarding pass if you travelled by plane! Only original proofs of payment will be processed – photocopies will not be accepted.
- The Faculty has the right to refuse full payment of claim forms (and deduct amounts for which receipts are missing) if a claim form is not fully completed or if forms and/or proofs of payment are missing.
- The claim form can only be processed if the following documents are also enclosed:
- Marco Polo report form and the form Statement of the host. - Within 2 months upon return (60 days) a claim has to be submitted. After 2 months any costs following this omission are for one's own account, and cannot be claimed anymore.
| Last modified: | 23 August 2024 2.39 p.m. |