Social and Welfare Fund (SWF)

• Two Academic Service Staff members
• Two Doctoral Researchers Reps
• One Max Weber Fellow Rep
• One STG Rep (among MA and Policy Leader Fellows of the School of Transnational Governance)
• Dean of Graduate Studies (only for decisions on requests for income substitution assistance)
• Dean of Post Graduate Studies (only for decisions on requests for income substitution assistance)
• Dean of Research (only for decisions on requests for income substitution assistance)
  
  

Current Members:

• Ms. Aurora Hamm (HEC)
• Mr. Fouad Saleh (LAW)
• Ms. Anastazja Grudnicka (Max Weber Fellow)
• Ms. Rosalie Klein (School of Transnational Governance)
• Professor Deirdre Curtin (Dean of Graduate Studies)
• Professor Juho Harkonen (Dean of Post Graduate Studies)
• Professor Giacomo Calzolari (Dean of Research)
  
  

The Academic Service Staff responsible for the Social and Welfare Fund are:

• Daniela Attorre (interim Grants and Welfare Officer)
• Fatma Sayed (Academic Administrator)

Financial difficulties arising from the following circumstances (article 1.3 - President Decision n° 29/20):

• Medical costs (e.g. cases of disability or mental health issues);
• Travel costs in case of unexpected family or personal problems;
• Maternity and duty of care;
• Unforeseen costs related to research or study that are not covered by other sources or relevant EUI units and that may delay the academic progress of the potential beneficiaries’ work;
• Computer-related problems which may lead to an interruption or suspension of the potential beneficiaries’ work;

This is not a closed list but more general guidelines for both the applicants and the Panel. The Panel assesses every request on its own merits, respecting equal treatment and taking into consideration the financial situation of the applicant.

For deciding measures under Art.1.3, the Panel is composed of two doctoral researchers’ representatives, one representative of the postdoctoral fellows, one representative for the School of Transnational Governance (designated by the Master students and the Policy Leader Fellows among the Master students and the Policy Leader Fellows), and two members of the Academic Service.

To understand the rules of application and functioning of the Welfare Fund, please consult the Statute of the Social and Welfare Fund, President’s Decision n° 29/20 of 16 July 2020 (PDF) and, if you are still in need of any clarifications or assistance please send an email to the SWF email account before submitting your application.

Fill-in the Social and Welfare Fund online application form,outlining what the situation is, and how you would like the Fund to help out. The members will then discuss your application as soon as possible, and will get back to you with their decision.

• Please note that you will not be allowed to save your progress in the form. Consequently, we kindly advise you to fill out the form only after reviewing all the required information, and once you have all your supporting document(s) ready for uploading on the platform, where required.
• Make sure to receive a message confirming the successful submission of your application.
• It will help to speed the process of your application if, when you apply, you give us as much information and supporting documentation as possible, especially if you are asking for a large amount of money.
• The applicant must provide documentary evidence to support her/his application (in the form of bills, letters, etc.) and shall also provide evidence of her/his household’s income and family status (married, children, etc.), making use of the relevant SWF Personal Declaration Form (to be attached to the online application). All the information is taken into account in the SWF decision.
• VERY IMPORTANT: Medical certificates (where applicable) are protected by the EUI data Protection policy and, as such, shall be sent exclusively to [email protected]. Please do NOT attach any medical certificate to your SWF Online Application Form.

Payments can only be made by money transfer on a bank or postal account, to be reported by the requestor in the SWF application form.

After your application is processed and approved, the money will be transferred into your account as soon as possible after all the relevant details are given to the Social and Welfare Fund administrators at the Academic Service. The time frame of the disbursement will depend on the time needed for concluding administrative procedures. Applicants should note, however, that no disbursements can take place during the EUI closing periods.

In the case you are allocated a sum to be returned, you will be asked to sign a repayment agreement between you and the Director of Academic Service specifying both the amount to be returned and the date-limit to pay it back. The principle is that the repayment period cannot exceed one year after the decision of the Panel. The repayment period can be extended but only after a new agreement of the Panel and based on exceptional and duly justified circumstances. The repayment of debts is a very serious obligation and is covered by the EUI’s Financial Rules.

You can indicate a possible conflict of interest with any member of the Panel by contacting one of the Panel members to explain the situation. In this case, it is advisable to avoid using the general SWF email account since this can be accessed by all the Panel members, including the person you may want to exclude because of a possible conflict of interest.

The full Panel verifies the existence of such a conflict of interest and decides by majority, not counting the member concerned. Once a decision is taken, the application is processed according to a protected and confidential procedure which prevents the Panel member concerned from accessing the information provided by the applicant.