OECD Co-operative Research Programme Fellowship 2027: Funded International Research Visits in Sustainable Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

OECD Co-operative Research Programme Fellowship 2027: Funded International Research Visits in Sustainable Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

The OECD Co-operative Research Programme (CRP): Sustainable Agricultural and Food Systems runs one of the few international fellowships built specifically for established scientists in agriculture, food, forestry, and fisheries who want to do hands-on research in another country’s laboratory. Instead of funding a multi-year project at your home institution, the CRP Fellowship Awards Programme pays for a focused research visit of 6 to 26 weeks in a host lab abroad, so you can learn a technique, build a lasting collaboration, or complete a piece of work that needs facilities or expertise you cannot access at home. For the 2027 funding round, applications are due 10 September 2026 (midnight, Paris time).

This guide explains exactly what the fellowship pays for, who is eligible, how the money is structured, how applications are assessed, and how to build a proposal that survives the CRP’s selection criteria. The single most important thing to grasp is that this is a mobility fellowship for senior researchers, not a student scholarship and not a general research grant. Everything about the application rewards a clearly scoped visit that produces a genuine, preferably new, international collaboration with real policy relevance.

Key Details at a Glance

Note that the award is a lump sum designed to cover travel and living costs during the visit, not a salary or a research budget. Your home salary continues under your existing employment contract; the CRP does not employ you and you do not become an OECD official.

What the Fellowship Offers

The fellowship’s practical value is that it removes the cost barrier to spending several weeks or months embedded in a leading laboratory in another CRP member country. You keep your home post and salary, and the CRP covers the marginal costs of getting there and living there for the duration of the visit.

The award, which the guidelines call the travel lump sum allowance, has three components:

1. Travel costs — calculated on a return economy-class air ticket for one round trip between your place of domicile and the host laboratory.
2. Weekly subsistence allowance — currently EUR 600 or EUR 650 per week, depending on the cost of living in the host country. This is meant to cover all normal living expenses (accommodation, food, incidentals, and daily commuting to the host lab).
3. Terminal charges — a EUR 165 lump sum toward the transport costs incurred at each end of the trip.

Those three items are the only costs the CRP reimburses. Be realistic when you plan: the subsistence allowance is designed to be sufficient for ordinary living costs, but it is a flat weekly rate rather than an itemised expense reimbursement.

Just as important is what the award does not cover, because underestimating these is a common way fellows end up out of pocket:

• Insurance. The CRP and OECD do not insure you. You must arrange adequate cover, including medical cover, for the whole fellowship, usually through your home employer.
• Visas and related admin. Visa fees, passports, and associated administrative costs are yours to bear. If your host country requires a visa, start early — processing delays can push back your departure.
• Family costs. The award is for the fellow only. Travel, subsistence, or other costs for accompanying family members are not covered.
• Bench fees and laboratory costs. These are usually absorbed by the host laboratory; if not, you or your home institution must find the funds.
• Tax and bank charges. You are not an OECD official, so you get no tax exemption on the lump sum, and the OECD is not liable for any bank charges on the transfer.

Who Is Eligible

The CRP fellowship is aimed squarely at established researchers, and the eligibility rules are specific:

• Institutional location. You must work in an institution located in a country that currently participates in the CRP, and your collaborating host institution must be located in a different participating country. You cannot do the fellowship in your own country.
• Career stage. Applicants should have roughly four years of postdoctoral training. The programme is explicitly not targeted at PhD students. In exceptional cases, someone without a PhD who has equivalent expertise and an extensive publication record may be considered.
• Employment continuity. You must hold a contract with your present employer that ensures continued employment after the fellowship ends. If your contract runs less than three years, your institution must certify that there will be an ongoing scientific affiliation with the host lab after the fellowship, so that the relationship built during the visit is put to good use.
• Employer agreement. Before you apply, your employer must agree to both the application and to your taking up the fellowship if successful.
• No staying put abroad. Scientists already holding a position in a foreign laboratory are not eligible to apply to remain in that same laboratory.
• Repeat applicants. A previous CRP fellowship recipient may apply for a second award, but only five years after the year of their first fellowship.

Which countries participate

At the time of the 2027 call the CRP included: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Two caveats matter for the 2027 round: Türkiye is a member only until 24 December 2026 and will not participate in fellowships funded in 2027, and Brazil is joining the programme and is expected to be eligible for 2027-funded fellowships. Ukraine is at the accession stage — prospective applicants there should email the Secretariat ([email protected]) to check current status. Always confirm your country’s status before you invest time in an application.

The Research Themes and What Reviewers Reward

The CRP exists to strengthen scientific knowledge that will inform future policy on the sustainable use of natural resources across food, agriculture, forests, and fisheries. Applications are judged first on how well they fit the programme’s objective and its Action areas, then against a set of published selection criteria. It is strongly recommended that you address each of these explicitly in your application:

• Relevance to the CRP’s aims and Action areas — a significant, clearly relevant contribution.
• Scientific excellence and innovation — sharply defined objectives and the promise of innovative outcomes achievable within the planned study.
• Long-term host–fellow collaboration — evidence that the fellow’s and host’s capabilities are complementary and that the host’s infrastructure will support the work.
• Feasibility — that the goals are genuinely achievable in the time requested.
• Scientific record of the applicant — judged partly on your published contributions.
• Crossing disciplines — interaction between scientific fields and a readiness to engage beyond the research community on wider societal implications.
• Dissemination — a credible plan to share the results.
• Potential impact — the practical outcome and how it advances the field.
• Policy relevance — how the work will inform national and international agri-food, fisheries, or forestry policy.

One rule shapes strategy more than any other: new collaborations are treated preferentially over ongoing ones. If you already work closely with the host lab, you will need to show clearly what is genuinely new about the proposed work. If you are opening a fresh collaboration, say so plainly and make it a feature of your case.

How to Apply

Applications are submitted through the CRP’s online application form, and everything must be in English. A few requirements are easy to miss:

• Complete every relevant field with detailed descriptions. The online form only supports plain text — no formatting, bullet points, or tables. If you must include a table, upload it through the form or email it separately to [email protected].
• Attach your CV and a list of publications from the last five years. Note that CVs are passed to the Scientific Advisory Body members who assess applications, so write for expert reviewers.
• Provide a letter of acceptance from the host institution. This must be on headed paper, dated and signed, and confirm the host’s willingness to receive you if you are successful. It should state the proposed start and end dates, what you will bring to the host, what the host will provide to you, a description of the work with objectives and methods, and the equipment available. The original letter must be sent to the Secretariat.
• Address all the selection criteria directly in the application text — the guidelines say doing so increases your chances.
• Secure your employer’s agreement before submitting, as noted above.

The system automatically confirms when your application has been submitted and received. If you have administrative questions, contact the Secretariat at [email protected]; for eligibility and process questions you can also contact your National Correspondent, and for scientific fit you can contact the relevant Scientific Advisory Body member.

Timeline, Payment, and Obligations

Timeline. The deadline is 10 September 2026. Award decisions are made by mid-December 2026, and applicants are informed by January 2027 at the latest. For administrative reasons, research visits are advised not to start before 1 March 2027. All arrangements for 2027 fellows must be completed before 1 November 2027, with departure possible up to 15 December 2027 at the latest. It is possible that an award is granted for fewer weeks than requested, and any reduction in length must be agreed with the Secretariat — no reduction of 20% or more of the fellowship length will be permitted.

Payment mechanics. Once you sign and return the acceptance form, you receive an official letter of contract about three months before departure, enclosing the general terms and conditions, an acceptance form, a model invoice, and a bank-details form. For fellowships of 12 weeks or less, you receive 50% of the award on acceptance and the remaining 50% after your host confirms your arrival. For fellowships longer than 12 weeks, you receive 50% on acceptance, 25% after arrival confirmation, and the final 25% halfway through the fellowship. Payments are made by electronic bank transfer, either to your own account or to a newly opened account in the host country.

Obligations after the award. On arriving, you must ask your host supervisor to confirm your arrival to the Secretariat by email — this triggers your next payment. You must complete an evaluation questionnaire within two weeks of the end of the fellowship, and submit a summary report no later than two months after it ends. The summary report is a condition of the award; failure to submit it can require you to reimburse 10% of the total lump sum. Any resulting publication should acknowledge the fellowship using the wording the CRP specifies.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Applying as a PhD student. This programme is for postdoctoral-level researchers; student applications do not fit the profile.
• Choosing a host in your own country. Home and host institutions must be in two different participating countries.
• Recycling an existing collaboration without justification. New collaborations are preferred; if yours is ongoing, explain clearly what is new.
• Skipping the selection criteria. Reviewers assess against a defined list — address each one explicitly rather than assuming your science speaks for itself.
• A vague host letter. The acceptance letter must be specific about dates, contributions from both sides, the work plan, and equipment. A generic “we welcome the applicant” letter weakens your case.
• Ignoring the exclusions. Budget for insurance, visas, family costs, and any bench fees yourself, and start visa processing early so administrative delays do not derail your schedule.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this a salary? No. Your home salary continues under your existing contract. The CRP pays a travel lump sum to cover getting to the host and living there during the visit.

How long can the fellowship be? Between 6 and 26 weeks. You may be awarded fewer weeks than you requested.

Can PhD students apply? The programme is not targeted at PhD students; applicants should have around four years of postdoctoral training. Exceptional non-PhD candidates with equivalent expertise and strong publication records may be considered.

Can I reapply if I have held a CRP fellowship before? Yes, but only five years after the year of your first fellowship.

Does the CRP cover bench fees, insurance, or my family’s travel? No. Those are excluded, along with visas, tax exemptions, and bank charges.

When would I actually travel? Visits are advised to start no earlier than 1 March 2027, with the latest departure by 15 December 2027.

Official Links and Next Steps

Start with the official CRP fellowship guidelines and the applications page on the OECD website (search “OECD Co-operative Research Programme fellowships”), and email the Secretariat at [email protected] with any eligibility or process questions. Before you write anything, do three things: confirm that both your country and your intended host country are current CRP participants for the 2027 round; secure your employer’s written agreement; and line up a host willing to provide a detailed, signed acceptance letter. Then build the proposal around a tightly scoped visit, a genuinely valuable — ideally new — collaboration, and a clear line from your research to policy on sustainable food, agriculture, forests, or fisheries. Submit well before the 10 September 2026 deadline so a last-minute problem with the host letter or the online form does not cost you the cycle.