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Water Resource Management in Support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 

Guidelines for researchers from the State of São Paulo

1 Summary

In 2015 FAPESP and European Union – Horizon 2020 signed a Cooperation Agreement, aiming to promote and strengthen collaboration between researchers from the State of São Paulo and Europe.

Under the scope of this Agreement, FAPESP, in partnership with the Brazilian National Council of State Funding Agencies (CONFAP) and the European Union through the Water JPI Initiative launch the present Call for Proposals, open to researchers affiliated to Higher Education and Research Institutions in the State of São Paulo. This international funding opportunity is implemented under the Horizon 2020 Coordination and Support Action (CSA) International Cooperation for Water (IC4Water).

The researchers from the State of São Paulo who are interested in applying to this present Call must follow the instructions described in these guidelines.

Foreigner partner researchers or partner researchers affiliated to Higher Education or Research Institutions from other Brazilian States must follow the additional instructions from their own institution regarding the submission of the project and the clarification of doubts.

FAPESP might contribute with a maximum of 600 thousand Euros to support the total number of projects approved under the scope of this call and submitted by Principal investigators from the State of São Paulo.

Researchers interested in this Call must also consult the conditions set forth in the International Call for Proposals launched by the Water JPI initiative as a 2017 Joint Call.

A “Linkedin Researchers Forum” has been created by the Water JPI to encourage discussion and networking among researchers in the area of Water RDI and dedicated to this opportunity: www.linkedin.com/groups/8455262.

2 Research Themes

Challenge-1) Multiple pressure effects on ecosystems and ecosystem services as well as effective mitigation–adaptation tools and assessments for implementing the water related targets of the UN SDGs Improving Ecosystem Sustainability and Human Well-being:

Sub-topic-1.a. Assessment of multiple pressures (hydromorphological changes, anthropogenic pollution, biological contamination, or/and natural hazards, etc.) effects on ecosystems and ecosystem services, including but not limited to:

• Assessing the vulnerability and resilience of ecosystems to multiple pressure factors.

• Assessing risks related to multiple pressures on ecosystems.

Sub-topic-1.b. Tools and approaches for adapting and mitigating to multiple pressures.

• Developing innovative risk management approaches for new adaptation measures.

• Integrated eco-technological solutions for the remediation and mitigation of degraded water bodies and aquatic ecosystems.

• Improving knowledge on behavior changes due to direct and indirect effects of climate change and climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies.

Challenge-2) Developing accessible solutions for clean water management to address UN SDG6 targets and associated SDGs. Research and innovation for near future securement of clean drinking water for inhabitants in countries across the globe, linked to the UN SDG6:

Sub-topic-2.a. Developing systems for universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all:

• Assessing the impact of water scarcity on safe drinking water in an increasing demography context.

• Developing low cost, low maintenance technology for the water management sector in developed and developing countries.

• Evaluating the resilience of water supply infrastructure to extreme hydro-climatic events, especially floods.

Sub-topic-2.b. Wastewater treatment and recycling:

• Innovating on practical, low-cost sustainable technologies treating wastewater to produce resources that are safe for reuse in all sectors of societal water use.

• Developing and demonstrating water reuse and recycling concepts; recovering products and energy from treatment plants.

• Promoting societal acceptance of innovative technologies.

3 Funding Modalities

The proposals will be processed at FAPESP according to the rules and instructions for the Regular Research Awards standards (www.fapesp.br/apr, Portuguese only). Please note that there are modifications and exceptionalities applied to this Call as set forth below:

3.1 Exceptions to the standards applied by FAPESP for the Regular Research Awards

a. In addition to the standards applied by FAPESP for the Regular Research Awards, exceptionally for this Call for Proposals, the length of the projects may vary from 24 up to 36 months; with a maximum budget of R$ 100 thousand Reals per year;

b. Exceptionally for this Call for Proposals, researchers who are currently grantees of a Young Investigator Award (YIA) funding modality are also considered eligible to submit proposals, pending all other conditions set out be this Call;

c. The total budget to be requested to FAPESP might include resources for the research project funding according to the rules established for the Regular Research Awards budget, available at www.fapesp.br/137#4776. This amount must include the costs for Research Overheads: "Direct Research Infrastructure Costs", "Research Overheads granted to the PI", Institutional Infrastructure to Support Research (RTI) and "Importation Provision" (www.fapesp.br/9131), if any;

d. If the proponent is the Principal Investigator or the Co-Principal Investigator of an ongoing FAPESP grant of the following modalities: Thematic Project, Young Investigator Awards (YIA), Research, Innovation and Dissemination Center (RIDC) or Engineering Research Centers (ERC), and as long as fulfilling the conditions established in section 3.1.d.1. below, besides the eligible items described in the norm for the Regular Research Awards, the proposal may include a request for one postdoctoral fellowship of up to 3 years (this term must meet the duration of the proposed project). This fellowship must be requested as an item of the total budget (this type of request is subject to additional restrictions set out in www.fapesp.br/dc/in14):

d.1. Additional requirements for the application in order to include a PD Grant:

(i) Demonstration of thematic coherence with the ongoing Thematic Project, RIDC, ERC or Young Investigator Award;

(ii) The proposal must enclose a section justifying how the submitted project will benefit the objectives of the ongoing project (Thematic, RIDC, ERC, YIA); and

(iii) The proposal must enclose a statement from the Principal Investigator responsible for the ongoing Thematic Project, RIDC, ERC or YIA, supporting the proposal and justifying how and why it will benefit the ongoing Research Grant.

d.2. In this case, only one proposal related to the ongoing project in the modalities informed above, submitted by either its Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator, will be considered adequate to proceed to the merit review.

4 Eligibility for Researchers from the State of São Paulo to the submission of proposals

4.1 Eligible Researchers

a. Researchers eligible for FAPESP funding under the scope of this Call must be employees of public or private Higher Education or Research Institutions in the State of São Paulo and must meet the FAPESP eligibility requirements for the Regular Research Awards, described at www.fapesp.br/apr (item 3.3);

b. Exceptionally for this Call for Proposals, researchers who are currently grantees of a Young Investigator Award (YIA) funding modality are also considered eligible to submit proposals, pending all other conditions set out be this Call;

c. Besides the requirements specified in items 4.1.a and b, please notice that the proponent must indicate the Thematic Project, the RIDC, the ERC or the YIA of which he/she is Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator (item 5.3.c.6 below).

4.2 Eligibility Consultation

a. Researchers from the State of São Paulo must consult FAPESP about their eligibility to this Call before starting the preparation of their proposals. FAPESP will issue and send to applicants a declaration concerning their eligibility within this Call. If positive, this Declaration of Eligibility must be included in the proposal as a PDF file by the time of the submission;

b. Applicants will have their eligibility evaluated within 15 days of the receiving of this request. The consultation for eligibility must be sent up to November 24th, 2017. Consultations sent after this date will not be considered;

c. The eligibility consultation must be sent exclusively to the e-mail chamada_waterjpi@fapesp.br with the following information:

c.1. Summarized CV in English of the Researcher from the State of São Paulo (as described at www.fapesp.br/en/6351);

c.2. Listing of any ongoing research grants from FAPESP;

c.3. Name and affiliation of the foreigner partner researchers and, if any, name and affiliation of partner researchers from other Brazilian States;

c.4. Title of the proposal to be submitted;

c.5. Estimated budget to be requested to FAPESP;

c.6. Estimated time to be devoted to the project (hours/week), considering the total time of the proponent´s ongoing research grants at FAPESP (max = 40hs/wk).

5 Procedures for the submission of proposals

Each proposal related to FAPESP must have one Principal Investigator from the State of São Paulo and at least two foreign Principal Investigators, each one from a different country among the participant countries of this Call.

Above this minimum eligibility criteria for the composition of consortia, the participation of Principal Investigators from other Brazilian States in encouraged.

5.1 Pre-proposal phase

a. In the pre-proposal phase, the Principal Investigator of the joint proposal (“Consortium Coordinator”) must follow the procedures for submission as described on Chapter V of the International Call (“2017 Joint Call”), including the preparation of the Pre-Proposal document (template) and the Budget table (template);

b. In this phase, it is not necessary to submit documents or any kind of information to FAPESP, since all the participant agencies will have open access to the documents to be submitted;

c. The estimated budget to be requested to FAPESP must include all due overheads (www.fapesp.br/rt): "Direct Research Infrastructure Costs (RTP)", Institutional Infrastructure to Support Research (RTI), "Research Overhead granted to the PI (BC)" and "Importation Provisions". We strongly suggest the utilization of the FAPESP Spreadsheet Template (choosing the “APR” option) as a tool to estimate the total budget amount.

5.2 Full Proposal phase

a. In the full proposal submission phase, each Principal Investigator who is member of the Consortium must follow his/her correspondent funding agency submission procedures;

b. The proponent from the State of São Paulo must consider the FAPESP standards for the Regular Research Awards (www.fapesp.br/apr) superimposed, when applicable, by the exceptionalities of the call, noticeably those described in item 3.1 of these guidelines;

c. Proponents affiliated to foreign Institutions must submit a correspondent proposal to the Water JPI, considering the deadlines and available means presented at “2017 Joint Call”;

d. Proponents affiliated to Institutions from other Brazilian States must follow their respective State Research Foundation procedures;

e. Proposals that are not submitted accordingly to the Joint Call and that do not follow their corresponding funding agencies will not be considered.

5.3 Full Proposal procedures for researchers from the State of São Paulo

a. Proposals at FAPESP will only be processed through the SAGe online platform, available at www.fapesp.br/sage. Detailed instructions will be individually sent to researchers from São Paulo soon after the invitations to participate at the Full Proposals phase are sent to the Consortium Coordinator;

b. A copy of the common Scientific Research Project document shall be summited to FAPESP, based upon the Full Proposal Template that will soon be available at the Joint Call website;

c. Proposals must include, besides the Research Project as described above, the following documents:

c.1. Summary CV of the Principal Investigator from São Paulo and from each partner researcher from the consortium (in English, following the guidelines at www.fapesp.br/en/6351); each Partner Researcher from the consortium must input his/her personal information on the SAGe platform;

c.2. Summary CVs of Collaborating Researchers from São Paulo (in English, following the guidelines at www.fapesp.br/en/6351); these researchers must be registered at the SAGe platform;

c.3. A two-page document describing which part of the research will be developed in the State of São Paulo and which part will be developed in other partner countries/partner Brazilian States, justifying why this is going to be beneficial to all involved Parties;

c.4. Workplan for each requested fellowship, if applicable;

c.5. The proposals must also enclose, as a PDF file, the Declaration of Eligibility issued by FAPESP according to item 4.2 above.

c.6. In the case of the proponents that meet the conditions described in item 3.1.d of this Call:

c.6.i. A document justifying how the project will benefit the objectives of the ongoing research grant (Thematic Project, RIDC, ERC and YIA), and

c.6.ii. A statement from the respective Principal Investigator, supporting the proposal and justifying how and why it will benefit the ongoing Research Grant, if the proponent himself/herself is not the Principal Investigator of the ongoing research grant (Thematic Project, RIDC, ERC and YIA).

d. No proposal will be accepted after the deadline for the submissions, nor any addenda, nor any explanation unless explicitly and formally requested by FAPESP, by Water JPI or by the partner State Research Foundation.

5.4 Eligible Costs

a. Funding and costs must be in accordance with FAPESP norms for the Regular Research Awards (www.fapesp.br/apr), exceptionally for this Call considering a maximum budget of R$ 100 thousand Reals per year for up to 3 years.

b. The costs of the eventual postdoctoral fellowship (item 3.1.d of the Call), including its due overheads, should to be added up to the total amount mentioned in the item above.

6 Timeline

Events	Dates
Call announcement at FAPESP website	25/10/2017
Deadline for submission of eligibility consultation to FAPESP	24/11/2017
Deadline for submission of Pre-Proposals	13/12/2017
Notification of invitees to the next phase	mid April 2018
Deadline for submission of Full Proposals	27/06/2018
Notification of the successful proposals at FAPESP website	after September 2018

7 Assessment and Selection

a. Proposals that do not comply with the established in this Call will not be qualified for merit analysis.

b. Pre-Proposals: All eligible pre-proposals will be subject to a scientific evaluation by external evaluators based on two criteria - ‘Excellence’ and ‘Impact’. The objective of this first step is to identify the best proposals to proceed to Step 2 (Full Proposals), and ensure the balance between the requested and available funds at the national level.

c. Full Proposals: All full proposals will be subject to international peer reviews followed by an Evaluation Panel based on three criteria - ‘Excellence’, ‘Impact’ and ‘Quality and Efficiency of Implementation’.

d. Funding recommendation: Based on the ranking of the full proposals, projects will be recommended for national/organisational funding. The outcome of this process will be communicated by the Call Secretariat to the Consortium Coordinator, who will then inform all partner Principal Investigators of the Consortium.

e. Formal funding decisions are made by the participating funding organisations. The funding recommendation is irrevocable and therefore no redress procedure is possible.

f. After a positive funding recommendation, the project partners must directly contact their NCP in order to start the contract negotiation and accomplish the remaining steps until the research project can start. The Consortium Coordinator is responsible for synchronising the project start with his/her partners.

8 Intellectual Property Rights

a. In case of approval, a Letter of Agreement (or “Consortium Agreement” as described in item VI.2 of the 2017 Joint Call) has to be formulated between the Partner Host Institutions abroad, any Partner Host Institution of other Brazilian States and the Host Institution to which the PI from São Paulo is affiliated, establishing how Intellectual Property rights, confidentiality, and publications will be treated jointly, in observance of the policies of each Funding Agency and Host Institution.

b. Any costs regarding management of IP are expected to be agreed between the collaborating research organizations before the research begins.

c. The presentation of this “Consortium Agreement” is mandatory before the signature of the grant contract in case of the FAPESP funding.

9 Further Information

a. Researchers from the State of São Paulo: specific questions to FAPESP about the Call for Proposals should be sent to Alexandre Roccatto at chamada_waterJPI@fapesp.br.

b. Researchers from other Brazilian States: specific questions should be sent by the Principal Investigator to participating FAPs through the contacts indicated in the “National/Regional Regulations” document (which can be found together with the Joint Call Documentation); for overall queries concerning the Joint Call on behalf of CONFAP, messages should be sent to Elisa Natola at elisa.confap@gmail.com.

c. Foreigner researchers: specific questions should be sent by the Principal Investigator to the corresponding country contact person indicated in the “National/Regional Regulations”; overall questions regarding the Joint Call should be sent to the IC4WATER Call Secretariat at IC4Watercall@rcn.no.

NOTE: A Webinair for applicants is scheduled for November 17, 2017. More information coming soon (updates at 2017 Joint Call).

 

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