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The SÃO PAULO RESEARCH FOUNDATION, established by Law nº 5.918, of October 18th, 1960, with headquarters at Rua Pio XI, 1500, Alto da Lapa, São Paulo, SP, enrolled in CNPJ/MF under nº 43.828.151/0001-45, herein represented according to article 11, “a” of Law nº 5.918, combined with its General Rule approved by Decree n° 40.132, of May 23, 1962, represented by its President Prof. Dr. MARCO ANTONIO ZAGO, in the exercise of the powers delegated by Act of the Governor of the State of São Paulo, published in the Official Gazette of the State, of September 29, 2018, hereinafter referred to as FAPESP, and the GERMAN ACADEMIC EXCHANGE SERVICE e.V. whose principal place of business is at Kennedyallee 50, 53175 Bonn, Germany, represented by its Secretary General Dr. DOROTHEA RÜLAND, hereinafter referred to as DAAD and both to as "Parties”:

CONSIDERING the importance of promoting the cooperation in scientific and technological research between Germany and the State of São Paulo, Brazil, wishing to strengthen this cooperation on a basis of equality and mutual benefit;

CONSIDERING the need to strengthen the links between the scientific communities of both countries and, also, to encourage new forms of collaboration between its research centers;

WISHING to promote collaboration initiatives in scientific research and technological development in priority areas of interest to both Parties, fostering bilateral cooperation;

CONSIDERING the already well-established cooperation between the São Paulo Research Foundation and the German House for Research and Innovation São Paulo (DWIH São Paulo) which is a part of the German Academic Exchange Service’s presence in the state of São Paulo;

CONSIDERING the activities of the German Academic Exchange Service guaranteed in the agreements of cultural cooperation with the Brazilian government in 1969 and 2005.

Agree as follows :

1. Purpose

Through this Cooperation Agreement, the Parties will implement a scientific and technological cooperation scheme between researchers from Germany and the State of São Paulo, Brazil, by funding the mobility of researchers and postgraduate students in joint research projects.

In order to enhance the impact of the conducted research the Parties will provide financial support for the exchange of researchers from higher education institutions (HEI) and public or non-profit private research institutions (RI) of the State of São Paulo and of Germany.

The focus is on the implementation of joint research projects on issues of common concern and the exchanging and application of knowledge and results.

With the aim of promoting and supporting joint research projects to be carried out by research teams of both countries, the Parties wish to collaborate in bilateral research actions. They especially encourage to include young “early career researchers”.

2. Common Grounds of Collaboration

The Parties will pursue their collaboration, obeying its international obligations and domestic laws and other existing regulations:

a) The Parties shall ensure a high-quality level of the research projects;

b) The Parties shall maintain the highest ethical and legal standards in funding research under this Agreement;

c) The Parties shall guarantee that the activities of scientific exchange which can be financed are limited to research activities and exclude teaching activities;

d) The Parties shall guarantee peer review in the selection process and acknowledge the results of the bilateral selection;

e) The Parties, in mutual consent, may invite other funding institutions for multilateral research actions.

3. Scientific Areas

The activities mentioned in the first item could be developed, in principle, in all areas of knowledge. Areas of interest can be specified by the Joint Steering Committee in specific joint activities such as calls for research proposals.

 

4. Implementation

a) In the establishment of the collaboration (pursuant to Article 2), the Parties will work in accordance with the scholarly relevance and the national legislation in Brazil and in Germany;

b) This Agreement is subject to the availability of funds in the budget of the Parties and the applicable laws and regulations of the respective countries;

c) The Parties each appoint one representative to serve on a Joint Steering Committee responsible for the continuation of this Agreement and for devising joint actions or drafting calls for joint proposals.

d) The Parties may agree to host delegation meetings, workshops, correspondence and other procedures, as applicable;

e) The Parties agree on some general joint selection criteria which may be complemented by more Party-specific selection criteria. The general joint selection criteria agreed upon are:

- Qualification and experience of the research teams;

- Project plan: methodology, approach, strategy, structure and documentation;

- Level of originality and innovation of the project;

- Contribution to fostering the careers of early career researchers;

- Complementarity and balance of research methods and activities;

- Exploitation and dissemination of expected results.

f) Amongst research actions that can be accomplished by virtue of this Agreement, the Parties agree on an implementation plan for a potential call for research proposals, to be updated when necessary. The implementation plan is an integral part of this Agreement (ANNEX 1).

5. Intellectual Property

a) The Parties agree that when the actions taken by virtue of this Agreement result in products of commercial value and intellectual property rights, they will be regulated by national legislation and international conventions in force. Participants should also observe the Intellectual Property Policy of the Party responsible for the funding of their team;

b) In the case of joint ownership of Intellectual Property, the relevant Parties will in good faith endeavor to establish a joint ownership agreement regarding the allocation and terms of exercising that joint ownership, taking into account the relevant contributions of the Parties.

6. Validity

a) This Agreement shall be valid for a period of five (5) years from the date of its signing and may be extended by mutual agreement between the Parties in a written amendment to this Agreement.

b) The Party may terminate this Agreement by written notice, with a notice period of six (6) months.

c) The termination of this Agreement shall not bring harm to the implementation of projects and programs already approved or ongoing, in which case the Parties should keep their budget for the projects and programs during the term of its validity.

7. Communications

Any notice to be served on either of the Parties by the other shall be made in writing and shall be sent to the following addresses:

(a) FAPESP:

Rua Pio XI, 1500 – Alto da Lapa
CEP 05468-901 – São Paulo / SP – Brasil

E-mail: dc@fapesp.br

Att.: Scientific Director

(b) DAAD (Germany) DAAD (Brazil)

P33 Rua Professor Alfredo Gomes, 37
Kennedyallee 50 PO Box 62564
D 53175 Bonn CEP 22250-970 – Rio de Janeiro, RJ - Brasil

E-mail: knobloch@daad.de E-mail: mschulze@daad.org.br

Att.: Head of Section P33 Att.: Director Brazil

8. Accountability

a) As there will be no transfer of funds between the Parties according to this Collaboration Agreement, there is no need for accountability between the Parties.

b) As provided in the guidelines of the Parties and in accordance with the specified conditions given with the commitment of funds, the project leaders give account to the financing institution about the received grants and report on the measures and activities carried out.

9. Modifications

This Agreement may be amended in written form by mutual consent of the Parties.

10. Miscellaneous

a) Each Party covers its own administration costs regarding its contribution to joint research actions, unless otherwise jointly decided.

b) The Parties agree that this Agreement is produced in good faith, so that any dispute and / or interpretation arising therefrom in relation to its implementation, execution and compliance will be resolved jointly by them and shall be in writing. If no agreement is reached between the Parties, this document will be terminated without liability to the Parties that should agree how to conclude the actions in progress to date of notification of termination by either Party.

c) Arrangements not explicitly determined in this Agreement shall be governed by exchange of letters between the Parties.

d) The Parties will only release information about the collaboration to the press that has been previously approved by both Parties.

Signed in São Paulo, Brazil, on 11/21/2018, and in Bonn, Germany, on 11/21/2018, in six (6) original copies, two (2) in Portuguese, two (2) in German and two (2) in English, all texts being equally authentic. In case of conflicting interpretation, the English version will be mandatory.

FAPESP ____________________________ Marco Antonio Zago President

DAAD   _____________________________ Dorothea Rüland Secretary General

São Paulo, Brazil Bonn, Germany

ANNEX 1 – Implementation Plan

Potential guidelines for a joint call for research proposals. Conditions can be modified by the Joint Steering Committee as suited at the time of each call edition. Before the first call, the Parties will set a name for the joint program.

1. Introduction

The Parties consent that the organizational and financial conditions for the mutual call of FAPESP and DAAD will be agreed upon and specified each by correspondence. In this implementation plan the following items will be defined:

a) Timetable for the calls for proposals (dates for the launch of the call, deadline for submitting applications, exchange of respective review results, date and place of the final bilateral selection, start of projects, prolongation procedures and receipt of final reports);

b) Priority research fields, if applicable;

c) Criteria for the selection of the joint research projects (pursuant to Article 4 of the Agreement).

2. Timetable

a) One call will be launched annually;

b) The Parties agree on making their respective call and its contents available to each other before their launch and furthermore agree on launching the calls on the same day in São Paulo and Germany;

c) The call will be open for 45 days;

d) Before each call, the specific schedule of the call (dates for the following items: launch of the call, deadline for submitting applications, the national selection, exchange of respective review results, date and place of the final bilateral selection, announcement of the results, start of projects and receipt of final reports) will be established;

e) The selection takes place in two steps:

I. National selection by each Party;

II. Joint final selection, taking place in a previously agreed upon location or via video conference;

f) A joint selection report will be signed by the representatives of each Party in the Joint Steering Committee before announcing the results;

g) A separate call will be launched annually from 2020 onwards for the means of prolongation of the financing period of ongoing projects;

h) Items 2.a) to 2.e) of this implementation plan also apply for the “calls for prolongation”.

3. Application procedure

a) The call will allow for applications from research team leaders which hold at least a PhD and are employed at a HEI or RI in Germany and for those in the State of São Paulo, who are considered eligible for FAPESP under the rules of the Regular Research Award Scheme;

b) After consulting with each other, applicants in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, and Germany are required to submit complementing applications to the following implementing agencies: the leader of the Brazilian team should submit an application to the FAPESP and the leader of German team should submit an application to the DAAD;

c) The Parties will conduct respective reviews of the applications. Based on their review results the Parties, through the Joint Steering Committee, will make a joint selection.

4. Funding

a) The Parties have the intention to finance up to 30 new projects each year. The amount of the financial support will depend on the results of the respective review panels, a joint decision via consultation of the two Parties, the internal funding regulations of each Party and their budgetary situation.

b) Each Party will cover the costs of its researchers visits to the other country as follows:

I. International travel expenses between the State of São Paulo and Germany;

II. Daily allowance in the receiving country.

c) At FAPESP, BEPE awards (Bolsa Estágio de Pesquisa no Exterior - Research Internships Abroad) can be requested for FAPESP scholarship holders participating in the local research group;

d) The DAAD provides funding allowances for stays in the state of São Paulo arising in the course of project based collaboration. The allowance covers all expenditures within the scope of mobility and stay.

e) The funds which are required for the implementation of measures under the responsibility of the DAAD within the framework of this partnership are provided for in the annual DAAD budget of the respective Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and are subject to the ministry's budget and financial availability.

f) The Parties finance the mobility of the research groups in accordance with the conditions and the amounts specified in the respective calls.

5. Duration

Each project will be supported for two (2) initial years with the possibility to prolong the financing for up to two (2) more years by means of the call for prolongation – resulting in a total funding period of maximum four (4) years.

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