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Guidelines for researchers from the State of São Paulo, Brazil

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Summary
Call announced on:	27 January 2023
Closing date:	30 March 2023
Notification of intent (only to NERC):	02 March 2023
Results announced on:	August 2023
FAPESP Support Opportunity:	Regular Research Grant
Maximum duration of the project:	24 months
Budget for the São Paulo researcher:	Up to R$ 300.000,00 per proposal
Submission:	By the research partner based in the UK to NERC (Je-S) and by the researcher from São Paulo to FAPESP (SAGe)
Eligibility:	Researchers based in the state of São Paulo with an active FAPESP grant, as described in the Call for Proposal below
Contact details:	chamada-nerc-gpsf@fapesp.br

1. Context and Aims

In 2009, the United Kingdom Research Councils (UKRI) and FAPESP signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen the existing research links between the UK and the state of Sao Paulo, in Brazil, and to help encourage and support proposals that involve international collaborative teams.

The aim of the joint Call FAPESP-NERC Global Partnerships Seedcorn Fund is to develop, through short-term collaboration mechanisms, new international partnerships and networks between research groups in environmental sciences from the state of São Paulo and the United Kingdom.

Activities pursued under this grant are expected to have benefits beyond the duration of the NERC Global Partnerships Seedcorn Fund and the FAPESP award (e.g. establishing long-term international collaborations, pump priming for ongoing, self-sustaining activities and/or developing high-impact knowledge). Accordingly, this Call is intended to support mobility and exchange activities (such as travel and workshops) and the costs of exploratory studies (inputs, third-party services and low-cost equipment).

Through FAPESP, this opportunity is open to researchers with a demonstrated link to Higher Education or Research Institutions in the state of São Paulo, who must follow the NERC guidelines (https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/environmental-sciences-global-partnerships-seedcorn-fund-2023/) and also the guidelines described below.

2. Research Areas

Proposals submitted to this Call should address NERC's areas of activity (https://nerc.ukri.org/funding/application/howtoapply/topics/), which include Earth and marine sciences, freshwater biology, archeology, polar sciences and atmospheric and Earth observation.

3. FAPESP Support Opportunity

Proposals submitted by the São Paulo state research partners to FAPESP will be processed according to the rules and guidelines of the Regular Research Grant (www.fapesp.br/apr), with the modifications and exceptionalities described in this Call.

4. Eligibility to Apply

Only current Principal Investigators (PR) or Co-Principal Investigators (PP) in one of the grant modalities listed below are eligible to apply to this Call at FAPESP:

a. Regular Research Grant;

b. Thematic Project Grant;

c. Young Investigator Grant or Young Investigator Grant – Phase 2;

d. Public Education Research Program;

e. Research in Public Policies Program;

f. Research Partnership for Technological Innovation Program (PITE);

g. Engineering Research Centers (CPEs);

h. Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers (CEPID);

i. Initial Project Grant π (Pi).

Each ongoing grant may have only one representative submitting a proposal to this Call. Concomitance with current funding from FAPESP is allowed.

5. Preparing and submitting proposals

5.1. Proposal preparation

a. Each proposal must have a Principal Investigator from the state of São Paulo and a Principal Investigator from the United Kingdom.

b. The research project submitted as part of the proposal must be jointly created by the proponents of the state of São Paulo and the United Kingdom.

c. The research project must be written in English.

d. All proposals submitted to FAPESP must include all the mandatory documents for analysis listed on the online SAGe platform.

5.2. Exceptionalities to the norms and regulations of the Regular Research Grant (APR)

The conditions listed below supersede , where applicable, the usual rules for a FAPESP Regular Research Grant (APR), found (in Portuguese) in https://fapesp.br/apr:

a. The maximum amount of the total budget that can be requested from FAPESP (including Research Overhead - Institutional Research Infrastructure) is R$ 300,000.00 (roughly £ 50,000) and may include:

a1. Travel costs, including air tickets, accommodation, living expenses and travel insurance;

a2. Consumables, services and low-cost research equipment; and

a3. The cost of workshops held in São Paulo State, Brazil.

b. Fellowships, Direct Research Infrastructure Costs and Fringe Benefits are not eligible for funding in this Call for Proposals.

5.3 Submission of proposals

a. The UK PI must submit a notification of intent to NERC by 02 March 2023.

b. The deadline for submission of complete proposals is 30 March 2023. No proposal, addendum or explanation will be accepted after this date, unless explicitly and formally requested by FAPESP or by NERC.

c. Only proposals submitted by the São Paulo PI to FAPESP, through SAGe, and by the UK PI to NERC, through Je-S, will be considered.

d. The applicant from the state of São Paulo must submit the proposal exclusively through the SAGe system in the English language: [New Proposal] > [New Initial Proposal] > + Agreements > + UKRI - UK Research and Innovation > + NERC - Natural Environment Research Council > UKRI - NERC - Regular Research Grant > [Confirm] > Global Partnerships Seedcorn Fund - Chamada de Propostas (2023) > [Add]

e. IMPORTANT: the PI from the UK must be registered in the SAGe system. This can be done by accessing SAGe in the English language and choosing the option “Not registered?” The researcher must fill in all mandatory fields, indicated with an asterisk (*). After successfully registering, the PI from the UK may be nominated as a member of the research project and then must access the proposal in SAGe to confirm her/his participation in it.

f. Simultaneous submission of the same research proposal to different funding opportunities from FAPESP and NERC is not allowed.

g. Only one research proposal is allowed for each PI.

h. Proposals that do not comply with the terms of these guidelines will not be eligible for review.

h1. Proposals whose budget value exceeds the amount indicated in this Call (item 5.2.a), as indicated in the appropriate SAGe budget tab, in the Total Cost of Proposal line, will be summarily rejected.

h2. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that the proposal meets all the submission criteria stated in this Call.

i. There are specific conditions for applicants to NERC available at: https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/environmental-sciences-global-partnerships-seedcorn-fund-2023/. Please observe that applicants based in the state of São Paulo should be included as Project Partners on the Je-S form and their role should be described in the Case for Support. Also, a PDF copy of the FAPESP proposal form (SAGe’s “Visualize” option) should be included in the application to NERC.

6. Evaluation of Proposals

Proposals that meet the requirements of this Call, including those indicated in the NERC instructions will be eligible for evaluation. The evaluation will be carried out under the terms of the FAPESP-UKRI memorandum of understanding, using the process and criteria described in the text of the Call on the NERC website, in the section “How we will assess your application”.

7. Results of the Call

The list of proposals selected under this Call will be announced in August 2023.

8. Further Information

All questions to FAPESP related to this Call for Proposals should be sent to the manager responsible for the Call, via e-mail: chamada-nerc-gpsf@fapesp.br

Questions and requests for clarification to NERC should be submitted to Claire Simmons, Program Manager, via email: gpsf@nerc.ukri.org.

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