Collaborative Calls for Proposals

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Summary
Timeframe for proposals submissions:	25 September 2023 through 20 November 2023
Successful proposals notification:	31 March 2024
Eligibility to apply:	Leading researchers with demonstrated relevance in their field of knowledge. Proponents from the State of São Paulo must also comply with item 2 below.
Submission:	To FAPESP: Applicants in the State of São Paulo must submit to FAPESP through the SAGe system. To BAYLAT: Applicants in the Free State of Bavaria must submit to BAYLAT through OASys system and also in hard copy.
Contacts:	FAPESP: Alexandre Roccatto – chamada-baylat@fapesp.br BAYLAT: Polliana Sattler – baylat-fapesp@fau.de

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1. Overview (back to index)

The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) and the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts of the Free State of Bavaria (StMWK), Bavaria, Germany, represented by the Bavarian Academic Center for Latin America (BAYLAT), Bavaria, Germany, signed a Cooperation Agreement for Research on April 11, 2012, which has been twice renewed and is valid until April 11, 2027. The Cooperation Agreement aims to foster scientific and technological cooperation between researchers from Bavaria, Germany and from the State of São Paulo, Brazil, through the funding of joint research projects.

This Call for Proposals is designed to provide financial support to bring together a cohort of early-stage researchers, and PhD students who are about to defend their thesis, from the Free State of Bavaria and São Paulo State to take part in two workshops (per proposal) focusing on building links for future collaboration and enhancing the researchers’ career opportunities.

Workshops will be coordinated by two leading researchers, one each from a higher education or research institution in the Free State of Bavaria and from a higher education or research institution in the State of São Paulo.

Proposals will be accepted in any discipline/multidisciplinary area.

2. Who can apply? (back to index)

Proposals must be submitted jointly by two researchers: one from the State of São Paulo and one from the Free State of Bavaria. Proponents must be senior researchers, which means that they must demonstrate the relevance of their work in their field of knowledge. Evidence of relevance to be considered: titles, publication, international collaborations, orientation and/or supervision.

Proponents from the State of São Paulo must be or have been Principal or Co-Principal Investigators of research projects funded by FAPESP within at least one of the following FAPESP funding lines: Thematic Projects, Regular Grant, Young Investigator Grant (JP), Engineering/Applied Research Centers (CPE/CPA), Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers (CEPID), and Research Partnership for Technological Innovation Program (PITE).

3. Theme of the workshop (back to index)

Applicants can present proposals in all fields of knowledge.

4. Who will take part in the workshops? (back to index)

Up to 40 researchers can take part in each workshop, as described below:

a) Two workshop coordinators (the proponents).

b) Four mentors, apart from the coordinators (two from the Free State of Bavaria and two from the State of São Paulo). Mentors are senior researchers of recognized competence in their fields of activity who will share their experience and knowledge, and remain in contact with early-stage researchers and PhD students after the workshop, to share contacts and other relevant information.

c) Other participants, to be selected after the proposal is approved: early-stage researchers with a PhD degree obtained less than 10 years prior to the workshops and/or PhD students who are about to defend their thesis. These participants must be from higher education or research institutions from the State of São Paulo and from the Free State of Bavaria (between 12 and 17 of each country).

5. Location and timing of the workshops (back to index)

One of the workshops will take place in the State of São Paulo and the other in the Free State of Bavaria.

The first workshop must take place between 01 June 2024 and 31 May 2025. The second workshop must take place between 01 June 2025 and 31 may 2026.

6. Language (back to index)

Workshops will be held in English. According to the theme of the workshop it is also possible to hold the workshop in German or Portuguese under express authorization from BAYLAT and FAPESP.

7. Content of the workshop (back to index)

7.1. Workshop coordinators are responsible for defining the topic and content of the workshops, which must be aligned to the goal of the program: to build links for future collaboration and to enhance the researchers’ career opportunities. The workshops should follow the guidelines below:

a) Sessions should be as interactive as possible with participants encouraged to share knowledge, experience and ideas;

b) Workshop coordinators and mentors should have the opportunity to share their expertise.

7.2. Suggested sessions:

a. Formal keynote lectures by the workshop coordinators and mentors, which should not last longer than half a day and will, ideally, occur throughout the workshop;

b. Research sessions, where the early-stage researchers and PhD students are able to share their current research (could be in poster format or oral presentations);

c. Networking sessions, where researchers and students are able to interact and explore opportunities for collaboration;

d. Overview of the research base and funding opportunities: a brief introduction to the research base in the Free State of Bavaria/Germany and in the State of São Paulo/Brazil – how it is funded, size, strengths, international collaborative activity, links with industry;

e. Depending on the research field or theme of the workshop, coordinators may wish to include a session that invites industrial or other non-academic partners to talk about cross-sectoral collaboration;

f. Public engagement activity;

g. Cultural activity;

h. Visit to a relevant research or university facility.

8. Budget (back to index)

BAYLAT and FAPESP will each contribute with up to the equivalent of €30.000,00 (Thirty thousand Euros) per proposal.

Workshop applicants are responsible for planning and organizing the workshop.

The institutions to which the coordinators are affiliated, in the Free State of Bavaria and in the State of São Paulo, must provide the space and facilities to host the workshops.

8.1 FAPESP can provide funds for:

a) International (economy class) airfares for up to 20 researchers (including workshop coordinators and mentors) from the state of São Paulo to travel to the Free State of Bavaria and back to the state of São Paulo;

b) Per diems;

c) Third Party Services, such as: courier expenses and publication of programs and abstracts (for events in the state of São Paulo only);

d) Travel insurance for foreign participants, according to the current FAPESP table (www.fapesp.br/2921).

The proposals will be processed at FAPESP according to the norms and regulations of the funding opportunity “Organization of Scientific Meetings Award”. FAPESP grants cannot pay for coffee-breaks, flash drives, translators or rental of vans for transfers to the workshop, as specified in Item 8: https://fapesp.br/auxilios/organizacao#8.

Some items that cannot be funded by FAPESP can be requested from BAYLAT (see below).

8.2 BAYLAT can provide funds for:

All requested expenses must adhere to Bavarian administrative regulations. Travel costs will be reimbursed in accordance with the Bavarian Travel Expenses Act (Bayerisches Reisekostengesetz BayRKG) and its guidelines for:

a) International (economy class) airfares for a maximum of 20 researchers, including Workshop coordinators and mentors, traveling from the Free State of Bavaria to the State of São Paulo and back;

b) Local transportation expenses for participants traveling within Germany to the Free State of Bavaria will be supported in exceptional cases and with appropriate justification;

c) Rental car for the group;

d) Per diems (Tagegelder);

e) Accommodation expenses for all participants from the Free State of Bavaria, covering up to 5 nights in the city where the workshop will be held.

Organizational and administrative support (Sachkosten), including catering expenses (Bewirtungskosten) must not exceed a total of €5,000.00 for the entire project. These costs listed below (a, b, c) will be reimbursed in compliance with Bavarian regulations, as stipulated by the Bavarian budgetary regulation (Bayerische Haushaltsordnung BayHO) and expense guidelines in Bavaria. Here you may find the Guideline for the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg as an example.

a) Student assistant for a maximum of 3 months;

b) Laboratory materials, with justification;

c) Third Party Services, such as: courier expenses and publication of programs and abstracts, flyers (for events in the Free State of Bavaria);

BAYLAT grants cannot cover expenses for flash drives, translation services, or translators.

9. Recruitment of participants (back to index)

Workshop coordinators will recruit the participants, who must be affiliated with either higher education institutions in the Free State of Bavaria or higher education or research institutions in the State of São Paulo. Participants affiliated to institutions from other Brazilian states are not eligible to participate with FAPESP´s funds.

Recruitment of participants must observe the following rules:

a) Early-stage researchers recruited to participate in the workshop must have obtained a PhD less than 10 years before the start of the workshop;

b) PhD students must have their thesis defense scheduled for no more than 12 months after the start of the first workshop. Participants who are PhD students must send a document from their institution or their PhD supervisor stating that they are about to finalize their thesis;

c) At least two-thirds of the attendees must be affiliated with institutions different from the main affiliation of the coordinators, to promote variety of participating institutions;

d) The coordinators must release an open call for participants, and this must be disseminated through various channels (BAYLAT and FAPESP can support the dissemination);

e) Proficiency in spoken and written English is required for participation in the workshops (exception as specified in Item 6)

f) While recognizing that some research fields are dominated by one particular gender, Workshop coordinators should strive towards as equal a gender balance as possible;

g) The selection process should promote diversity and ensure that no applicants are excluded from participation due to disabilities or their ethnicity, gender, religious belief, or sexual orientation.

10. Continuity (back to index)

The aim of the workshops is to foster long-term links between the Free State of Bavaria and the State of São Paulo, as well as to contribute to the personal and professional development of the participants. Therefore, workshop coordinators should indicate how they envisage this occurring, including any plans for long term mentoring of early-stage researchers and/or PhD students.

11. Selection procedures (back to index)

There will be a two-step selection procedure:

a) Evaluation of the proposals by each institution, separately:

i. FAPESP will analyze the proposals based on its peer reviewing system for the Auxílio Organização scheme (www.fapesp.br/156);

ii. BAYLAT will analyze the proposals and evaluate the merit and relevance of the project, its ability to leverage further research funding, and its alignment with the strategic research aims of the Partner Institution.

b) FAPESP and BAYLAT jointly evaluate the results of their independent assessments and arrive at a final decision on which (and how many) proposals will be granted.

12. How to submit? (back to index)

a) A joint proposal must be submitted to both BAYLAT and FAPESP;

b) The Research Project included in the proposals submitted to both BAYLAT and FAPESP must be identical and written in English;

c) Proposals submitted after the deadline will not be considered.

12.1 To FAPESP:

Applicants from the state of São Paulo must submit the joint proposal to FAPESP through the SAGe platform (https://fapesp.br/sage) no later than 20 November 2023.

The specific path for this Call is: Nova Proposta Inicial + Outras Linhas de Fomento > + Acordos de Cooperação > + BAYLAT – Auxílio Organização - Regular / Chamada de Propostas (2023).

IMPORTANT:

a) The coordinator in state of São Paulo will be the Principal Investigator in the proposal submitted on SAGe.

b) Coordinators from the Free State of Bavaria must also be registered in the SAGe platform, be appointed as the partner researcher in the proposal by the Sao Paulo applicant, then confirm their participation through the SAGe platform.

To register in the SAGe platform, they must access the English version of SAGe (click on the UK flag in sage.fapesp.br), then choose the option “Not Registered?”. All data fields marked as “ * ” are must be filled. After receiving an email from SAGe, the researcher must click on the link provided and complete the registration process. A third access by the Bavarian coordinator is required after the appointment by the Sao Paulo coordinator, to accept the appointment.

12.2 To BAYLAT:

Applicants from the Free State of Bavaria must submit the joint proposal to BAYLAT via OASys: https://fapesp.oasys.baylat.org/page/xhtml/index.xhtml up to 20 November 2023.

After submitting their proposal through OASys, it must also be sent via postal service to the following address: BAYLAT, Apfelstraße 6, 91054 Erlangen, Germany.

The BAYLAT application must include:

a) Description of the process used to recruit participants to the workshop (please note that participants who do not satisfy the requirements of item 9 of this Call for Proposals will not be accepted);

b) Timetable;

c) Curriculum vitae of coordinators and mentors;

d) Budget worksheets (including the resources requested to FAPESP).

13. Contact (back to index)

For questions regarding applications to FAPESP:
Alexandre Roccatto, email: chamada-baylat@fapesp.br

For questions regarding applications to BAYLAT:

Polliana Sattler, email: baylat-fapesp@fau.de

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