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Public Public Call for Proposals (CFP) offering seed funding to support the exchange of researchers under the SPRINT Call - São Paulo Researchers in International Collaboration

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Summary:
There are two possibilities for the International Collaboration Proposal:
• Partner researchers from any foreign research institution which provides travel resources from their university or grants awarded by a research funding agency (see item 2.1 below);
• Foreign research institutions that have confirmed conditions for receiving collaboration proposals with funding for scientific missions to research institutions in São Paulo State (see item 2.2 below).

Submission Deadline: February 26, 2024

Contact: sprint@fapesp.br

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1. Objective

To promote the engagement of researchers affiliated to higher education and research institutions in the state of São Paulo in partnership with researchers abroad to:

1.1. Improve ongoing research projects; and

1.2. Work cooperatively aiming at the elaboration of joint medium- and long-term research projects, for submission to FAPESP by researchers from São Paulo, and to partnering funding agencies by their foreign colleagues.

2. Rules for designing the International Collaboration Proposal

2.1. Partners from any foreign research institution who show travel resources from their own university or grants awarded by a research funding agency.

2.1.1. The availability of matching funds presented by the foreign partner must be stated in a funding letter signed by the legal representative of his/her institution or travel resources from a grant awarded by a research funding agency. In the case of participation in a call submitted for a partnership proposal abroad, if approved in the State of São Paulo, the partnership proposal will be conditioned to approval by the partner institution, according to the analysis and selection conditions in item 9 below.

2.2. Foreign research institutions that have defined conditions for receiving proposals in collaboration and funding their teams on scientific missions to research institutions in the state of São Paulo.

2.2.1. The foreign researchers must follow their institution's additional instructions for submitting the project and clarifying doubts. Click here to access the pages of institutions that have published their conditions for receiving proposals in collaboration under the SPRINT terms.

2.2.2. If the proposal is considered meritorious, it can only be approved if the researchers can present evidence that they have adequate funding for their part of the collaboration expenses.

3. Eligibility to submit a proposal

FAPESP considers eligible to submit proposals to this call:

3.1. Principal Investigators of ongoing research projects funded by FAPESP within the following FAPESP funding modalities: Regular Research Awards (excluding mobility projects), Thematic Projects, Young Investigators, Initial Projects (Pi), Generation, Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers (CEPIDs), Engineering Research Centers/Applied Research Centers (CPEs/CPAs), Public Education Research Program, Research in Public Policies, and Research Partnership for Technological Innovation (PITE). Co-Principal Investigators of ongoing Thematic Projects, CEPIDs, CPEs, CPAs and PITEs are also eligible to apply.

3.2. Each researcher can present only one proposal to this Call.

3.3. The ongoing research project linked to this proposal must have a minimum of six months duration remaining as of the scheduled beginning of the mobility project.

3.4. FAPESP may accept proposals submitted to this call linked to research proposals that are still undergoing merit review. However, if the research proposal is still under analysis or has not been approved by the time the proposals in this Call are selected, the SPRINT proposal will be cancelled.

4. Eligible fundable participants

4.1. The proposals must aim to respect the principle of reciprocity with regard to academic qualifications of those who will take part in the exchange activities.

4.2. For the exchange activities within the scope of this Call for Proposals are eligible the team members of the related ongoing research award described above in item 3, when previously defined in the ongoing research project as:

a. Principal or Co-Principal Investigators;

b. Associated Researchers affiliated to Higher Education and Research Institutions in the State of São Paulo;

c. Post-doctoral fellows must have an ongoing FAPESP fellowship during the planned exchange mission;
(i) Post-doctoral fellows funded by another agency, only if supervised by the PI or Co-PI of the ongoing research project and with presentation of an excellent academic record.

d. Doctoral or Direct Doctoral fellows must have an ongoing FAPESP fellowship during the planned exchange mission;
(i) Doctoral or Direct Doctoral fellows funded by another agency, only if supervised by the PI or Co-PI of the ongoing research project and with the presentation of an excellent academic record.

PARTICIPANTS MUST BE FORMALLY DESCRIBED AS MEMBERS OF THE ONGOING RESEARCH PROJECT.

5. Funding Principles and Duration of the Projects

5.1. FAPESP will match funding up to the limit of US$10.000,00 (ten thousand dollars) per year, per project, and with a duration of up to 24 months.

5.2. Up to the limit equivalent to US$10,000.00 (ten thousand dollars) per year, funds can be requested for the mobility of researchers, according to FAPESP standards, with reference to the objectives in item 1 of this Call for Proposals and must be must be requested individually for each researcher and per scientific mission:

a. Air tickets (fapesp.br/5835 - item 3.4.1);

b. Health insurance (fapesp.br/2921);

c. Living allowances (fapesp.br/12042).

5.3. FAPESP will support the researchers from the state of São Paulo in scientific missions at the Partner Institution, and the Partner Institution (or another funding body, for the cases under item 2.2) will support the researchers from the partner country carrying out scientific missions in the state of São Paulo.

5.4. The grant can only be used for the exchange of researchers, visits for research planning, participation in workshops, and initial data collection activities to maintain research collaboration and its consolidation.

5.5. Requests for budget alterations will not be analysed due to available resources destined for the Call,

5.5.1. Under exceptional circumstances, requests for extension for up to six additional months, but not including additional resources, may be considered. The submission of extension authorization from the partner institution is obligatory. Requests should be submitted following the guidelines available at fapesp.br/565.

5.6. The Grantee is responsible for visa acquisition with the competent consulate. The Grantee should also verify that there are no restrictions on international travel from Brazil, that in-person activities at the institutions abroad have been normalized, and that no quarantine is required in the country where the internship will occur.

6. Proposal characteristics

The proposal shall be composed of:

a. A Research Project with a maximum of five (5) pages of scientific content, written in English jointly by the FAPESP Principal Investigator and his/her colleague, the Principal Investigator at the Partner Institution. One copy of the Research Project (as described in the item 6.1 below) shall be sent to FAPESP and an identical copy to the Partner Institution;

b. Submission forms and additional documents, as required by FAPESP in the SAGe system and by the partner institutions.

6.1. The Research Project must include the following:

a. A substantive description of the exchange activities, emphasizing their relevance. The proposal must state clearly how the exchange activities to be carried out by each team will contribute to the ongoing research project funded by FAPESP (as described in the item 3.1 of this call) and to the research being carried by the partner researcher abroad;

b. Detailed schedule of the exchange missions to be carried out by the São Paulo institutional team and the São Paulo team at the Partner Institution;

c. A description of each candidate’s contribution to the mission, explaining their expertise to carry out the foreseen activities;

d. Performance indicators for the planned activities, indicating the expected results;

e. Foreseen actions that will add to the impact of the exchange for the Partner Institution and for the Host Institution in the state of São Paulo, e.g. by means of seminars, short courses etc.;

f. Description of how the Principal Investigators in São Paulo and the Partner Institution intend to prepare a joint research project, resulting from the exchange activities developed from the proposal submitted in this Call, to be submitted to research funding agencies accessible in their regions to create a medium-long-term collaboration (up to one page).

7.Timeline

Closing date for submission of proposals	February 26, 2024
Successful proposals notified	May 31, 2024

8.Submission

Submissions to FAPESP must be sent exclusively through SAGe System. Late submissions or submission by any other means will be not be accepted

9. Analysis and selection

9.1. Proposals that do not comply with the terms of this Call for Proposals will not qualify for analysis.

9.2. The proposals will be pre-qualified and, subsequently, analysed in a review process which will evaluate project merit and relevance, the potential contribution of the proposed project to the ongoing project funded by FAPESP, the proposed project capacity to leverage further research funding.

9.3. Each Party (FAPESP and Foreign) will select the proposals according to their own procedures. Only the proposals selected by both Parties will be funded.

10. Result of the analysis

Final results will be announced at FAPESP website (fapesp.br) and, by means of a communication to the proponents.

11. Contract of the selected proposals

Proposals selected by FAPESP will be object of a Grant Term (Termo de Outorga) to be signed by the PI and a legal representative of the Higher Education and Research Institution to which he/she is affiliated..

12. Intellectual Property

In case of approval, a Letter of Agreement (or “Consortium Agreement”) should be signed between the partner Host Institutions establishing how Intellectual Property rights, confidentiality and publications will be treated jointly, in observance of the policies of each funding Party. The presentation of this document is not mandatory for signing the Grant Term, however, FAPESP can request its presentation at any time..

13. Information about this Call at FAPESP

The questions related to this Call for Proposals must be directed to sprint@fapesp.br

14. Research Networking Tool (matchmaking)

Foreign researchers interested in finding partners in the state of São Paulo can access FAPESP’s Virtual Library (www.bv.fapesp.br/en/). It includes an interface that allows contacting FAPESP-funded researchers by sending them a message. In it, you may search for information on grants and fellowships funded by FAPESP, including abstracts and the names of participating researchers and their institutions.

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