Agreements
Brazilian-German Collaboration in Global Change Research
Call for bilateral DFG/FAPESP Proposals
1. Introduction
This call for proposals for the support of research projects under the Scientific Cooperation Agreement between the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), São Paulo, Brazil, and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) which are counterpart funding organisations in Germany and the State of São Paulo, Brazil, seeks to enhance scientific cooperation in the field of global change research and joint funding of Brazilian-German research. This call for proposals is announced simultaneously by FAPESP and DFG.
2. Scientific scope
The aim of this call is to invite joint Brazilian-German proposals which contribute to the theme:
“Land-use Change and Land-use Management under Conditions of Global Change”
Land-use and land-use change are important components of the Earth System and of global change. Land resources available for human settlements as well as for agricultural and forestry production are limited. Brazil is one of the countries with a high potential of resources of fertile land, richness in biodiversity and carbon sinks. Like Germany it experiences land-use changes due to increasing and competing demands for food, feed, fiber and biofuels. These are linked to local, regional and global developments of markets, the economy and politics and interact closely with ecosystems, their structure, functioning and services as well as global climate change. A rational land-use management is required to find the right balance between these competing demands with many trade-offs taking into account the spatial diversity of climate zones, ecosystems and regional socioeconomic development.
3. Objectives
The overall aim of this joint funding of projects is to study the ecological and socioeconomic effects of land-use change and land-use management and its interaction with global change.
4. Themes of interest
4.1 Proposals are invited which address the following issues:
a. Analyse and assess the drivers of land-use change and their impact on ecosystems (e.g. biodiversity, ecosystem services, water resources), climate change (e.g. biogeochemical cycles, precipitation patterns) and economic development.
b. Focus on land-use changes related to competing demands for the production of food, feed, fiber and biofuels locally and from abroad.
c. Study and develop land-use management tools to better cope with trade-offs between land-use alternatives in order to mitigate or adapt to climate change and to achieve sustainable land-use practices.
4.2 The proposals need to fulfil the following criteria:
a. Integrate natural and social/economic sciences’ approaches to fully understand the effects of land-use changes.
b. Focus on regions of Brazil which show a high potential of land-use change and are in need of additional research efforts for assessing land management options, e.g. in the Cerrado degraded lands.
c. Comparative studies in Germany are welcome but not compulsory.
5. General information
This call for proposals aims at joint DFG/FAPESP Research Grants. It is addressed to researchers from Higher Education and Research Institutions in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, and the Federal Republic of Germany. Joint proposals have to account for the rules of eligibility, funding options and good scientific practices of DFG and FAPESP respectively.
5.1 Timeline
| Activities | Dates |
| Publication of the Call for proposals by FAPESP and by DFG | 25/10/2012 |
| Last day for submission to FAPESP and to DFG | 15/02/2013 |
| Successful proposals notified | 12/07/2013 |
5.2 Proposal guidelines
a. The joint proposals must have two Principle Investigators, one in the State of São Paulo and one in Germany. They will be the central contact for the project management towards DFG and FAPESP. Additional applicants to DFG on the German side fulfilling the above requirements are possible.
b. The proposals must therefore be submitted by the São Paulo researcher to FAPESP and by his/her German partner to the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft simultaneously.
c. The Brazilian proposals should be presented to FAPESP as a Regular Research Award (please refer to www.fapesp.br/apr; the files are available at www.fapesp.br/en/7319). The German proposals should be presented within the regular DFG programme for Research Grants cf. www.dfg.de).
d. The joint proposals must be written in English language. The corresponding summaries in German and in Portuguese must accompany the proposals submitted to DFG and FAPESP, respectively.
e. The joint proposals addressed to DFG and FAPESP according to their own respective formats should have the same scientific core written jointly by the PIs in São Paulo and Germany describing the state of the art, the aims of the project, the methods and a detailed work plan.
f. The cooperation among the partners involved and the added value of the planned cooperation should also be described in detail, including a CV and publication list of the partners (see below).
g. Projects dealing with biodiversity issues must comply with the Rules of Access and Benefit Sharing.
h. The proposals must be accompanied by the proper forms required by each institution (DFG and FAPESP) for regular research grants – please refer to the specifications detailed at www.fapesp.br/7319 (for FAPESP) and www.dfg.de (for DFG). They should also be accompanied by a document with a summary of the items to be financed by the respective partner funding institution.
i. In addition to the usual documentation specified by FAPESP for submission by the researcher in São Paulo, and by DFG for submission by the researcher in Germany, the proposals must include a document with four or less pages, signed by both the Brazilian and German Principal Investigators addressing the following items:
i.1 Demonstration of the academic benefits to be obtained from the collaboration and from the research partnership, as well as its singularity and specificity.
i.2 Demonstration of which activities in the proposal will benefit from the collaboration.
i.3 Detailing of which activities will be developed during the collaboration providing their detailed description, their justification and importance.
i.4 Additional actions intended to extend the interchange impact on the research activity in São Paulo and in Germany by means of seminars, workshops, institutional visits to organisations with similar research activities.
6. Specific Information for German PIs
6.1 German PIs have to submit their version of the joint proposal according to the guidelines for the Research Grant Programme (http://www.dfg.de/formulare/50_01/50_01_en.pdf , form 50.01 EN). When submitting your proposal electronically through the elan-Portal please assign it clearly to this call.
6.2 Proposals must fulfill the formal requirements of DFG as outlined above. As to eligibility we would like to remind applicants from outside universities of the rules on the duty to cooperate with partners from universities within the German proposal part.
6.3 We would also like to remind applicants to submit to DFG the signed form 54.011-1/12 by which you agree to the rules of good scientific practice and DFG’s information policy.
7. Funding
The maximum funding period is three years. FAPESP and DFG will each provide for this call of proposals funding of up to the equivalent to 1 Million Euros. It is expected that a maximum of three to five joint projects will get funded for up to three years.
8. Analysis and selection
8.1 According to Clause II of the amended agreement between FAPESP and DFG (please refer to www.fapesp.br/2554), each agency will proceed to the selection of the proposals according to their own systems and methods of analysis.
8.2 The proposals will be reviewed by way of a competitive process which will evaluate the merit and relevance of the project and the academic excellence of the candidate.
8.3 Notwithstanding the aforementioned, the proposals will be reviewed by referees selected jointly by both institutions and finally assessed by a joint panel of experts.
8.4 Proposals which do not comply with the terms of this call for proposals will be considered “not qualified”.
8.5 Proposals will be funded only if they are approved on both sides.
9. All questions related to this Call for Research Proposals must be directed to:
9.1 Contact at DFG:
Dr. Johannes Karte
German Research Foundation,
Physics, Mathematics, Geosciences
Kennedyallee 40
53175 Bonn
Phone: +49 228 885-2319
johannes.karte@dfg.de
For the cooperation DFG/FAPESP:
In São Paulo:
Dr. Dietrich Halm
German Research Foundation
Office Latin America,
R. Verbo Divino, 1488
São Paulo – SP, Brazil
Phone: +55 11 981243130
dietrich.halm@dfg.de
in Bonn:
Alida Höbener
German Research Foundation
International Cooperation with Latin America
Kennedyallee 40
D-53175 Bonn
Phone: +49 228 885-2285
alida.höbener@dfg.de
9.2 Contact at FAPESP:
Dr. Eric Kors Vidsiunas
FAPESP
R. Pio XI, 1500
Alto da Lapa
05468-901 São Paulo – SP, Brazil
ericv@fapesp.br
and
Prof. Reynaldo Luiz Victoria
reynaldo.victoria@gmail.com