Agreements
Coordinated Call for Research Proposals on Advanced Lignocellulosic Biofuels
PARTNERSHIP FACILITATION WORKSHOPS
The workshops related to this call will provide an opportunity to strengthen the dialogue between laboratory, industrial and government partnerships between Brazilian and European actors in the area of Biofuels, exploiting synergies in terms of scientific expertise and resources by implementing coordinated projects.
EU-Brazil Workshop: Coordinated Call on Advanced Biofuels
http://ec.europa.eu/research/index.cfm?pg=events&eventcode=8905AEAF-D0FB-9164-49332A1EC83BF4DA
Venue: Centre Albert Borschette – Rue Froissart 36, 1040 Brussels, Belgium
Date: March 9th, 2016 @ 8:30 am - 6:00 pm
The program is available at: www.fapesp.br/acordos/eu/programme.pdf
Brazil-EU Workshop: Coordinated Call on Advanced Lignocellulosic Biofuels.
Venue: FAPESP - Rua Pio XI, 1500 - Lapa - São Paulo, Brazil
Date: December 8th, 2015; 8:30am to 06:30pm
The program is avaiable at: www.fapesp.br/en/9939
CONTACT:
The questions related to this Call for Proposals at FAPESP must be directed to Ms. Virginia Sanches Subiñas – email: chamada_eu-brazil@fapesp.br
GUIDELINES DEFINING CONDITIONS FOR THE SUBMISSION OF THE COORDINATED BRAZILIAN PROPOSALS UNDER THE INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION WITH THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION ON ADVANCED LIGNOCELLULOSIC BIOFUELS
The European announcement for the call H2020-LCE-2016-2017, topic LCE-22-2016, can be found at http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/h2020/topics/2150-lce-22-2016.html.
In this coordinated call the European Commission (EC) and MCTI/CONFAP/FAPESP announce the opportunity and the conditions for the submission of research proposals.
The research proposals must address the themes described in Annex 1 of this announcement.
Parties in the EC and in Brazil will interact and, if interested, they will prepare two proposals, one to be submitted to the EC and another to be submitted to MCTI/CONFAP/FAPESP. The proposals do not have to be identical, but they must demonstrate clearly their connection and the generation of mutual benefits. The conditions specified in the call for proposals announced for each side must be met by the proposals in that side.
As agreed by the Brazilian authorities involved in this call (MCTI/ CONFAP/FAPESP), proposals will be processed by FAPESP as Research Partnerships for Technological Innovation (PITE).
The Research Partnerships for Technological Innovation (PITE) is developed through partnerships among research institutions in the State of São Paulo and companies of any size for the development of new products with high technological content or new productive processes. The projects are carried out under the responsibility of a Principal Investigator, associated with higher education or research institutions in the State of São Paulo.
1. Eligibility criteria
Conditions of eligibility, listed in the sub-items below, will be strictly adhered to, so please read them carefully. Proposals not meeting all these criteria will not be considered.
1.1. Applicants in Brazil, must meet the conditions and restrictions of the FAPESP Program for Research Partnerships for Technological Innovation (PITE), described at www.fapesp.br/pite.
1.2. Minimum conditions for participation are:
a) There must be at least three PIs (i.e. three participants) from Brazil, one in the State of São Paulo and others established in different Brazilian States with a research foundation that agreed to support the call.
(i) PIs from the State of São Paulo must consult FAPESP via the e-mail mentioned in section 11 (chamada_eu-brazil@fapesp.br) regarding their eligibility before initiating the preparation of a joint proposal. Consultations will be accepted until July 8, 2016.
(ii) PIs from States other than São Paulo must consult their FAPs before submitting a proposal. Each PI must submit with the proposal a Letter of Consent, issued by his/her supporting FAP stating feasibility to fund the items under the responsibility of that PI if the Project is selected.
b) There must be a company in Brazil associated to the proposal, committed to funding at least 50% of the Brazil side costs.
1.3. Additional eligibility criteria:
a) Proposals which do not include coordination with an European project will be considered ineligible.
b) Therefore, the Brazilian proposals must unambiguously identify the coordinated European proposal to be submitted to the European Commission (EC), and include a description of this proposal, as specified in the call text.
1.4. Additional selection criterion:
a) Brazilian proposals will only be selected on the condition that their corresponding coordinated EU project is also selected for funding by the EC.
b) A balanced effort between the two coordinated projects is expected.
2. Funding principles
2.1. The Indicative maximum budget is EUR 6-10 Million (3-5 Million for the EC call and a balanced effort from the Brazilian side). It is envisaged that applications will be for a balanced partnership, not specifically in monetary terms but with equivalent research commitment and efforts from both sides. A coordinated project is composed of two projects, one funded by MCTI/CONFAP/FAPESP and one funded by the EU, which are coordinated among themselves.
2.2. The types of costs allowed in the Program for Research Partnerships for Technological Innovation (PITE) are available at www.fapesp.br/pite (item 7).
2.2.1. In the budget request to MCTI/CONFAP/FAPESP, applicants must include the values for the applicable Overheads (“Reserva Técnica”), as presented at www.fapesp.br/rt.
2.3. Considering the above, applicants should also upload the summary budget worksheet specifically designed for this Call EC-Brazil Funding Summary.
3. Duration
The maximum duration of each project is 60 months.
4. Proposal Characteristics
The proposal, submitted in English, must contain:
4.1. The Submission Form to register into the Research Partnerships for Technological Innovation (PITE), specifically designed for this Call. The Submission Form contains the complete list of documents (check list) to be sent to FAPESP considering the requirements of the PITE.
4.2. In addition, the following documents are required for the application:
a) A two (2) pages document specifying properly the coordinated research activities and benefits of research, considering the matters of specific challenge, scope, expected results and justification of scope. (See the call LCE 22 – 2016 at http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/h2020/topics/2150-lce-22-2016.html).
b) An objective description of the bilateral (EU-Brazil) research team members describing their contributions and explaining their expertise to carry out the foreseen activities. It is also essential that the Brazilian team clearly demonstrate how each PI (at least three) participated actively in the conception and development of the project and which responsibilities each of them will have in developing the research if the proposal is approved.
c) Summary CVs of the Principal Investigators’ (“Súmula Curricular”), as described in www.fapesp.br/en/6351, are mandatory in the Brazilian proposals, including the European and the Brazilian teams (Principal and Associated Investigators).
d) A summary budget worksheet (EC-Brazil Funding Summary) as described in item 2.3 above.
e) FAPESP Letter of Eligibility, confirming the previous consultation of the PI from the State of São Paulo and the approval of FAPESP, and Letters of Consent issued by the FAPs for each one of the others Brazilian PIs (see item 1.2 above).
4.3. In case of approval, a coordination agreement between the European host institutions, the host institutions to which the PIs from Brazil are affiliated and the companies, establishing how Intellectual Property rights, confidentiality, and publications will be treated jointly, in observance of the policies of each funding party. This agreement is not mandatory for the submission of proposals, but no approved project will be contracted before the presentation of a copy of the signed agreement.
4.3.1. Ownership of IP generated during the project and rights to exploitation, as well as any costs regarding management of IP, are expected to be agreed between the collaborating research organisations before the research begins. The presentation of this agreement is mandatory before the signature of the grant award in case of FAPESP funding.
5. Indicative Timeline
|
Call announced by the European Commission |
October 14, 2015 |
|
Call announced by MCTI/CONFAP/FAPESP |
November 16, 2015 |
|
Opening of the call |
May 11, 2016 |
|
Closing date for submission of proposals |
September 8, 2016 |
|
Grant agreement signature |
April/May 2017 |
|
Start of the projects |
May/June 2017 |
6. Submission of proposals
6.1. The proposal must be submitted according to the timeline in the previous section, both to FAPESP by the Principal Investigator from the State of São Paulo and to UE by the European Principal Investigator.
6.2 Submissions to MCTI/CONFAP/FAPESP can only be accepted in paper, via mail, with a CD containing all documents in a single PDF file. The envelope should be addressed to: Rua Pio XI, 1500, Alto da Lapa, CEP 05468-901 – São Paulo/SP, with “ Coordinated Call EU-Brazil on Advanced Lignocellulosic Biofuels” written on the envelope. It will be considered the date of the postal postmark stamped on the envelope.
6.3. Proposals submitted by any other means will not be accepted.
6.4. No proposal will be accepted after the closing date for submission, nor will any addendum or explanation be accepted, unless those explicitly and formally requested by MCTI/CONFAP/FAPESP or UE.
7. Analysis and selection
7.1. Reviews are qualitative and include justifications. The ranking of the proposals is done by a committee of active researchers, through the analysis of the proposals and of the reviews.
7.2. Criteria used by FAPESP to assess proposals in its Program for Research Partnerships for Technological Innovation are:
a) Qualifications of the PI and his team
PI: Quality and impact of his/hers S&T achievements (publications, patents, books, book chapters, tech transfer). Previous experience in leading R&D in the topics proposed.
Team: Quality and impact of each member’s S&T achievements (publications, patents, books, book chapters, tech transfer). Intensity of participation of researchers from the partnering company.
b) Proposed research project
Clarity, definition, and coherence of the objectives. Scientific quality and adequacy of methodology. Competitiveness considering the state-of-the-art. Potential impact of results (economically, commercially). Relevance of the results for the field of knowledge. Adequacy of the proposed timeframe. Relevance of the results for Brazil (social, economic).
c) Requested budget
Cost/benefit. Justification for the requested equipment, consumables, and services (only eventual services can be funded by FAPESP). Adequacy of the funding offered by the partnering company in the items acceptable to FAPESP (no in-kind). Adequacy of the economic contribution by the host institution (salaries, infrastructure, managerial and technical support).
7.3. A set of shared same experts which will evaluate both proposals will be contracted/appointed from the European side for the European proposals and from the Brazilian side for the Brazilian proposals.
7.4. The ranked projects will be processed for necessary approvals and clearances respecting the domestic regulations/requirements of the respective funding agencies.
7.5. Proposal(s) will only be selected on the condition that their coordinated EU/Brazilian proposal is also selected for funding.
8. Results of the selection
The results will be announced by MCTI/CONFAP/FAPESP at the FAPESP website (www.fapesp.br/en).
9. Contract for selected projects
Selected proposals will be the object of a grant contract and agreement to be signed by the PI, the legal representative of the Host Institution, MCTI/CONFAP/FAPESP, and the co-funding companies.
10. Grant cancellation
MCTI/CONFAP/FAPESP may cancel funding if, during the grant timeframe, a fact is of sufficient significance to justify cancellation, at the discretion of the Minister/President/Scientific Director, regardless of any other appropriate actions.
11. Information about this Call at FAPESP
The questions related to this Call for Proposals must be directed to Ms. Virginia Sanches Subiñas – email: chamada_eu-brazil@fapesp.br
ANNEX 1
Topic Description
Specific Challenge:
The coordinated call aims at exploiting synergies between Brazil and Europe in terms of scientific expertise and resources in topics related to advanced biofuels by implementing coordinated projects.
One of the following sub-challenges should be addressed by the proposals:
a. Gasification of bagasse to syngas and advanced liquid fuel production, including biofuels for aviation.
b. Applied research to biomass production logistics and applied research for feedstock diversification for advanced biofuels.
c. Development of new fermentation and separation technologies for advanced liquid biofuels and applied research to increase the energy efficiency of advanced biofuel processes.
Scope:
Proposals shall aim at moving technologies from TRL 3-4 to TRL 4-5 (please see part G of the General Annexes).
Biofuels produced from starch, sugar and oil fractions of food/feed crops are excluded.
Joint work can - where relevant - build upon the Brazilian sugarcane ethanol model, and should benefit from the Brazilian and European experience in biofuels.
Proposals should address, where appropriate synergies between new and existing technologies, regional approaches and other socio-economic and environmental aspects. A life-cycle analysis shall be performed.
The exploitation of results, including IPR, should be appropriately addressed in the proposal.
The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of between EUR 3-5 million would allow the specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts. Furthermore, a balanced effort between Europe and Brazil regarding the two coordinated projects is expected..
Aligned Brazilian and European projects shall have the same start date, the same duration – up to 5 years, same targets, and must demonstrate clearly how the coordination among them will bring added scientific value. To ensure a project implementation that reflects a genuine EU-Brazil cooperation, priority in evaluation will be given to proposals involving properly coordinated research activities between Europe and Brazil in the research plan of the two coordinated projects. Independent projects, which are not aligned, will be considered ineligible. Proposals will include detailed explanations about tasks and effort of the coordinated proposal as a whole and cross-references to the other part of the proposal.
Proposals will be only selected on the condition that the corresponding coordinated project is also selected for funding.
Demonstration of co-funding for the research from industry sector is desirable on both sides.
The Brazilian funding organisation for this topic is São Paulo Research Foundation (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, FAPESP, www.fapesp.br/en/). For more details please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions (below).
Expected Impact:
A significant progress in the specific sub-challenges mentioned above should be obtained by benefiting from the complementarities of expertise and experience in EU and Brazil. Moreover, the cooperation between key researchers, institutions and industries that are active in biofuel research in EU and Brazil should be strengthened.
Frequently Asked Question
Q: There must be a company in Brazil associated to the proposal?
A: According to item 1.2 - ‘d’ of the Guidelines above “There must be a company in Brazil associated to the proposal, committed to funding at least 50% of the Brazil side costs”. The summary budget worksheet – EC -Brazil Funding Summary – available in the item 4.2 - ‘d’ of the Guidelines is relevant for understanding the Brazil Full Funding (Cost).