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Note: The deadline for sending pre-proposals  was changed to 14 September, 2016

The NSF PIRE Call for Proposals is published at  www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=505038.

In this coordinated call the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) announces the opportunity and the conditions for the submission of coordinated Brazilian proposals under the NSF’s Partnership for International Research and Education (PIRE). 

Parties in the US and in São Paulo will interact and, if interested, they will prepare two proposals, one to be submitted to the NSF and another to be submitted to 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. Proposals submitted to FAPESP will be processed as FAPESP’s Thematic Projects and Young Investigator Awards. 

1. Summary 

FAPESP offers to qualified researchers associated to higher education and research institutions in the State of São Paulo the opportunity to partner with colleagues in the U.S. requesting support to NSF’s PIRE program. 

PIRE is an NSF-wide program that supports international activities across all disciplines. PIRE catalyzes a higher level of international engagement in the U.S. science and engineering community. The primary goal of PIRE is to support high quality research and education projects where international collaboration enables advances that no one side could accomplish on its own. This PIRE competition includes all areas of science and engineering which the NSF funds. 

FAPESP values the participation of students on research projects and PIRE open a great opportunity to gather outstanding researchers and students in research in all fields of knowledge.   

2. 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.

Applications with a non-eligible American partner will not be considered for funding by FAPESP. NSF will consider applications to PIRE that involve Brazilian researchers, even if they are not eligible for Sao Paulo funding.  

2.1 FAPESP applicants

FAPESP applicants must meet the conditions and restrictions of the FAPESP Thematic Projects, described at www.fapesp.br/176 and FAPESP Young Investigator Award, described at www.fapesp.br/4521

São Paulo state researchers must send a pre-proposal (Item 5.1), before August 2016 to receive pre-approval by FAPESP regarding eligibility as a PI for the chosen scheme.

Please note that the requested budget must allocate at least 40% of the total funds to support fellowships.

Proposers may request up to three MSc Fellowships, as a quota (Bolsas como “Item Orçamentário”)

2.2 NSF applicants

Researchers applying to NSF must be associated with eligible institutions as defined in the NSF Grant Proposal Guide (www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=gpg).

PIRE allows for only one submission per Ph.D. granting institution, so a lead PI may appear as lead PI only once. However, there is no restriction on someone being a Co-PI or senior personnel on multiple applications to the PIRE program.

A. Organization limit

PIRE proposals may only be submitted by U.S. academic institutions with PhD-granting programs that have awarded doctoral degrees in the 2012 or 2013 academic years, in any area of research supported by NSF. Any institution not listed at www.nsf.gov/od/iia/ise/2015-PIRE-Eligible-Institutions.pdf should contact PIRE Program staff regarding eligibility. Institutions that have not participated in past PIRE awards are especially encouraged to submit.

B. Limit on number of proposals per organization: 1 Management Plan Description

PIRE limits the number of proposals that can be submitted by an institution to increase the quality of proposals by encouraging institutional review of competing international projects and to promote strong institutional engagement.

C. Eligibility Information:

Institutions holding current PIRE awards are eligible to apply only if submitted proposals are significantly different in scope from those previously awarded. Incremental expansions of funded projects do not qualify and will be returned without review.

D. Additional Required Information:

Foreign Partner(s) Proposal or Funding Information:

• If the foreign collaborators are applying (or planning to apply) for the coordinated and supplemental funding that may be available through the partnering counterpart agencies as discussed in this document, full PIRE proposals should provide information on that proposed support, including the name of the counterpart agency or agencies, proposal title, names of principal investigators, proposed scale of funding (including a draft budget if Model 1 or Model 2 (see below), and proposed duration of award.

• If the foreign collaborators propose to partner under existing foreign funding or award(s), or apply to a foreign funding source for a supplement to an existing foreign award, the full PIRE proposal should provide information on the existing award, including the name of the agency or source, project title, names of the principal investigators, scale of funding, and duration of award.

4. Funding principles

FAPESP’s awards will be standard Thematic Grants with an expected duration of five years or Young Investigator Awards.

Proposal budgets submitted to NSF and FAPESP do not have to request equal funding from each agency; each proposal should have a budget that reflects the participation of scientists from each region. 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. The only requirement is that the funding rules of each agency must be followed.

5. Proposal characteristics and submission

The proponents must submit their proposals before the closing date set in the item 6 of this Call. 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 FAPESP or the NSF.

For the US-SP collaborative research project, a similar scientific research project description must be prepared jointly by the US and SP PIs, and submitted to FAPESP, by the researcher in the State of São Paulo and to NSF by his/her U.S. collaborator(s), as specified below:

5.1 FAPESP applicants

Pre-Proposals:

Researchers from the State of São Paulo must send a pre-proposal up to 14 September, 2016, in English, which must include the following documents and information:

i) Summaries CV of the Principal Investigator (according to www.fapesp.br/5266);

ii) Project Summary (maximum 4.000 characters), including FAPESP scheme chosen (Thematic or Young Investigator) and its duration;

iii) The name of the US collaborative PI and institution.

iv) An estimative of dedication hours/week devoted to the project.

v) Estimated budget request by broad categories

The Pre-proposals should be submitted to FAPESP by August 2016 as digital copy to to the E-mail address chamada_nsf_pire@fapesp.br. Please identify the message with the subject: “FAPESP-NSF PIRE”.

Proposals submitted by any other means will not be accepted.

Full proposals:

For the selected State of Sao Paulo pre-proposals by FAPESP, the corresponding full proposals should be also prepared in English. The full proposal must be submitted to FAPESP by March, 10th. Proposals should be prepared, formatted, and submitted in accordance with the guidelines of the agency to which they are submitted (FAPESP or NSF), using the appropriate cover sheet and application forms of the corresponding agency. Information for the São Paulo state portion of the proposal should be included as Supplementary Documents in the NSF proposal. Similarly, comparable information from the NSF proposal should be included as Supplementary Documents to the proposal submitted to FAPESP. That information must include only the following:

i) The full proposal must be submitted as a Thematic Research Project (www.fapesp.br/176) or as a Young Investigator Award (www.fapesp.br/jp)

ii) A PDF copy of the documents of the US collaborator (Application form, CV, budgetary sheets, letters, etc) should be included in the SP proposal as Supplementary Document.

iii) For the proposals submitted to FAPESP, the core of the proposal, submitted in English, shall contain:

1) FAPESP Research Proposal Form customized for this Call and Researcher’s Registration form. The SP proposer should use the FAPESP Research Proposal Form as a cover sheet to submit the proposal to FAPESP. All the documents listed in the FAPESP Research Proposal Form are required as components of the proposal (check list), being essential for the merits analysis by NSF and FAPESP. It is recommended that, before submission, the SP PI verify if all documents are included in the proposal. Proposals with any missing document will be returned to the PI without review.

2) Joint Requested Funding Summary

3) Summaries CV of the Principal Investigator (PI) and Co-PIs - according to www.fapesp.br/5266;

4) Research project (accordingly to FAPESP norms - Thematic Grants at www.fapesp.br/176 and Young Investigator Award at www.fapesp.br/jp;

5) Budget worksheets specifically designed for this Call conforming to FAPESP standards;

6) Team description;

The invited Full-proposals should be submitted to FAPESP by March 2017:

i) as printed copy to Rua Pio XI, 1500, Alto da Lapa, CEP 05468-901 – São Paulo/SP. All proposals submitted to FAPESP should be clearly marked “FAPESP-NSF PIRE” to distinguish them from other call submissions;

AND

ii) as digital copy to to the e-mail address chamada_nsf_pire@fapesp.br. Please identify the message with the subject: “FAPESP-NSF PIRE”.

Proposals submitted by any other means will not be accepted.

5.1.3 Intellectual Property rights  

In case of approval, a Letter of Agreement between the Partner US Host Institution and the Host Institution to which the PI from São Paulo is affiliated, establishing how Intellectual Property rights, confidentiality, and publications will be treated jointly, in observance of the policies of each funding Party. The Letter of 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. 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 organizations before the research begins. The presentation of this Letter of Agreement is mandatory before the signature of the grant award in case of FAPESP funding.

5.2 NSF applicants

For the selected NSF pre-proposals

i) The proposal must be submitted as described in www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=505038&org=NSF&sel_org=NSF&from=fund. 

ii) The documents of SP collaborators (Application form, CV, budgetary sheets, letters etc) should be included in the US proposal as Supplementary Documents.

6. Indicative Timeline

June 2016 Publication of the Call for proposals

September 2016 Deadline for Pre Proposal Submissions

December 2016 SP State PIs notification for submission of “Full Proposal” by FAPESP

March 2017 Full Proposal Submission Deadline

May/June 2017 Announce Awards

7. Proposal Processing, Review Information Criteria and procedures

E. Additional review criteria

Reviewers and panellists will be asked to comment on: value added through international partnership and perceived strength of proposed partnership and partner resources; internationally-engaged educational opportunities; institutional engagement; evaluation and assessment; and project management.

8. Agency contacts:

All questions related to this Call for Research Proposals must be directed to:

FAPESP: Bruna Musa, chamada_nsf_pire@fapesp.br

NSF: Cassandra Dudka, cdudka@nsf.gov

          Cassidy Burke, cburke@nsf.gov

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