Agreements
FAPESP-NERC International Opportunities Fund (IOF) - Pump Priming and Pump Priming Plus Awards – 2017
| Summary: The focus of the São Paulo, Brazil-UK partnership will be in Earth System Science and Global Environmental Change research. FAPESP is especially interested in proposals in which the geographic focus of the collaboration is South America and the adjacent oceans, particularly the Amazon and the South Atlantic | |
| Closing date for full proposals: | 6 Jun 2017 at 16.00 (BST) |
| FAPESP Scheme: | Regular Project (Auxílio à Pesquisa Regular) with restrictions (please see item 3.4 for details) |
| Maximum duration of the project: | up to 2 or 3 years (please see item 3.4 for details) |
| Eligibility: | Proposals must be “related” to an ongoing FAPESP grant. Principal Investigators must have an ongoing research project funded by FAPESP (please see item 3.5 for details) |
| Submission: | Proposals must be submitted only through NERC by the UK PI (Item 5) |
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Contact at FAPESP:
Bruna Musa - chamada_nerc@fapesp.br Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Announcement of Opportunity:
www.nerc.ac.uk/research/partnerships/international/iof/news/ao2017/ |
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1. Context
In 2009, the United Kingdom Research Councils (RCUK) and FAPESP signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen the existing research links between the UK and Brazil and to help encourage and support proposals that involve international collaborative teams. The MoU provides for a Lead Agency Agreement whereby UK and Brazilian researchers may apply for funds from both countries through the UK Research Councils’ funding schemes. Further information is available from the RCUK website.
2. Aims
FAPESP will consider proposals from PIs eligible for FAPESP funding and that demonstrate excellence in one or more of the following characteristics (international collaboration is a must):
2.1 develop research with high impact and outcome focused on areas of interest for FAPESP’s Research Program for Global Climate Change (PFPMCG) and FAPESP’s Virtual Institute for Biodiversity Research (BIOTA) .
2.2 activities that place international collaboration at the centre of their approach, adding value to Brazilian capability and delivering outcomes that cannot be delivered by scientists in São Paulo alone (FAPESP’s standard requirement that the PI must be a scientist affiliated to a research organization in São Paulo still applies to the Brazilian side of the collaboration).
2.3 activities with lasting outputs that are expected to have benefits beyond the duration of the IOF and the FAPESP award (e.g. establishing long- term collaborations, pump priming for ongoing, self-sustaining activities and/or developing high-impact knowledge).
NOTE: Applications to multiple FAPESP-NERC Programme with similar applications are not allowed.
3. Activities Supported
3.1 The NERC International Opportunities Fund aims to facilitate international collaboration for research and research-related activities that are aligned with NERC strategic priorities.
3.2 Requirements and conditions for any FAPESP-funded elements of submissions under this optional collaboration between the UK and Brazil are as follows.
a) The São Paulo, Brazil part of the proposal must have a research content consistent with the “collaborative secondments and exchanges” section of IOF AO, i.e., building long-term partnerships among Brazilian and UK centres of excellence, with a view to capacity building and accessing skills, data or infrastructure that enhances Brazil and UK research capabilities.
b) FAPESP is especially interested in proposals in which the geographic focus of the collaboration is South America and the adjacent oceans, particularly the Amazon and the South Atlantic. Other geographies can be considered, pending analysis by FAPESP of the justifications given. Therefore, applicants from São Paulo, Brazil, must contact Bruna Musa (chamada_nerc@fapesp.br) before submission, to discuss and obtain permission to submit a proposal focusing outside of the preferred geographic area.
c) The focus of the São Paulo, Brazil-UK partnership will be in Earth System Science and Global Environmental Change research, and the research collaboration will address one or more of the topics below:
(i) facilitate links between scientists in both countries, building on existing partnerships, but also widening to other groups of both countries;
(ii) develop groundbreaking techniques for communicating scientific outcomes to stakeholders;
(iii) engage directly with the wider Earth System Science community.
3.3 Only proposals that are not typically supported through other FAPESP funding schemes will be considered.
3.4 Funding Conditions:
a) For the Pump Priming Award: Applicants from the State of São Paulo may request up to £20K from FAPESP for each proposal for up to two (2) years duration.
b) For the Pump Priming Award Plus: Applicants can request up to £30K for up to three (3) years in duration including at least one international workshop to be held in São Paulo.
3.5 Proposals must be “related” (i.e. FAPESP terminology for proposals that complement and build upon another grant) to an ongoing FAPESP grant. Thus, researchers regarded as eligible to submit proposals are Principal Investigators of ongoing research projects funded by FAPESP within the following funding lines: Regular Research Awards, Thematic Projects, Young Investigators, Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers (RIDC/CEPID), Public Education Research Program, Research in Public Policies and Research Partnership for Technological Innovation (PITE).
Co-Principal Investigators (PPs) of ongoing Thematic Projects, RIDCs or PITEs are also eligible to apply.
3.6 FAPESP will provide the selected proposals with funds to cover short-term scientific exchange visits to UK (travel, accommodation, living expenses and health insurance), workshops (within the rules of FAPESP) and small research expenses (consumables, services, low cost research equipment). Research and Infrastructure overheads are not applicable.
3.7 FAPESP will only accept one application per related ongoing research project. Likewise, each Principal Investigator can present only one proposal to this Call. The ongoing FAPESP research project linked to this proposal must have a minimum of six months left at the scheduled beginning of the mobility project.
3.8 The FAPESP contribution is in addition to the support that can be sought directly from NERC.
4. Additional Application Procedures for joint FAPESP – NERC proposals
4.1 Applicants considering applying under this Agreement must read the Operational Guidelines available from the RCUK website. Please note that there are specific guidelines for applicants to NERC within these RCUK Guidelines.
UK Principal Investigators of potential collaborative proposals should, in this case, contact the IOF Programme Officer (iof@nerc.ac.uk) before submitting a proposal.
Brazilian Principal Investigators should contact FAPESP’s representative for matters related to this joint Call, Bruna Musa (chamada_nerc@fapesp.br).
5. How to apply
Proposals must be submitted only through NERC by the UK PI , following the procedure described in the corresponding Announcement of Opportunity.
5.1 The Brazilian applicants should be included as Project Partners on the JeS form and their role should be described in the Case for Support, following the guidelines in Section 4.2 (above).
5.2 A specific Proposal Form for this Call must be attached by UK PI to his application as a supporting document: FAPESP-NERC Pump Priming Proposal Form.
5.3 The Case for Support must:
a) state that the RCUK-FAPESP Lead Agency Agreement is being applied by the applicants;
b) mention the PI in São Paulo and other members of the research team affiliated to research and higher education institutions in São Paulo, including summarized CVs for each participant;
c) identify the number of the ongoing FAPESP Grant led by the PI in the State of São Paulo;
d) clearly define the budget requested to FAPESP, within the limits set at Item 3.4 above.
5.4 No further documents should be sent directly to FAPESP at the submission stage. After the submission deadline, further documentation will be timely requested by FAPESP to enable the processing of proposals, following the usual procedures for Regular Research grants. This will include detailed budget forms, budget justifications, research team description, etc.
6. Intellectual Property
6.1 In case of approval, a Letter of Agreement between the Partner 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.