Agreements
FAPESP - BMBF Call for Proposals 2018 on Bioeconomy
Guidelines for Proponents from the State of São Paulo, Brazil
A collaboration between the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany (BMBF) and the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) under the scope of the Scientific Cooperation Agreement signed between both institutions (www.fapesp.br/en/9036).
1. Introduction
FAPESP and BMBF hereby invite researchers from higher education institutions and research institutions in the State of São Paulo, Brazil and Germany who conduct joint research projects within the bioeconomy area.
The call conditions are made available by FAPESP and BMBF at:
FAPESP: www.fapesp.br/9035
BMBF: www.bioeconomy-international.de
Proposals should also follow the general conditions set out in the German Call Announcement “Bekanntmachung” and the English version text “Bioeconomy International 2017”.
2. Purpose
The implementation of the bioeconomy as a sustainable, bio-based economic system should greatly benefit from joint international initiatives. Thus, the aim of this call is to fund high quality research and development collaborative projects on core bioeconomy issues, by strengthening existing collaborations and establishing São Paulo-Germany bilateral partnerships under the topics described below.
3. Research topics
This call invites joint research proposals within the following research topics:
a. Sustainable agriculture;
b. Food production (focus on sustainability of processes and materials, saving energy and reducing waste);
c. Use/processing of sustainably produced biomass to make biobased products;
d. Development of sustainable bioproducts.
4. Call characteristics
4.1. Grant Modality
a. The proposals must be prepared jointly by São Paulo and German researchers. In the State of São Paulo, Brazil, eligible applicants are researchers who comply with the Regular Research Awards (“Auxílio à Pesquisa Regular” - www.fapesp.br/apr) eligibility criteria.
b. In Germany, the call is open for any German proposers who comply with those criteria listed in the German “Bekanntmachung Bioökonomie International 2017” of BMBF.
4.2. Eligibility to FAPESP
a. It is obligatory that interested researchers from the state of São Paulo consult FAPESP regarding their eligibility until the closing date of submission of the outline proposals to BMBF on April 16th. This procedure should avoid unnecessary efforts of researchers that ultimately would not be able to participate at the formal collaborative project.
b. Timely, FAPESP will send the applicant a declaration as to the applicant’s eligibility within this call. Proposals that do not comply with the terms of this Call will not qualify for analysis. Applicants must note that the funding agencies retain the right to reject applications where they fail to comply with the conditions set out in these guidelines.
c. Eligibility consultations should be sent only to the email address chamada-bmbf@fapesp.br containing the information below (please identify the message with the subject “FAPESP-BMBF Eligibility Check”:
1) Summary CV of the applicant from the state of São Paulo (in English, according to the template available at www.fapesp.br/en/6351);
2) Title and summary of the proposal;
3) The name of the main applicant from German and respective institution;
4) Estimated budget to be requested to FAPESP, including all applicable overheads (maximum of R$ 100.000 per year);
5) Duration of the project and an estimation of the weekly hours to be devoted to the project by the applicant from São Paulo, considering a maximum of 40 hrs/week dedicated to FAPESP’s research grants.
4.3. Funding principles and project duration
a. The proposal must be written jointly by Brazilian and German researchers and must reflect unison and close cooperation. It is expected that research activities of importance to the awaited outcome are being conducted on both sides and, that the project volume and the intellectual contribution is evenly balanced between São Paulo and German researchers.
b. On the German side, industry participation is possible under collaboration with the proponent researcher.
c. FAPESP and BMBF will jointly support as many scientifically sound research projects as possible under this call.
d. This call will support collaborative research projects of multinational research teams for 36 months.
e. Requested funding may cover research and travel expenses (for example, consumables, equipment, travel costs, living allowances and insurance costs) according to each institution’s guidelines.
f. FAPESP and BMBF expect that the costs in each proposal will reflect the research effort carried on by each side. It should also be considered that differences on allocated values might reflect differences in costs covered and local prices. This condition is still applicable in the case where the BMBF side of the proposal consists of a consortium of individual grants.
g. The requested budget to each funder must follow the norms of BMBF and FAPESP and their respective grant programs. Please note that in Brazil investigator and staff salaries are covered by research institutions.
4.4 Exceptionalities to the norms and regulations of the Regular Research Award
a. Exceptionally for this call, a Regular Research Award (“Auxílio à Pesquisa Regular - APR”) may have a duration of up to 36 months.
b. The maximum allowable budget is up to R$ 100.000,00 (one hundred thousand reais) per year, including all applicable overheads.
c. All other funding characteristics of the Regular Research Award are applicable (www.fapesp.br/137#4776).
5. Submission of Proposals
a. No further submission documents are to be sent directly to FAPESP at the closing date of the outline proposal submission to BMBF. Only the applicant from Germany will submit the joint outline proposal according to the guidelines made available from BMBF (www.bioeconomy-international.de).
b. After the BMBF submission period is closed, all eligible Principal Investigators from the state of São Paulo will be individually contacted by FAPESP for further instructions on how to submit their due complete information and documentation through the online SAGe platform. This will closely follow the usual APR modality conditions (www.fapesp.br/137).
6. Assessment criteria, evaluation and selection
a. FAPESP and BMBF will select the proposals according to their respective institutional procedures and assessment criteria. As additional bilateral assessment criteria, emphasis will be put on the following:
- Relevance and potential impact related to the funding objectives of FAPESP and the BMBF (for Germany, as set out in the “National Research Strategy BioEconomy 2030”);
- Relevance of the research approach, quality and originality of the proposed solution;
- Added value for each country and synergies achieved through the joint cooperative research project;
- Excellence and expertise of the applicant and the partners involved (German and São Paulo);
- Prospects of success and applicability of the project results (in scientific and economic terms);
- Adequate volume and structure of the project, quality and stringency of budget as well as time and work schedule, balance of workload and networking of partners.
b. Applicants are encouraged to provide a thorough description of the mentioned bilateral aspects.
c. Only proposals selected and prioritized by both sides will be funded jointly.
d. The final selection is to be decided by a joint committee with representatives from both FAPESP and BMBF.
7. Intellectual Property
In the cases of successful collaborative proposals, a consortium agreement shall be developed among partner researchers´ host institutions from the state São Paulo and from Germany. This document establishes how Intellectual Property rights, confidentiality and publications will be jointly treated, in observance of the policies of each involved funding agencies and host institutions. This “Letter of Agreement” is mandatory and a signed copy should be sent to FAPESP before the grant contract is signed by the awardee.
8. Timeline
|
Deadline for submission of outline proposals to BMBF and of eligibility check solicitations to FAPESP |
16th April 2018 |
|
Deadline for submission of the full documentation to FAPESP through the SAGe platform |
TBD individually |
|
Results announcement |
From October 2018 |
9. Contact
All questions related to this call must be directed to:
FAPESP
Alexandre Roccatto
Science Manager - Engineering and Natural Sciences
Scientific Directorate
FAPESP - São Paulo Research Foundation, Brazil
www.fapesp.br/en
E-Mail: chamada-bmbf@fapesp.br
BMBF
Dr. Veronika Jablonowski / Dr. Christian Breuer
Project Management Jülich Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH
Biological Innovation & Economy - EU and International Affairs (PtJ-BIO7)
Tel.: +49 2461/61 - 5083 / -96929
Fax: +49 2461/61- 1790
E-Mail: v.jablonowski@fz-juelich.de / c.breuer@fz-juelich.de