Agreements
Belmont Forum Collaborative Research Action 2020: “Transdisciplinary Research for Pathways to Sustainability (Pathways)” Versão em português
Note: the closing date for submission of full proposals to the Belmont Forum was extended to November 2, 2020.
Guidelines for Proponents from the State of São Paulo, Brazil
Summary: |
FAPESP (São Paulo, Brazil) and 10 other funding bodies worldwide under the Belmont Forum initiative launch a call for joint research projects in “Transdisciplinary Research for Pathways to Sustainability (Pathways)”. |
Closing date for eligibility consultation: |
October 9th, 2020 |
Support Opportunity: |
|
Maximum duration of the project: |
12 to 24 months |
Total resources made available from FAPESP: |
€ 250.000 |
Eligibility: |
Proponents from the State of São Paulo must be established researchers with a proven track record of participating in international interdisciplinary projects in the topic areas of the proposal (item 4.1); an eligibility consultation is obligatory. A proponent researcher at FAPESP may be enrolled in only one project consortium to be submitted to the call and cannot be awarded in another Belmont Forum grant. |
Submission of proposals: |
At the closing date, no documents whatsoever should be sent to FAPESP. The Leader Applicant (coordinator of the multinational project) must submit the Full Proposal to the Belmont Forum. Eligible researchers in São Paulo will be timely advised on how to submit due documents through the SAGe System. |
Contact at FAPESP: |
Alexandre Roccatto – chamada-bf-pathways@fapesp.br |
Call secretariat (“Theme Programme Office”): |
RESEARCHERS MUST ALSO FOLLOW THE BELMONT FORUM COMPLETE CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR DETAILS REGARDING APPLICATION, FUNDING, SELECTION CRITERIA, PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION at:
https://www.belmontforum.org/opportunities/#opencalls
1 Introduction
Through this call the Belmont Forum, partnering with Future Earth, will support 1-2 years of collaborative research that focuses on integrated qualitative and quantitative approaches to develop Earth-system-based transformation pathways for sustainable development.
The initiative invites its participants to consider all important interactions among the UN´s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and address cross-cutting issues among at a minimum three or more explicitly identified SDGs. Projects are free to prioritize the interactions to be explored, based on their own local, national, regional, or global context as long as they address the Belmont Challenge providing knowledge for understanding, mitigating, and adapting to global environmental change.
With a combined budget of approximately €4 million, the call is supported by selected funding agencies from different countries and by countries from the Americas through the IAI (Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research), from Africa through Future Earth and from members of the GEO (Group on Earth Observations). The complete list of participants can be found at:
https://www.belmontforum.org/opportunities/#opencalls
2 Scientific Research Themes
Projects should address both or one of the topics listed below. We encourage leveraging existing networks and syntheses as well the creation of new activities. We recommend use of virtual platforms for collaboration and digital networking approaches
2.1 Development of novel networks and communities of practice that address the inter-linkages, synergies, and trade-offs among three or more of the sustainable development goals
2.2 Synthesis of positive and negative inter-linkages among three or more sustainable development goals using quantitative and/or qualitative methodologies
3 Support Opportunities
Proposals should follow the overall conditions of Regular Research Grant (www.fapesp.br/apr), observing the exceptionalities described at item 4.5 below.
4 Guidelines to proponents
4.1 Eligibility check
a. Proponents from the State of São Paulo must be established researchers with a proven track record of participating in international interdisciplinary projects in the topic areas of the proposal;
b. Researchers considered eligible under the rules of the Regular Research Grant (APR) may participate, including those who are PI (Pesquisador Responsável) or co-PI (Pesquisador Principal) of an ongoing FAPESP grant of the following types: Thematic Projects (Projeto Temático), PITE (Programa de Apoio à Pesquisa em Parceria para Inovação Tecnológica), CEPID (Centros de Pesquisa, Inovação e Difusão) and, exceptionally, PI of a (APR) or a Young Investigator Grant (Jovem Pesquisador);
c. It is not allowed that a researcher is awarded in more than one simultaneous Belmont Forum grant;
d. It is obligatory that interested researchers from the state of São Paulo consult FAPESP regarding their eligibility until the deadline for the Registration submission. This procedure should avoid unnecessary efforts of researchers that ultimately would not be able to participate at the collaborative project.
e. Eligibility consultations should be sent only to the email address chamada-bf-pathways@fapesp.br containing the information below until October 9th 2020 (please identify the message with the subject: ”BF-Pathways Eligibility Check”). Results are expected to be given up to 20 days after the message is received.
e.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);
e.2. Acronym, title and summary of the proposal;
e.3. The name of the Lead Applicant (Lead Principal Investigator) of the project consortium and of all co-Applicants from other countries, and respective institutions;
e.4. Estimated total budget request to FAPESP which must include all applicable overheads and fringe benefits (www.fapesp.br/rt);
e.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 hours/week dedicated to concurring FAPESP’s research grants;
4.2 Submission of Full Proposals
a. The Lead Applicant (or “LPI”) of the consortium will submit the joint proposal according to the Belmont Forum guidelines: https://www.belmontforum.org/opportunities/#opencalls. No aplications or documents are to be sent directly to FAPESP at the closing date of Full Proposals submissions.
b. After the submission phase of the Full Proposal, the co-Applicant from the state of São Paulo participating in a validated project consortium will be individually contacted by FAPESP for further instructions on how to submit the due documentation through a specific path at the SAGe system.
4.3 Overall conditions of the multinational call for proposals
a. The budget earmarked by FAPESP for this call will be equivalent of up to € 250.000 (two hundred and fifty thousand euros);
b. This call will support collaborative research projects of multinational research teams for up to 24 months, to be selected with a single evaluation step;
c. Funding should support proposals that combine significant contributions by national research teams from at least 3 of the participating countries;
d. Given the complexity and scope of the challenges, research consortia must be truly transdisciplinary. Applying teams are thus encouraged to interact and include partners of the private sector (e.g. SMEs), stakeholders and/or end‐users while preparing the proposal and carrying out the project. This would enhance impact, facilitate knowledge exchange and uptake of results to build up the expected networks;
e. It is expected that applications to this call will be through trans-national research consortia as defined in the Belmont Forum call and FAPESP will fund the partner from the State of São Paulo, Brazil, of any successful collaborative proposal;
f. A proponent researcher at FAPESP may be enrolled in only one project consortium to be submitted to the call, either as a Lead Principal Investigator or as a co-applicant;
g. FAPESP has the ultimate responsibility for decisions regarding funding recommendations for the selected proposals, which will confirm any budgetary constraints on submitted projects prior to a final decision on an award being made by the review process as described by the main Call for Proposals text at https://www.belmontforum.org/opportunities/#opencalls.
4.4 Conditions of the grants to be submitted to FAPESP
a. The maximum allowable budget, except for the Post-doctoral fellowship, is up to R$ 70.000,00 (seventy thousand reais) per year and must include all applicable overheads and fringe benefits (www.fapesp.br/rt).
b. Proposals should include expenses for participation on consortium meetings and exchange of researchers with consortium members, including kick-off and end term meetings organized by the Theme Program Office for joint discussions and dissemination;
4.5 Exceptionalities to the norms and regulations of the Regular Research Grant
Exceptionally for this call, the following conditions overlap the regulations of the Regular Research Grant:
a. A researcher that is PI (Pesquisador Responsável) of an ongoing Regular Research Grant or Young Investigator Grant may participate;
b. Technical Training fellowships are not eligible for FAPESP funding;
c. Equipment Items are limited to personal computers and laptops;
d. Software licenses are not eligible for FAPESP funding.
5 Intellectual Property
In the cases of successful collaborative proposals, a “Letter of Agreement” shall be developed amongst all partner researchers´ host institutions, including the Institution from the state São Paulo. 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 document is mandatory and a signed copy should be sent to FAPESP before the grant contract is signed by the awardee.
6 Timeline
Launch of the call at the Belmont Forum |
23 July 2020 |
Closing date for eligibility consultation to FAPESP |
9 October 2020 |
Closing date for Submission of Full Proposals to the Belmont Forum |
31 October 2020 |
Disclosure of the final decision |
Early 2021 |
Start of successful projects |
Early-mid 2021 |
7 Further information
a. FAPESP's National Contact Point
For interested researchers from the State of São Paulo: Alexandre Roccatto, Scientific Program Coordinator - FAPESP (São Paulo Research Foundation): chamada-bf-sgw@fapesp.br
b. Call Secretariat
For general information on the call: through the Theme Programme Office (TPO) with Judit Ungvari from NSF (National Science Foundation, EUA): jungvari@nsf.gov