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THIS MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING (MoU) is made and entered BETWEEN FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO (FAPESP) whose address for this purpose is at Rua Pio XI, 1500, São Paulo/SP, Brazil, hereinafter referred to as “FAPESP”, as the one Part;

AND

UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION (UNESCO), having its address at 7, Place de Fontenoy, 75007 Paris, France, hereinafter referred to as "UNESCO" as the other Part.

Considering the necessity of fostering scientific and technological cooperation among developing countries, FAPESP and UNESCO – through The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) - have agreed to implement scientific cooperation through the funding of research projects.

TWAS is a programme unit within UNESCO, hereinafter referred to as UNESCO-TWAS.

FAPESP and UNESCO-TWAS, will hereinafter be referred to as the "Parties".

ARTICLE 1 – PURPOSE

The Parties agree to offer up to a maximum of 35 fellowships per year tenable in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Of these up to 20 will be for postdoctoral research, and 15 for PhDs.

In addition to the above, the Parties will also offer up to five grants per year to young Principal Investigators to set up a scientific laboratory in a host institution in the state of São Paulo and constitute a team of student researchers to assist in the project.

The fellowships will be awarded to researchers from least developed countries in all fields of natural and related applied sciences, as well as social sciences.

The United Nations has designated 46 countries as least developed. For a list of Least Developed Countries – LDC, please see https://twas.org/article/new-list-twas-target-countries.

The fellowship awards will be carried out in host institutions in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, of a duration from six (6) to twenty four (24) months for the postdoctoral fellowships, and a duration up to 4 (four) years for the PhD fellowships.

The duration of the research grants to Principal Investigators is from xx months to xx months.

ARTICLE 2 – OVERALL RESPONSIBILITIES

The Parties shall determine actions to implement the purpose of this MoU in accordance with scientific relevance and the rules of UNESCO and other applicable regulations, as well as budget availability of the Parties.

The Parties will appoint two representatives, one from each Party, who will form a Joint Steering Committee responsible for the implementation of this memorandum as determined by the Parties, guiding the activities as defined in the MoU, including drafting of the yearly joint calls for applications and coordination of procedures for the selection of awardees.

ARTICLE 3 –FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF UNESCO-TWAS

UNESCO-TWAS shall be responsible for purchasing return tickets for the selected candidates to and from Brazil to their country of origin, and will also cover visa related expenses, in all cases in accordance with the regulations and rules of UNESCO and based on budget availability

ARTICLE 4 –FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF FAPESP

FAPESP will be responsible for assuming the funding of the research projects selected, in all cases according to its national rules and regulations and budget availability of FAPESP.

Awardees must organize their own comprehensive medical insurance for the period of their stay to meet any untoward incidents and major ailments before traveling to Brazil.

FAPESP will not be responsible for payment of tuition and other study/research costs that will be waived or covered by the host institute depending to their policy.

Resources are planned by the Parties and earmarked so as to ensure availability for the batch of awardees in a given year. On the other hand, if the Parties have no budget availability, the yearly call for applications will not open.

ARTICLE 5 –IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTIVITIES

The Joint Steering Committee will be responsible for the joint general administration of the activities detailed in the MoU.

The Joint Steering Commitee can draft and change the terms of the call for applications and research proposals and the review of the same, as deemed necessary and decided by the Joint Steering Committee. The criteria for selection of candidates are listed in Annex 1, which is an integral part of this Memorandum, and will the basis for the text of the call for proposals.

FAPESP will be responsible for carrying out the selection of proposals through peer review, as described at https://fapesp.br/pdf/peer_review.pdf .

Gender is a UNESCO Global Priority: therefore, the Joint Steering Committee will consider gender balance among the awardees in the final decision.

The list of candidates shortlisted by FAPESP will be submitted for review to UNESCO-TWAS. The final decision shall be jointly taken by FAPESP and UNESCO-TWAS in accordance with the procedure set forth by the Joint Steering Committee.

ARTICLE 6 – ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

The intellectual property rights on any works resulting from the activities related to the FAPESP-UNESCO-TWAS Programme will be jointly owned by the research institutions that execute this cooperation and the researcher recipient of the fellowship award, and shall be established in a specific agreement to be signed by them with the awareness of the signatory Parties of this Agreement.

The FAPESP, UNESCO-TWAS and, if applicable, the Government of Brazil will enjoy a perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive and non-transferable license.

The participation in the results of the commercial exploitation of the intellectual property rights, including those transferred to third Parties, shall be defined in a separate agreement to be signed by the owners of these rights with the Parties of this Agreement.

Any publications of the results of research carried out under this MoU should be published under UNESCO’s and FAPESP’s open access policy (www.fapesp.br/openscience/en).

ARTICLE 7 –AMENDMENTS

Amendments to this MoU may be made by written agreement between the Parties.

ARTICLE 8 –VALIDITY AND TERMINATION

This MoU shall be in force for an initial period of five years from the date of its signature and may be extended by mutual written agreement by the Parties.

Before its expiration in accordance with the above paragraph, this MoU may be terminated by mutual written consent or by either Party serving six months' written notice to the other Party.

The MoU will be reviewed at the end of each year with regards to adjustment of costs relevant to the research projects.

ARTICLE 9 –USE OF THE NAME, ACRONYM OR LOGO

Unless authorized in writing by UNESCO, in conformity with its rules and regulations concerning the use of the name and logo, FAPESP shall not use the name, acronym or official logo of UNESCO, or any abbreviation of the name of UNESCO, for advertising or any other purposes. Similarly, unless authorized in writing by FAPESP, UNESCO shall not use the name, acronym or official logo of FAPESP or any abbreviation of the name of FAPESP for advertising or any other purposes.

ARTICLE 10 –PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES OF UNESCO

Nothing in or relating to the present agreement shall be deemed a waiver of any of the privileges and immunities of UNESCO. FAPESP shall hold harmless, defend and indemnify UNESCO against all lawsuits, claims, costs and liabilities resulting from any intellectual property disputes or other disputes occurring under the present agreement and which arise out of acts or omissions of the Partner.

ARTICLE 11 –PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION

UNESCO is committed to processing personal data in an accountable, non-discriminatory, and gender sensitive manner (https://www.unesco.org/en/privacy-policy). As a Specialized Agency of the United Nations, and bearing in mind its Privileges and Immunities, national or regional data protection legislation is not applicable to UNESCO.

UNESCO defines ‘personal data’ as any information relating to an individual (data subject) who can be identified from that data, either directly or indirectly, by reference to this data and reasonably likely measures, and which is processed by or on behalf of UNESCO in carrying out its mandated activities. UNESCO uses the term ‘data processing’ to describe any operation or set of operations that is performed on any personal data or non-personal sensitive data, whether or not by automated means, including collection, storage, use, transfer and erasure.

Nothing in or relating to the Principles on Personal Data Protection and Privacy (hereafter, the Principles) shall constitute a waiver, express or implied, of any of the privileges and immunities of UNESCO, pursuant to the 1947 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Specialized Agencies and Annex IV thereof, or otherwise.

ARTICLE 12 –SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES

Any controversy or claim arising out of or in connection with the present agreement or any breach thereof shall be settled by mutual understanding. However, if no amicable settlement can be arrived at, any dispute shall be arbitrated in accordance with the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Arbitration Rules.

ARTICLE 13 – EXECUTION OF THIS MOU

IN WITNESS WHEREOF AND UNESCO-TWAS hereunto have executed this MoU on the year and date below written.

Signed in English in duplicate copy in São Paulo, Brazil, and Trieste, Italy.

Annex I – ON ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Applicants for the PhD fellowship should comply with FAPESP requirements (www.fapesp.br/bolsas/dr and www.fapesp.br/bolsas/dd) and fulfil the following eligibility criteria, unless otherwise defined in the call for proposals:

• be permanent residents and nationals of a least developed country (see Article 1 above);
• not hold any visa for temporary or permanent residency in Brazil or any developed country;
• applicants already onsite in Brazil are not eligible to apply for this programme;
• hold an MSc degree or equivalent degree in a field of natural and related applied sciences (or social sciences if applying in this area);
• have official acceptance by a host institution in the State of São Paulo, Brazil;
• not receive throughout the duration of the fellowship under this MoU, another fellowship, salary or any kind of remuneration deriving from the exercise of activities of any nature, except under exceptional and justified conditions authorized by FAPESP to carry out activities that contribute to the development of the research project;
• provide evidence of proficiency in English, if language of education was not English;
• return to the country of origin on completion of their research project.

Applicants for the Postdoctoral fellowship should comply with FAPESP requirements (www.fapesp.br/en/postdoc) and fulfil the following eligibility criteria, unless otherwise defined in the call for proposals:

• be permanent residents and nationals of a least developed country (see Article 1 above);
• not hold any visa for temporary or permanent residency in Brazil or any developed country;
• applicants already onsite in Brazil are not eligible to apply for this programme;
• hold a PhD degree or equivalent degree in a field of natural and related applied sciences (or social sciences if applying in this area);
• apply for the fellowship within 7 (seven) years of having obtained the PhD degree;
• have official acceptance by a host supervisor from a host institute in the State of São Paulo, Brazil;
• the supervisor must be a faculty in a higher education and research institution in Sao Paulo;
• The application must be presented to FAPESP by the supervisor.
• not receive throughout the duration of the fellowship under this MoU, another fellowship, salary or any kind of remuneration deriving from the exercise of activities of any nature, except under exceptional and justified conditions authorized by FAPESP to carry out activities that contribute to the development of the research project;
• provide evidence of proficiency in English, if language of education was not English;
• return to the country of origin on completion of their research project.

Applicants for the Young Investigator Grant should comply with FAPESP requirements (www.fapesp.br/en/yia) and attend the following eligibility criteria, unless otherwise defined in the call for proposals:

• be permanent residents and nationals of a least developed country (see Article 1 above);
• not hold any visa for temporary or permanent residency in Brazil or any developed country;
• applicants already onsite in Brazil are not eligible to apply for this programme;
• hold a PhD degree or equivalent degree in a field of natural and related applied sciences (or social sciences if applying in this area);
• provide evidence of proficiency in English, if language of education was not English;
• not receive throughout the duration of the fellowship under this MoU, another fellowship, salary or any kind of remuneration deriving from the exercise of activities of any nature, except under exceptional and justified conditions authorized by FAPESP to carry out activities that contribute to the development of the research project.

Memorandum signed on October 5, 2023.

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