Agreements
Data-driven research on Sports & Healthy Living
Call for proposals
2016 Funding Round
1 Introduction
1.1 Background
In this brochure you will find information about the submission of research proposals for the fourth call of Joint Research Projects under the Scientific Cooperation Agreement between the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), São Paulo, Brazil, and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), including the NWO Taskforce for Applied Research (SIA). The theme for this Call for Proposals is Data-driven research on Sports and Healthy Living.
Project proposals must be jointly written by researchers formally associated with public or private Higher Education or Research Institutions in the State of São Paulo, Brazil and in the Netherlands and must reflect unison and close cooperation. It is expected that research activities be conducted on both sides and that the project and the intellectual contribution is evenly balanced between São Paulo and the Netherlands.
This call for proposals is announced simultaneously by FAPESP and NWO/SIA.
1.2 Available budget
For the 2016 call, the the Dutch part is M€2 (two million Euros) compiled of maximum M€1.5 (one million and five hundred thousand Euros) from NWO and maximum k€500 (five hundred thousand Euros) from SIA. FAPESP will contribute up to M€2 (two million Euros), limited to a “matching effort” basis in each proposal. “Matching effort” refers to similar research effort on both sides (similar number of PIs, students and post-docs) and not to equal expenditures on both sides. 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 partners.
Only proposals that are assessed as excellent or very good will be eligible for funding. Proposals of insufficient quality will not be eligible for funding even if there is sufficient budget for this.
The budget request must follow the norms of both FAPESP and NWO/SIA and their respective Programs. The budget to be approved for each selected proposal will be subject to the rules and restrictions of each funding agency, as specified in this call for proposals.
1.3 Validity call for proposals
This call for proposals is valid for the assessment procedure of proposals submitted up until the deadline of Thursday June 30, see also the timetable, 3.3.
2 Aim
The aim of this call is to strengthen research cooperation between researchers in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, and researchers in the Netherlands by funding joint research projects. It will contribute to the further enhancement of bilateral innovative data-driven research on the topic Sports and Healthy Living which is aimed to provide solutions for challenges we are facing in our current and future society.
Enormous advances in knowledge and technology marked the last decades. In health science, the development of new methods of diagnosis and medications substantially improved the treatment of diseases with great impact on longevity. However, these advances have not necessarily led to a better quality of life. In fact, healthy living represents one of the major challenges nowadays.
Accumulated evidences show that inactivity is directly associated with diseases and poor prognosis. In contrast, a more active life style regardless the presence of disease improves quality of life and survival. This knowledge raises the importance of physical activity and sports in our societies. In fact, epidemiological studies clearly demonstrate that physical activity plays an important role in the prevention of many diseases.
FAPESP
FAPESP strongly values international research collaboration. Research within this call fits with Brazilian policy. The Brazilian National Research Agenda on Sports and Movement recently published, identifies big data as dominant place as a cross cutting theme through all topics addressed in the agenda. To researchers in the State of São Paulo, the big data theme brings a new and interesting challenge in research on sports and healthy living and matches well FAPESP’s strategy envisioned through the foundation’s e-Science Special Program www.fapesp.br/escience. Thus, the aim of this call is to strengthen research cooperation between researchers in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, and researchers in the Netherlands by funding joint research projects in the field of sports, performance, prevention and rehabilitation, with emphasis on data science and big data.
NWO/SIA
NWO/SIA highly value international cooperation, in addition there are also a number of topics of importance for the Dutch science policy.
First, multidisciplinary research in the Dutch part of the application is of the utmost importance with regards to the cooperation between data science and sciences related to sports and healthy living. Sport science in the Netherlands is almost always a cooperation between researchers from different scientific expertise such as health, movement, technology, policy and economics. However in the last number of years the use of big data, is gaining importance in sport science. The reason for this is that (recreational) athletes through the use of new high tech systems, are able to collect enormous amounts of data on their bodily functions and performance. In addition they are willing and allowed to share those data. This is an advantage over other domains, where privacy issues are often a problem.
This program on sports and healthy living based on data-driven research fits well within the Dutch science policy, which has an increased focus on big data. Big data is, for example, one of the challenges identified in the NWO strategy 2015-2018. In addition, within the Dutch Top Sector policy, Big Data is identified as one of the key themes in the Knowledge and Innovation Agenda ICT (KIA ICT) 2016-2019. In this agenda a large-scale initiative, COMMIT2DATA forms an important catalyst for Big Data research. Finally, just recently a National Research Agenda on Sports and Movement was published in which big data takes a dominant place as a cross cutting theme through all topics addressed in the agenda.
Second, within the Netherlands, the cooperation between fundamental and applied science is growing. It is seen as complementary trajectories whereby both can benefit from each other expertise. Applied science is (a) demand-driven based on real-life challenges in society, (b) it fosters the dissemination and implementation of research in industry, SME’s and society, (c) it features a strong cooperation between researchers, SME’s and professionals in the implementation of the research and, (d) has a strong link between research and education (i.e. educate future professionals and innovate professional practice). Especially within the field of sport, there is an urgent need to link science and evidence based knowledge to the daily practice of coaches, athletes, policy makers, industry, sport federations etc. In the Netherlands applied and fundamental sciences have already been working together for quite some time. This program aims at strengthening these already existing and emerging ties and, through the cooperation with applied sciences at stimulating co-creation of knowledge with public and private organizations.
Thematic Focus
The call focusses on three main themes.
1. Data Science and Bioinformatics
2. Sports: Performance and Technology
3. Healthy Living and Prevention: physical activity, regular exercise and a healthy sustainable environment
The subtopics of these themes are explained in more details in the annexes.
3 Guidelines for applicants
3.1 Who can apply
A proposal must be jointly submitted by a Principal Investigator (PI) in the State of São Paulo and a PI in the Netherlands. Proposals can be submitted by eligible researchers in the State of São Paulo and in the Netherlands. Researchers regarded as eligible to submit proposals within the scope of this call are the following.
NWO/SIA
The submission conditions given below apply to both main and co-applicants unless otherwise stated.
Applications can be submitted by full, assistant and associate professors and other researchers with a comparable appointment if they:
− hold an appointment at a Dutch university or a research institute recognized by NWO (i.e. they have paid appointment) and
− possess at least a PhD or a comparable qualification and,
− have a contract (period of appointment) for at least the duration of the application process and the research for which the grant is being applied for.
The co-applicant must be a professor with an appointment at an university of applied sciences funded by the Ministry of Education (funded in accordance with Article 1.8 of the law on higher education and scientific research and a member of the Vereniging Hogescholen, see also 1.1.2. of the NWO Regeling Subsidieverlening).
The Dutch part of the research team must meet the following requirements.
- Multidisciplinary composition of the academic researchers. Dutch research teams should consist of at least two academic researchers: 1) scientist with an expertise in data science and 2) a scientist with expertise in sciences related to sports, movement or health. This means that the research carried out in the Netherlands is multidisciplinary and should at least include the theme on Data science and Bioinformatics.
- Cooperation between fundamental and applied research. Research teams have to be composed of at least two fundamental (see above) and one applied scientist. Therefore, in the proposal a specification is made in the description of the research activities between fundamental research (part A) and the applied research (part B).
- Participation of at least two private and/or public organisations in the applied part of the research (part B). Applied science is always demand-driven, this connection with practice should be clear through the commitment and co-financing of those partners (see 3.2, Funding from SIA, for specific information on co-financing).
− The main applicant submits the application on behalf of the entire consortium and is responsible for the academic consistency and results as well as the financial accounting of the research.
− During the period for which funding is requested the main applicant and co-applicants must remain effectively involved in the research covered by the application. The research institute and/or higher education institutions must give the applicants the opportunity to take care of adequate research supervision during the course of the application process and the research. The public and private partners (non-university partners such as businesses and governments) must be included in the application as co-applicants.
A researcher may only submit one application as the main applicant. This means that he/she can be the principal applicant for one application and a co-applicant for one or more different applications.
The representation and career progression of women in science lags considerably behind that of men. Women are therefore emphatically invited to participate in consortiums and submit proposals.
FAPESP
Researchers eligible for FAPESP funding must be formally associated with public or private Higher Education or Research Institutions in the State of São Paulo and must meet the FAPESP eligibility requirements for either Regular Research Projects, Thematic Research Projects or Young Investigator Awards, as described in the links provided below:
I) Regular Research Project: proposals submitted to FAPESP in this modality must follow the Regular Research Project rules, as available at www.fapesp.br/137 (only in Portuguese), except if explicitly indicated in this Call for Proposals (CFP), including the specific documents to this CFP, as indicated in the clause “Submission”.
II) Thematic Research Project: proposals submitted to FAPESP in this modality must follow the rules of FAPESP’s Thematic Project as available at https://fapesp.br/176 (in Portuguese), except if explicitly indicated in this CFP, including the specific documents to this CFP, as indicated in the clause “Submission”.
III) Young Investigator Awards: proposals submitted to FAPESP under this modality must follow the rules of Young Investigator Awards, as available at www.fapesp.br/jp except where explicitly indicated in this Call for Proposals (CFP), including the specific documents indicated in the clause “Submission”.
Please be aware of the strict eligibility criteria established in the links provided above. Researchers from the state of São Paulo, must consult FAPESP about their eligibility no later than June, 13th. International submissions that do not include this declaration will not be considered by FAPESP.
To have eligibility analyzed, applicants must send an email to (chamada_nwo@fapesp.br) with subject "NWO – request for analysis of eligibility", attaching the following documents:
1) Name and affiliation of the applicant
2) Tentative title and a 5-line abstract of the project
3) FAPESP Modality (Regular Research Project, Thematic Research project, or Young Investigator Awards)
4) Estimated amount of budget to request to FAPESP
5) Summary CV (FAPESP model) of the applicant
6) Information about whether the applicant is currently PI of a FAPESP ongoing project (indicate project number)
Within up to one week of receiving this request, 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.
All PI’s and their institutions must fulfill the eligibility rules for research proposals as set by the relevant funding agency. Applicants must note that the funding agencies retain the right to reject applications where they fail to comply with the procedures set out in the guidelines. If an application is ineligible with one of the agencies, the complete project will be rejected.
3.2 What can be applied for
Project proposals are jointly written by Brazilian and Dutch researchers. It is to be expected that the projects will by and large have the same duration in Brazil as in The Netherlands.
Available funding for NWO/SIA
The maximum amount of funding that can be applied for per project on the Dutch side is €492.500 (four hundred ninety-two thousand and five hundred Euros), for the assignment of up to two academic research positions (PhD and/or Postdoc), one applied scientist, exchange visits and meeting costs. NWO will provide funding of up to a maximum of €367.500 (three hundred sixty-seven thousand and five hundred Euros) per proposal (part A on fundamental research). SIA will provide up to a maximum of €125.000 (one hundred twenty-five thousand Euros) per proposal (part B on applied sciences). The total duration of a project is at least three years and not more than five years.
Available funding for FAPESP
In accordance with FAPESP norms for (i) Regular or (ii) Thematic research project or (iii) Young investigator Award. Research projects can have a duration between three and five years, respecting norms of each modality as exposed in mentioned types of funding by FAPESP.
I) Regular Research Project: This modality can fund projects for up to 36 months, with amount equivalent to up to €25.000 (twenty-five thousand Euros) per year. Request can include equipment, services, travel allowances and technical training fellowships, in all cases according to the FAPESP rules (www.fapesp.br/137).
II) Thematic Research Project: This modality can fund 60 months projects and, for this call, with a total budget not exceeding €500.000,00. Request can include equipment, services, travel allowances and the following academic Scholarships: Postdoctoral, Honour PhD (Doutorado Direto), Scientific Initiation, Technical Training, Scientific Journalism (JC) and Educational Improvement (Aperfeiçoamento Pedagógico/Ensino Público), in all cases according to the FAPESP rules (https://fapesp.br/176). Additionally, proposals for thematic Grants which display a strong imbalance between the request for equipment and request for fellowships will receive less priority.
III) Young Investigator Awards: This modality can fund 48 months Project, and for this call, with a total budget not exceeding €500.000,00. Request can include equipment, services, travel allowances and the following academic Scholarships: Master degree, Honour PhD (Doutorado Direto), Scientific Initiation, Technical Training, Scientific Journalism (JC) and Educational Improvement (Aperfeiçoamento Pedagógico/Ensino Público), in all cases according to the FAPESP rules (www.fapesp.br/jp).
Eligible costs
All budget items must conform to the rules relevant for each agency. The following funding rules will apply.
Funding from NWO (Part A)
Proposals can request two research positions (PhDs or postdocs) and additional funding for the benefit of the research proposal up to a maximum of €367.500. The funding can be used for:
- PhDs and/or two or three-year postdocs on the basis of a full-time position. An individual bench fee (€ 5000) will be allocated to each PhD or postdoc to partly cover things such as travel costs and the costs of printing a thesis (the bench fee is not part of the additional funding);
- equipment/software for the project as long as costs are above € 5000. The equipment must be specifically intended for the project described in the proposal. The relationship with the project and the need for the equipment should be clearly justified. Cheaper equipment/software is considered to belong to the infrastructure of the research institution and so it cannot be applied for;
- travel costs for the purpose of the requested research positions in so far as these are not covered by the bench fee. The need for the mount of travel for the project, in particular for the research positions requested, should be clearly justified;
- other activities in the framework of the project, such as non-scientific personnel, travel and accommodation costs for guest researchers and costs for symposia, for example in relation to the PhD graduation. These should also be clearly justified.
Funding may not be requested for tenured staff, student assistants, overheads, general laboratory equipment (this also includes general software and hardware such as computers and laptops for which it may be expected that these belong to the standard equipment for a scientific position), maintenance and insurance costs and publication costs.
Personnel costs are fundable in accordance with the most recent version of “Agreement for Funding Scientific Research”, which has been signed by NWO, VSNU, NFU, ZonMw, KNAW and VFI. The agreement and the maximum payments for personnel costs can be found at www.nwo.nl/akkoordbekostiging and www.nwo.nl/salaristabellen.
Funding from SIA (Part B)
A separate budget is available for universities of applied science; the term of proposals by the university of applied science is a maximum of 3 years.
Universities of applied science are given the opportunity to develop their own research subproject in the logical framework of the project and relevant to the objectives of the project. The maximum duration of part B at a university of applied science is three years. Participation by a university of applied science in a project is subject to the financial provisions of SIA. SIA awards a maximum of €125,000 for participation by universities of applied science; this is awarded as part of the entire project.
More information on rules and regulations for the funding from SIA can be found on www.regieorgaan-sia.nl/content/Thematische+regelingen/sports-healthy-living.
The university of applied sciences and non-academic partners in the consortium must make a specific contribution to the research of part B. The minimum co-financing required for part B is 25% which can be in kind or in cash. Minimal half of this co-financing required is contributed for by private and/or public partners.
The contribution in the form of co-financing should be confirmed in a letter by the university of applied science, the private and/or public partners who are acting as co-financier, to be enclosed with the full application.
Funding from FAPESP
Allowable items are in accordance with FAPESP norms for each Program, Regular or Thematic Research Project or Young Investigator Award. Research projects can have a duration between two and five years, respecting norms of each modality as exposed in the item 3.1.
In all three cases, proposals with excessive request for equipment or too little request for time commitment (as weekly hours) will be returned without merit review.
3.3 Timetable
Indicative timetable
| 13 June 2016 | Deadline for the eligibility check PI with FAPESP |
| 30 June 2016; 14.00 hours CET | Deadline submission proposals via the ISAAC- system |
| 30 June 2016; 17.00 hours Brazilian time | Deadline submission proposals at FAPESP |
| June-September 2016 | Hearing referees |
| September 2016 | Rebuttal applicants |
| End October/November 2016 | Meeting Assessment Committee |
| December 2016 | Decision NWO/SIA and FAPESP |
Applicants can follow the progress of the assessment procedure via their account in ISAAC.
Please observe that the deadline for the submission of full proposals via the ISAAC- system to NWO/SIA is Thursday June 30, at 14.00 hours CET. The deadline for FAPESP is Thursday June 30, at 17:00 hours Brazilian time.
No proposals 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 NWO/SIA. Proposals not received before the deadline, not in conformity to the specifications herein or submitted by any other means will not be considered. Late submissions will be returned.
3.4 Drawing up an application
A joint proposal describes, e.g. the members of the bilateral consortium, the envisioned research, a description of activities carried out in Brazil and The Netherlands (specifying the applied research and the fundamental research). The application also describes how this grant builds upon the own line of research in Brazil or the Netherlands and the added value of this joint research proposal. Exchange of researchers within the joint project is envisioned, e.g. working a couple of months in at the research institution of the collaborative researcher abroad.
The grant application consists of several parts: a fact sheet and the application form. The following instructions apply to these parts:
- The factsheet can be completed directly in ISAAC, the electronic application system of NWO. When you fill in the fact sheet you can only make use of the ASCII symbols (‘plain text’). Therefore (structural) formulas, illustrations, italics et cetera cannot be used in the fact sheet. These can of course, be used in the proposal.
- The application form can be found on the webpage of this programme on the NWO website www.nwo.nl/bsd-en. This completed form must be added to the ISAAC fact sheet as a PDF file.
- The application should be written in English
- Additional information in the form of annexes may not be added to the application (for example, extra results, manuscripts, additional support letters etc.).
In accordance with the agreement between NWO and the VSNU applicants should inform the institution about the submission. The applicant should send a copy of the application to the scientific director or deacon of the institution or faculty. For each proposal submitted, NWO Physical Sciences will assume that the applicant has informed the institution and that the university or the institute accepts the granting conditions of this programme.
For part B of the research, the co-applicant should inform the Governing Board of the university of applied science about the submission. For each proposal submitted in the framework of Part B NWO-SIA will assume that this proposal is approved by the Governing Board and that the university of applied science accepts the granting conditions of this program.
3.5 Specific conditions
Please note that the funding will be administered to the successful applicants via the national funding agency.
For academic researchers from the Netherlands this Call for Proposals is subject to NWO’s general terms and conditions ‘General Terms and Conditions of NWO Grants’ (www.nwo.nl/en/subscription-documents/nwo/legal/nwo-regulation-on-granting-may-2011)
NWO may cancel funding according to the NWO Regulation on Granting.
Dutch researchers involved in the research on applied sciences (part B) who have been granted a proposal are requested to draw up a consortium agreement with the public or private partners they are cooperating with.
3.6 Submitting an application
All proposals must be completed in English and follow the proposal structure as indicated in the application template available on the websites of FAPESP and NWO/SIA. The proposals should be in PDF format. If the stated maximum number of words and/or pages is exceeded, or if the necessary documents are not included, the application may be automatically disqualified.
NWO/SIA
An application can only be submitted to NWO/SIA via the online application system ISAAC. Applications not submitted via ISAAC will not be considered. The main applicant must submit his/her application and the annexes on behalf of the research consortium, via his/her own ISAAC account.
If the main applicant does not yet have an ISAAC account, this should be created at least one day before the submission. Then any possible registration problems can still be solved on time. If the applicant already has an ISAAC account then he/she does not need to create a new account to submit a new application.
When you submit your application to ISAAC you need to enter several additional details online. Make sure you allow enough time for this. For technical questions please contact the ISAAC helpdesk (see Section 5.1.2).
FAPESP
Besides the submission to the website hosted by NOW/SIA, the PI in the State of São Paulo must submit to FAPESP, in paper by mail, the following documents:
- The Research Project written jointly by the SP Principal Investigator and his/her colleague, the Principal Investigator from Netherlands in English;
- Researcher’s Registration Form to be filled by the PI from SP (in Portuguese);
- Summary of the CV of the members of the team (SP and Dutch researchers);
- A copy of the eligibility letter provided by FAPESP (Please observe section 3.1);
- A Letter of Agreement between the Higher Education or Research Institutions to which the national team PIs are affiliated, establishing how Intellectual Property rights, confidentiality, and publications will be treated jointly, in observance of the policies of each funding Party. Please note that 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;
- Submissions to FAPESP can only be accepted in paper, via mail, to the following address: Rua Pio XI, 1500, Alto da Lapa, CEP 05468-901 – São Paulo/SP, with “Chamada – NWO 2016” written on the envelope. Only proposals with a stamped postmark date within the deadline of this Call will be processed
- Proposals submitted by any other means will not be accepted. Late submissions will be returned.
4 Assessment procedure
4.1 Procedure
The assessment process of analysis, qualification, rebuttal and selection of the received proposals will be led by NWO/SIA. Reviewers will be appointed by NWO/SIA and FAPESP. The NWO Code of Conduct on Conflicts of Interest applies to all persons and NWO/SIA staff involved in the assessment and/or decision-making process. For further information see: www.nwo.nl/en/documents/nwo/legal/nwo-code-of-conduct-on-conflicts-of-interest
The NWO Regulation on Granting includes a clause that states that all research funded by NWO/SIA must be realised in accordance with the nationally and internationally accepted standards for scientific conduct as stated in the Netherlands Code of Conduct for Scientific Practice 2012 (VSNU). Further information about the NWO policy on scientific integrity can be found on the website:www.nwo.nl/beleid/wetenschappelijke+integriteit
All scientific publications resulting from research that is funded by grants by NWO/SIA derived from this Call for Proposals are to be immediately (at the time of publication) freely accessible worldwide (Open Access). There are several ways for researchers to publish Open Access. A detailed explanation regarding Open Access can be found on www.nwo.nl/openscience-en.
All the research that is funded by grants by NWO/ SIA derived from this Call for Proposals stimulates and realizes the joint development, dissemination and application of knowledge within universities, companies and public organisations. By the involvement of and interaction with companies and public partners in the research a network of academic and non- academic partners is realized that is sustained also after the ending of the research project.
NWO/SIA gives all full proposals a qualification. The qualification will be made known to the researcher in the same letter in which he or she is also informed about NWO/SIA's decision whether or not to award funding. For further information about the qualifications please see: www.nwo.nl/en/funding/funding+process+explained/nwo+qualification+system
a) Admissibility
In the assessment procedure, the admissibility of the individual projects will be determined using the conditions stated in Chapter 3 of this call for proposals. Eligibility of the proposals will be assessed by NWO/SIA and FAPESP at the start of the procedure. Proposals that do not comply with the terms, or with the aim of this call for proposals (see Chapter 2) will be considered ‘not eligible’ and will not qualify for analysis. Proposals will only be considered eligible if approved by all councils.
Please be aware of the strict eligibility criteria for FAPESP researchers established in the links provided in 3.1. For this reason Brazilian PI’s should check their eligibility with FAPESP prior to submitting the proposal.
b) Peer review
All eligible proposals will be submitted to international referees for assessment. Referees are experts in the discipline of the applicant and/or have expertise in applied sciences and /or practice. They will write a referee's report in which they state the strong and weak aspects of the proposal, according to the assessment criteria specified in section 4.2. The anonymised referees' reports will be sent to the applicant who then subsequently writes a joint written response (the rebuttal).
Referees will be appointed by NWO/SIA and FAPESP.
c) Rebuttal
All researchers with proposals considered eligible and received for review will have the right to jointly formulate a 2 page rebuttal to the peer review reports. The anonymized reviews will be sent to the Principal Investigators. The joint rebuttal needs to be sent to NWO/SIA by email and will be requested within a short time frame of maximum two weeks.
d) Assessment Committee
A joint international assessment committee will be composed by NWO/SIA and FAPESP. The committee's task is to make an independent evaluation based on the application, the referees’ reports and the rebuttal. Although the referees’ reports have a strong bearing on the final assessment they will not be unquestioningly adopted by the assessment committee. The assessment committee will consider the arguments of the referees (also between referees) and will examine whether a good response to the critical comments from the referees' reports has been formulated in the rebuttal. Furthermore, unlike the referees, the selection committee can see the quality of the other proposals submitted and the rebuttals. It will rank and rate the proposals, and formulate a funding recommendation to NWO/SIA and FAPESP.
e) Decision making
The advice of the assessment committee will be subject to approval by each of the funding agencies, FAPESP and NWO/SIA. Please note that proposals can only be funded if both FAPESP and NWO/SIA agree on the ranking of the assessment committee.
FAPESP
Selected proposals will be object of a grant contract to be signed by the PI in the State of São Paulo and an authorized representative of the Higher Education and Research Institution to which he/she is affiliated.
FAPESP may cancel funding if, during the grant timeframe, there appears a fact of sufficient gravity to justify cancellation, at the discretion of the Scientific Director, without prejudice of any other appropriate actions.
The results will be announced by FAPESP at and by NWO/SIA via a letter to the main applicant.
4.2 Criteria
All eligible proposals will be assessed against five sets of criteria: a) relevance to the theme of the Call, b) scientific quality of the research proposal, c) quality of the research groups, d) international co-operation, e) knowledge utilization/cooperation. All five of the sets of criteria will be taken into consideration.
a) Relevance to the theme of the Call
- Whether the proposal fits within the thematic focus of the call;
- Whether the proposal is in line with institutions’ priorities. For the Netherlands proposals need to fit within the Kennisagenda Sport & Bewegen.
b) Scientific quality of the research proposal
- Quality of the project, including originality and innovative elements;
- Potential to make an important contribution to the advancement of science or technology;
- Importance and urgency of the proposed project;
- Suitability of the proposed method and technical feasibility;
- Adequacy of the budget.
c) Quality of the research groups
- Competence and expertise of the team;
- Synergy, complementarity and added value in the collaboration.
d) International co-operation
- Added value of international cooperation to the research project, including the complementary expertise;
- The degree of inter-institutional co-operation between the project partners, including the balanced contribution to the research project;
- Perspective for long-term sustainable collaboration.
e) Knowledge co-creation and networking
- Involvement of and interaction with industrial and public partners in the project; i.e. the application describes the process of demand-articulation (workshops, surveys, reference to presentations etc.);
- The potential impact of the research results in scientific, societal and/or economic terms;
- Actions planned to ensure that the results of the planned research benefit potential knowledge users;
- Network of Dutch non-academic project partners has demonstrable knowledge and proven quality to execute the research;
- Network of Dutch non-academic persons and organizations possess connections/ relationships with relevant initiatives in that field of research; it is of added value if it concerns an extension of an existing network.
5 Contact and other information
5.1 Contact
5.1.1 Specific questions
For specific questions about grants and this call for proposals please contact:
FAPESP: Researchers from São Paulo should direct all questions exclusively to Dra. Vera Viviane Schmidt at chamada_nwo@fapesp.br
NWO: Mr. drs. S.G. (Sjoerd) Meihuizen, tel. +31 06-83238356, e-mail s.meihuizen@nwo.nl
SIA: Mr. Marcel Kleijn, e-mail: marcel.kleijn@regieorgaan-sia.nl
5.1.2 Technical questions about the electronic application system ISAAC
For technical questions about the use of ISAAC please contact the ISAAC helpdesk. Please read the manual first before consulting the helpdesk. The ISAAC helpdesk can be contacted from Monday to Friday between 10:00 and 17:00 hours CET on +31 900 696 4747. Unfortunately, not all foreign telecom companies support calling to 0900-numbers. However, you can also submit your question by e-mail to isaac.helpdesk@nwo.nl. You will then receive an answer within two working days.
6 Annexes
Thematic descriptions
The thematic descriptions for this call have been based upon formulation by researchers from the Netherlands and Brazil during a joint workshop in March, 016 in São Paolo.
This call is open to any project that addresses research questions in Sports and Healthy Living using techniques of large-scale digital data analysis and shows how these new techniques can lead to new theoretical insights. It is specifically aiming to advance multidisciplinary collaborative projects in digital scholarship that seek new perspectives and insights.
Proposals may address any research question in Sports and Healthy Living, considering the areas below, and utilizing any data source to do so. Examples of research challenges that may be considered in projects include (but are not limited to):
- Interpreting data: using data-based analysis, modelling and simulation techniques to gain new insights.
- Novel application of data: using one or more data sources which were not originally designed/generated/collected for research purposes, for example open data/open source systems or 'live' data generated in real-time, either alone or in combination to address Sports and Healthy Living questions.
- Employing multi-form and/or multi-source data in research: exploring the potential for calibration, combination and interoperability of datasets in two or more different formats and/or from two or more different sources in order to address Sports and Healthy Living research questions.
Data Science and Bioinformatics
In Europe data science is a fast growing scientific discipline; in Brazil research along these lines is more commonly referred to as Bioinformatics.
Regardless of the topic of the research carried out within this call, the use of big data and data science is necessary and essential to gain new insights. The reason for this is that athletes and amateurs are willing to share data, thereby making it possible for researchers to have access to huge amounts of data on people. In other related fields such as health, data is not as readily available because of privacy issues. Research comprises issues such as:
- Large scale data acquisition (i.e. internet of things, high tech sensors) and data storing/handling.
- Data analysis (i.e. statistics, predictive analytics data mining, visualization and machine learning) Based on this research on individual prediction and personalized medicine can be carried out.
- Data standards and techniques and the integration of methods (incl. reduction methods).
- Data based design interventions; (behavioral) models extracted from data analytics can be used to form the basis of new design and interventions.
Underlying these topics is the FAIR principle on data, it needs to be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable.
Please note that some issues within Sports can also be part of research on Healthy Living and vice versa, such as for example technology and tracking.
Sports: Performance and Technology
The theme of Sports revolves mainly around performance of athletes, but research on recreational athletes is also included. The performance of both groups can improve through technology and measuring, of the performance as well as of the person.
Performance
The effects of training needs to be investigated in order to improve the athlete’s performance. For example measuring training (over-) load. One way is through data collection of performance. Another way is through genetics (i.e. monitoring and analyzing gene expressions) and individual profiling (genetic profiles and markers). Lastly, talent development (in youths) is a topic of research.
Technology
Topics of research in technology includes improving in biomechanical modeling using large datasets to promote sport performance. This also includes the tuning of sports equipment to the (para-) athlete. In order to promote perfect performance, research on musculoskeletal injury prevention is essential. For athletes with disabilities further research on biomechanics and physiology of sports and exercise is wanted.
Healthy Living and Prevention: physical activity, regular exercise and a healthy sustainable environment
Research in this topic focusses on a number of topics clustered around two main sub themes; Physical activity and Healthy sustainable environment.
Physical activity and regular exercise
Research is needed to improve the understanding the role physical activity and regular exercise has to maintain or gain someone’s health. This topic should address studies on health and prevention by means of physical activity and regular exercise.
Research on this topic is most often carried out in laboratories but context oriented research is equally important. For example large sets of data can be gathered by the racking devices (incl. sensors) used by amateur athletes. New technology can be used to further use to motivate people’s physical activity and regular exercise.
Within this subtopic research on (technological) innovations to improve physical activity and exercise possibilities for people with disabilities or recovering from injury (rehabilitation) is also included.
Healthy and sustainable environment
Questions revolve around such issues as understanding the causes and motives of inactivity but also find strategies to promote active living and providing access for people to physical activity. For example the way a city is set up provides people with the proper access to sports and but a sense of safety is also wanted. Intervention projects such as policy intervention, social network intervention, technical intervention as well as family and school bases intervention can be topic of research.