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Established between the following Partners:

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (hereinafter referred to as “FAPESP”), Brazil

And

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (hereinafter referred to as “ETH Zürich”), Switzerland

referred to hereafter as “the Parties”.

The purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding is to foster Swiss-Brazilian collaboration in scientific research and it aims to fund joint research projects conducted by teams from both countries.

This Memorandum of Understanding sets out the principles and procedures to be adopted by the Parties in:

a) issuing calls for proposals;

b) receiving joint proposals;

c) setting up peer review and selection procedures;

d) providing funding for the proposals selected.

General Description and context

a) FAPESP and ETH Zürich agree to establish a scheme for joint funding of collaborative research projects between researchers from ETH Zürich and from the State of São Paulo in any field of science.

b) The aim of the funding cooperation is to strengthen the collaboration between scientists in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, and at ETH Zürich, Switzerland, to achieve world-class scientific and technical results that contribute to the advancement of knowledge and/or that might lead towards new innovative technologies. Both parties welcome, encourage and support joint research which involves research teams from research organisations in both countries.

Submission of Proposals

a) FAPESP and ETH Zürich will encourage submission of projects from Switzerland and the State of São Paulo.

b) The applicants from Switzerland must comply with ETH Zürich’s eligibility rules for research grant applications.

c) The applicants from the State of São Paulo must comply with FAPESP’s eligibility rules for research grant applications.

d) The proposals submitted by Researchers in Switzerland will be subject to ETH Zürich’s rules, and the proposals submitted by Researchers in São Paulo State will be subject to FAPESP’s rules.

e) The proposals must be unique, i.e., written jointly by the researchers from Switzerland and the State of São Paulo that will collaborate.

f) The proposals shall be submitted simultaneously by the researchers from the State of São Paulo to FAPESP, and by the ETH Zürich researchers to ETH Zürich.

f.1) Proposals submitted to only one party will not be eligible.

g) The proposals shall be written in English.

h) After the closing date for the Call for Proposals, ETH Zürich and FAPESP will exchange a listing of the proposals received by each institution.

i) Each proposal must have a Principal Investigator at ETH Zürich and a Principal Investigator in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, indicated in the submission forms to each Party.

Proposal formatting

Each Party will use its own submission forms.

Evaluation of Project Proposals

a) ETH Zürich and FAPESP will evaluate the received proposals according to their own evaluation procedures, and will rank the proposals based on scientific excellence and mutual interest.

b) The most important evaluation criteria are:

b.1) Scientific quality and originality of the joint research plan;

b.2) Added value to be expected from the research collaboration between researchers from Switzerland and from the State of São Paulo.

c) Other important evaluation criteria:

c.1) Feasibility of the joint research plan;

c.2) Competence and expertise of the scientist teams from ETH Zürich and the State of São Paulo;

c.3) Balanced cooperation.

d) Based on the scientific evaluation, national ranking and consensus based on the individual evaluations by both Parties, the Parties will agree on the joint projects to be funded.

Funding

a) For the selected proposals, ETH Zürich will fund the part to be developed by scientists from ETH Zürich, and FAPESP will fund the part to be developed by scientists from the State of São Paulo.

b) The funding might cover the costs of research expenses, fellowships for doctoral students, and travel expenses.

c) The funding decisions will be made independently, but based on the mutual agreement, according to each Party’s respective rules, regulations and practices.

d) As a rule each project will be funded for a maximum of three (3) years. In no case may a project be funded for more than (5) years.

e) ETH Zürich will not earmark special funds to support the proposed projects since the proposals submitted to this program will compete with proposals received by ETH Zürich in its internal programme, and therefore the number of projects selected for funding and the total amount will strongly depend on the number and quality of the submitted projects.

f) FAPESP will not earmark special funds to support the proposed projects since the proposals submitted to this program will compete with proposals received by FAPESP in its regular programmes, and therefore the number of projects selected for funding and the total amount will strongly depend on the number and quality of the submitted projects.

Timeline and Announcement of Decision

a) The Parties agree to ensure that all decisions on proposals to be funded according to timelines to be agreed upon in each case.

b) FAPESP and ETH Zürich will synchronise the communication on the selected projects.

Intellectual Property

a) The Parties encourage scientists and their institutions to enter into agreements to ensure the effective protection and correct distribution of intellectual properties resulting from projects funded under this Memorandum of Understanding.

b) A Collaboration Agreement will need to be in place and reported to ETH Zürich and FAPESP before any grant notification will be made.

Reporting and Publications

a) The national Principal Investigators shall comply with the reporting requirements of their respective funding Party.

b) At the end of each project a formal final report should be submitted to each Party according to its reporting rules.

c) Due acknowledgement of support received from FAPESP and ETH Zürich should be made in the publication of any research resulting from this program.

Miscellaneous

a) Each Party covers its own administration costs regarding its contribution to the call for proposals, unless otherwise jointly decided.

b) This Memorandum of Understanding is subject to the availability of funds in the budget of the Parties and the applicable laws and regulations of their respective countries.

c) This Memorandum of Understanding is drawn up in English and Portuguese, and all documents and notices and meetings pertaining to this Memorandum of Understanding shall be in English and Portuguese.

d) This Memorandum of Understanding may only be amended by a document signed by both Parties and identified as an Amendment to this Memorandum of Understanding.

e) The Parties shall maintain the highest ethical and legal standards in funding research under this Memorandum of Understanding.

f) Any dispute arising from the interpretation or implementation of this Memorandum of Understanding will be resolved amicably and expeditiously by consultation or negotiation between the Parties or such other means as they may mutually decide.

Term of this Memorandum of Understanding

a) For each Party, this Memorandum of Understanding will come into force on the date of signature by the Party’s authorized representative for an initial period of five (5) years. On expiration it can be renewed on mutual agreement.

b) The Memorandum of Understanding may be amended or modified by written agreement of all signatories or their substitutes.

c) Either party may terminate this Memorandum of Understanding by giving six (6) months’ written notice. Termination shall not affect any projects, funding of which has already been agreed upon by the time of termination.

d) This Memorandum of Understanding is a mutual statement of intent among Parties, who agree to make every reasonable effort to the intentions expressed herein.

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