International Opportunities Fund - Announcement of Opportunity
Amendment to include the RCUK-FAPESP Lead Agency Agreement
Closing date for full proposals: 16:00 on Tuesday 14 December 2010.
Applicants considering international collaboration with researchers from São Paulo State, Brazil, should note that this call will welcome proposals jointly prepared and submitted by PIs from the UK and São Paulo State, Brazil, under the terms of the RCUK-FAPESP (the State of São Paulo Research Foundation) Lead Agency Agreement.
Context
In 2009 RCUK and FAPESP signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen the existing research links between the UK and Brazil to help encourage and support proposals that involve international collaborative teams.
The MoU provides for a Lead Agency Agreement whereby UK and Brazilian researchers may apply for funds from both countries through the UK research councils' funding schemes. Further information is available from the RCUK website.
Aims
FAPESP will consider proposals from PIs eligible for FAPESP funding and that demonstrate excellence in one or more of the following characteristics (international collaboration is a must):
Develop research with high impact and outcome focused on areas of interest for FAPESP's Research Program for Global Climate Change (PFPMCG) and FAPESP's Virtual Institute for Biodiversity Research (BIOTA).
Activities that place international collaboration at the centre of their approach, adding value to Brazilian capability and delivering outcomes that cannot be delivered by scientists in São Paulo alone (FAPESP's standard requirement that the PI must be a scientist affiliated to a research organization in São Paulo still applies to the Brazilian side of the collaboration).
Activities with lasting outputs that are expected to have benefits beyond the duration of the IOF and the FAPESP award (eg establishing long-term collaborations, pump priming for ongoing, self-sustaining activities and/or developing high-impact knowledge).
Activities that promote collaboration between researchers in São Paulo, Brazil, and those from FAPESP target countries as represented in the Belmont Forum of Global Environmental Change Research Funders and any of the FAPESP agreements with universities in the UK.
Activities supported
The NERC International Opportunities Fund aims to facilitate international collaboration for research and research-related activities that are aligned with NERC strategic priorities.
Requirements and conditions for any FAPESP-funded elements of submissions under this optional collaboration between the UK and Brazil are as follows.
The São Paulo, Brazil part of the proposal must have a research content consistent with the "collaborative secondments and exchanges" section of IOF AO; ie building long-term partnerships among Brazilian and UK centres of excellence, with a view to capacity building and accessing skills, data or infrastructure that enhances Brazil and UK research capabilities.
FAPESP is especially interested in proposals in which the geographic focus of the collaboration is South America and the adjacent oceans, particularly the Amazon and the South Atlantic. Other geographies can be considered, pending analysis by FAPESP of the justifications given. Therefore, applicants from São Paulo, Brazil, must contact Alexandre Roccatto before submission, to discuss and obtain permission to submit a proposal focusing outside of the preferred geographic area.
The focus of the São Paulo, Brazil-UK partnership will be in Earth system science and global environmental change research, and the research collaboration will address one or more of the topics below:
- facilitate links between scientists in both countries, building on existing partnerships, but also widening to other groups of both countries;
- develop groundbreaking techniques for communicating scientific outcomes to stakeholders;
- engage directly with the wider Earth system science community.
Only proposals that are not typically supported through other FAPESP funding schemes will be considered.
FAPESP funding for the selected proposals will be through a Regular Research Grant with duration of up to three years that will be "related" (ie FAPESP terminology for proposals that complement and build upon another ongoing grant) to an ongoing FAPESP Thematic Grant by the PI from São Paulo.
Brazilian applicants may request up to £150k from FAPESP. This must be applied in consumables, small research equipment, workshops (transportation, per diems, location), short term (up to 3 months) scientific exchange visits, and technical capability, scientific initiation, doctoral (direct doctorate modality) and post-doctoral fellowships. The FAPESP contribution is in addition to the support that can be sought directly from NERC.
Application procedure
Applicants considering applying under this agreement must read the operational guidelines available from the RCUK website. Please note that there are specific guidelines for applicants to NERC within these RCUK guidelines.
UK Principal Investigators of potential collaborative proposals should, in this case, contact the International Strategy Group before submitting a proposal (iof@nerc.ac.uk).
Brazilian Principal Investigators should contact FAPESP's representative for matters related to this joint Call, Alexandre Roccatto and find the matching AO on the FAPESP website.
Proposals must be submitted only through NERC, by the UK PI, following the procedure described in the IOF AO.
The Case for Support must:
- state that the RCUK-FAPESP Lead Agency Agreement is being applied by the applicants;
- mention the co-PI in São Paulo and other members of the research team affiliated to research and higher education institutions in São Paulo, including summarized CVs for each participant;
- identify the number of the ongoing FAPESP Thematic Grant led by the co-PI in the State of São Paulo;
- clearly define the budget requested to FAPESP, within the limits set out above.
The FAPESP-RCUK Proposal Form and Consolidated Budget Spreadsheet must both be attached to the application as supporting documents. These may be downloaded from the links below or from the RCUK website.