Agreements

SPRINT - 1st Edition 2017: Guidelines National Research Foundation - South Africa

Specific requests for proposals submissions from researchers of the National Research Foundation (NRF) South Africa

FAPESP and the NRF, signed a Cooperation Agreement for Research on December 2014, aiming to implement scientific and technological cooperation between researchers from South Africa, and from the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil, through the funding of joint research projects.

Under the referred Agreement, as continuation of this fruitful collaboration, FAPESP and the NRF make public this Call for Proposals for the exchange of faculty and postdoctoral researchers under the terms and conditions of the SPRINT 1st Edition 2017 (www.fapesp.br/sprint/call12017) and hereinafter set forth.

1. Eligibility from NRF side

1.1 Eligibility to submit proposals within the scope of this Call:

This call is open to working researchers residing in South Africa and affiliated with a recognised higher education or research institution such as a university, university of technology or science council. The South African applicant must be in possession of a PhD.

1.2 Eligibility for the exchange activities within the scope of this Call

a. Mobility: The exchange visits of researchers, postdocs and PhD students. The proposals must aim to respect the principle of reciprocity with regard to academic qualifications of those who will take part in the exchange activities;

b. The proposals must aim to respect the principle of reciprocity with regard to academic qualifications of those who will take part in the exchange activities;

c. Eligibility of research partners in the State of São Paulo should observe the items 3.1 and 7.1 of FAPESP call (www.fapesp.br/sprint/call12017);

d. Considering the principle of reciprocity, FAPESP exceptionally may either support PhD students from the State of São Paulo to take part in the scientific missions. In this case, the PhD student(s) must have an ongoing FAPESP fellowship during the planned exchange mission to the partner institution.

2. Fields of knowledge

This Call for Proposals invites research proposals in the following fields

  • Humanities

  • Social Sciences

3. Duration of the project for the exchange of researchers

The maximum duration of each project is 24 months.

4. Timeline

Call announced by FAPESP and the NRF

January 31st, 2017

Closing date for submission of proposals

April 24th, 2017

Successful proposals notified after

July 27th, 2017

5. Funding principles

FAPESP will provide funding of up to the equivalent of US$ 10,000.00 (ten thousand dollars) per proposal per year and the NRF will provide funding of up to US$ 10,000.00 (ten thousand dollars) per proposal per year, for the duration of the grant to cover research-related mobility expenses, under the provisions of Clause 5 of the Scientific Cooperation Agreement established by the Parties (www.fapesp.br/en/9949).

The Parties are expected to support at maximum of ten (10) projects.

6. Proposal characteristics for PARTNER researchers:

The proposal shall be composed of:

6.1 A Research Project having a maximum of five (5) pages of scientific content, written jointly by the Principal Investigator of the Host Institution in the State of São Paulo and the Principal Investigator in South Africa. The Research Project must be written in English. One copy of the Research Project shall be sent to FAPESP and another (identical) copy to the NRF. The Research Project must include the items included in the item 6.1 at www.fapesp.br/sprint/call12017.

6.2 The following additional documents required by the NRF:

a. Applicants are expected to attach the required documents in PDF format in the following order: CV of partner, budget of partner and the signed support letter of the partner;

b. Letter of Agreement of the Host Institution in the State of São Paulo to which the PI from São Paulo is affiliated. The same document is required by FAPESP in item 6.2.3 at www.fapesp.br/sprint/call12017. The Letter of Agreement may be delivered after the notification of results of this call for proposals and before the grant agreement signature .

7. Submission of proposals to the NRF

Applications must be submitted electronically to the NRF on the NRF Online Submission System at https://nrfsubmission.nrf.ac.za/

8. Result of the analysis

Final results will be announced on FAPESP (www.fapesp.br) and the NRF will communicate to successful applicants via email and designated authorities at institutions.

9. Contract and for selected projects by the NRF

a. A final scientific and financial report will be submitted in English to the NRF by the South African project leader no more than 3 months after the end of the project;

b. The report will mention the outputs of the projects compared with the objectives and aims of the proposal;

c. The joint publications by the researchers will mention the support from the NRF and FAPESP.

10. Grant cancellation

The NRF may cancel funding of a South African researcher, if, during the grant timeframe, a fact is of sufficient gravity to justify cancellation, at the discretion of the organisation, without prejudice of any other appropriate actions.

11. Information about this Call in South Africa

All questions related to this Call for Proposals must be directed to:

Ms Nombuso Madonda
Professional Officer: Overseas Cooperation
International Relations and Cooperation
National Research Foundation
Tel: +27 12 481 4285
Email: nombuso.madonda@nrf.ac.za