CALL FOR PROPOSALS on Indian - Norwegian researcher projects on nanotechnology, microtechnology and advanced materials (2018/2019)
Guidelines and important considerations relevant to all types of applications in this call for proposals:
Under the Agreement of Cooperation in Science & Technology concluded between the Government of India and the Government of Norway, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) of the Government of India and the Research Council of Norway (RCN) have started a program for joint funding of Indo-Norwegian joint research projects in mutually agreed fields to achieve world-class scientific results. DST and RCN invite Indian and Norwegian research institutions to submit research proposals within the thematic areas listed below.
Objective of this call for proposals:
The objective of this call is to strengthen Indian Norwegian research collaboration in bilaterally funded researcher projects. Further strengthening of on-going research collaboration is highly relevant and encouraged. Grant applications should also contribute significantly to added value of joint research activities within nanotechnology, microtechnology and advanced materials and be of relevance to one or more of the following application areas:
• renewable energy;
• environment and climate;
• improving health and promoting new medical technology;
• increased value creation and innovation based on natural resources of importance in both India and Norway;
• greater insight into the impacts of nanomaterials on human health and ecosystems.
The research projects should benefit long-term cooperation between the partners and the two countries. The projects must adhere to principles of responsible research and innovation (RRI) and be based on ethical, cultural, health-oriented and environmental perspectives to the benefit of society and the individual. Joint proposals must be developed in cooperation between Principal Investigators (PIs) representing a research institution in Norway and a research institution in India.
Amount of funding presumed available for this call for proposals: Funding of up to NOK 30 million (3,1 mill Euro) is available to the Norwegian participation of the bilateral projects. An activity matching funding is available from the Department of Science and Technology (DST) to the Indian participation of the bilateral projects.
Project Duration: 3 years.
The financial support from DST shall be available for mobility (up to 2 visits per year from each side with sending side provides international travel-related expenses while the receiving side provides the local hospitality as per their national norms) of project participants; one manpower ie JRF/SRF, RA etc; minor equipment (accessories) and chemicals / consumables/ contingency. Prerequisites for funding Each proposal shall have one Norwegian and one Indian Principal Investigator (PI).
Norwegian PIs must submit the proposal to the Research Council of Norway. Indian PIs must submit the proposal to the Department of Science and Technology in India. The proposals should be identified with a common short name/acronym, and a common project description. Requirements for the Indo-Norwegian call that shall be described in the project description:
Relevance to the call
Planned activities according to a timeline, and organised into well-defined work packages with corresponding responsibility
Research methodology
- Milestones that can be used to easily follow the progress of the project
- Management structure and partner roles/responsibilities.
- Budget, cost plan and funding plan should only be entered to the respective national funding agencies. Norwegian partners must include this information in the electronic grant application form.
- Impact the results of the project will have for the users, the research field and society at large.
Dissemination plan – for Norwegian applicants this is to be included in the electronic grant application form. Proposals for funding from the DST must be submitted according to the rules and regulations of the DST.
Requirements and criteria for this type of application:
Application requirements
- Grant applications, including all attachments, must be submitted in English.
- All attachments must be uploaded in PDF format.
- Grant applications must satisfy the general application requirements and the requirements for Researcher Projects.
Evaluation criteria:
- Scientific merit
- Project management and the Project group
- Implementation plan and resource parameters
- Dissemination and communication of results.
- Relevance to the call Overall mark of the proposal.
Specification of the evaluation criteria "Relevance to the call"
- Indo-Norwegian cooperation: Consideration to how applications presents a balanced and strong consortium, level of integration of partners and distribution of research tasks and responsibilities as well as project organisation.
- Responsible research and innovation (RRI): Consideration to whether applications take adequate account of ethical, cultural, health-oriented and environmental perspectives to the benefit of society and the individual.
Application requirements in addition to the application requirements for Researcher projects:
Mandatory attachments :
- A project description of maximum 10 pages. Norwegian applicants must use the designated template at Annexure. The proposals submitted to the respective national funding agencies must include the same information, with an identical short name/acronym for the project title.
- A CV for the project manager and key personnel in the project (maximum four pages pr CV) The page format must be A4 with 2 cm margins, single spacing and Arial, Cambria or Times New Roman 11-point font. It is permitted to use 9-point font for the list of references and figure text in the project description.
- The commitment from the partners shall be clear in the joint application. Therefore, letters of confirmation from partners are not asked for. Links to websites and documents, as well as other attachments than those specified above, will not be included in the application review process. Grant applications that do not satisfy the above requirements will be rejected.
The Bilateral agreement of Science and Technology between India and Norway has stipulated the following provisions for local hospitality between the partners:
- Norwegian scientists visiting India shall be paid an amount of INR 2500, -per day towards food and out of pocket allowances, or as agreed in contract negotiations for each project plus fully furnished guest house accommodation on actual cost at the host Institute. In case a suitable guest house accommodation is not available at host institute, accommodation would be arranged by the host institute in a suitable hotel/guest house subject to max charges of INR 4000,- per day.
- Indian scientists visiting Norway on short term basis shall be provided an amount of NOK 460,- per day and 13 800,- per month on a long term visit towards food and out of pocket allowances, or as agreed in contract negotiations for each project
- For short term visits the maximum payment shall not exceed the total per diem for 20 days
- Free furnished accommodation in a guest house or a hotel with reasonable amenities and facilities shall be provided
- Transport to and from the airport for visiting scientists shall be arranged. In case of senior scientists (in the rank of director or above), transport shall be provided for all official engagements.
Administrative procedure :
The Department of Science and Technology and the Research Council of Norway will implement a joint decision-making procedure to determine the outcome of the call. Projects must receive a high assessment score in both countries to be funded. Importance will be attached to achieving a balanced project portfolio that reflects the full spectrum of the stipulated research challenges. The selected projects will receive funding from the Department of Science and Technology and the Research Council of Norway, respectively. Anticipated date for notification of results of application process: The final decision on grant allocations is planned to be taken during August 2019. The outcome will be published by the Research Council and DST and applicants will be notified individually as soon as possible.
Proposal Submission Each proposal should have one Norwegian and one Indian Principal Investigator (PI). Norwegian PIs must submit the proposal to the RCN electronically using the My RCN Web. For Indian applicants may use the Application given at Annexure. The application should include a jointly formulated and identical copy of the project description, including acronym, submitted to the RCN by the Norwegian partner. Only one original hard copy of the completed application (by post through proper channels) at the following address. Soft copy in a single soft file (do not include any scan page in the soft copy as signatures are not required in softcopy of the proposal) in ms-word or pdf format as email attachment are required to be submitted. However, only the hard copy of the applications received before the due date will be accepted. DST does not hold any responsibility of not receiving the proposal due to postal delays etc. Incomplete applications will be rejected. Proposals by hand at DST are also not accepted.
Contact at DST:
Dr. Chadaram Sivaji, Scientist-F International Bilateral Cooperation Division Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India Technology Bhawan, New Mehrauli Road,
New Delhi 110 016 India
Phone: +91-11-26590489;
Email: sivaji@nic.in
For Norwegian applicants, application as per the procedure indicated above be submitted to RCN via the RCN electronic application system (www.rcn.no for guidelines).
Contact Persons in Norway:
Contact persons at RCN are Merethe Sandberg Moe (mm@rcn.no, +4722037159) and Aase Marie Hundere (amh@forskningsradet.no +47 41 42 20 58).
Last date for submission of proposals:
For Norwegian applicants (to RCN): 13 February 2019
For Indian applicants (to DST): 22 February 2019