Call 2013

The call is being announced in two stages, and final funding decisions will be taken in the summer of 2014
– Applications to JPI Climate are to be submitted through the NordForsk Application Portal

• Final Pre-proposal submission date Closed on 29 November 2013, 12.00 (noon) CET. NO proposals can be submitted
  >> Download this Call in pdf format
• Invitation to submit full proposals: 14 February 2014
• Full proposal deadline (only for successful 1st stage applicants): 28 March 2014, noon CET
• Funding decision announced: Summer 2014
• Start of projects: Fall 2014

On 14 February 2014, successful applicants from the first stage of the JPI Climate Joint Call were invited to submit Full proposals. Full proposals are to be submitted by 28 March at noon through the NordForsk Application Portal. Full call instructions, including updated National Annexes, are enclosed here for Call Topics 1 and here for Call Topic 2.
To submit your application, kindly use the access information to the portal, provided to you by NordForsk on 14 February.
For further reference, please contact your National Contact Point, the Topic Programme Offices at ANR (Call Topic 1) and NordForsk (Call Topic 2) or, for technical assistance, support(at)nordforsk.org.

Who can apply?
The call is open to international consortia of researchers and research groups from academic and other organisations that have a strong focus on research. For eligible participant types for each country, please consult the eligibility criteria in the enclosed National Annexes (Annex 3)

For the call topic on Societal Transformation, consortia must include partners from at least three of the European countries participating in the call: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden, the UK. Involvement of partners from civil society, policymakers, public administration or industry for co-designing research questions and co-production of knowledge is encouraged.

For the call topic on Russian Arctic & Boreal Systems, consortia must include at least one partner from the Russian Federation, based in a research institution, funding its own participation in the project¹⁾ and partners from at least two of the European countries participating in the call: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, the UK. French participation is pending²⁾. If you plan to include French participants in your consortium, kindly contact the National Contact Point at ANR for further information.

For both topics, researchers from countries others than those participating in the funding of the call may participate in the research project at their own expense.

¹⁾ In the Full Proposal stage, Russian partners will be required to document their contribution to the collaborative project, confirmed by a Letter of Intent
²⁾ French participation is pending. If you plan to include French participants in your consortium, kindly contact the National Contact Point at ANR for further information. Please note that on 15.10.2013 ANR (France) decided not to participate in the Call Topic Russian Arctic & Boreal Systems

Financial framework

The call is funded through a distributed pot provided by its funding partners. Within each selected consortium, funding of the participating researchers will be provided by their respective national funding organisations according to their normal terms and conditions for project funding. The amount of public funding available for transnational collaborative research projects through this call is approximately EUR 11,5 million. The table below shows which funding organisations are participating in the call and the estimated available funding per country:

^*) Budget distribution across the 2 topics is tentative. Final distribution will depend on the number and quality of proposals received and the results of the assessment process.

¹⁾ BELSPO will fund within the framework of BRAIN-be one consortium that could be integrated with a European JPI consortium. If successful, BELSPO could provide a topping up of 50 000 to facilitate the international integration.
²⁾ FWO intends to integrate existing FWO projects into the consortia of the JPI Climate call through this top-up funding.
³⁾ FWO intends to integrate existing FWO projects into the consortia of the JPI Climate call through this top-up funding.
⁴⁾ Please note that the French participation is pending. Applicants should take this into consideration when creating your consortia. If you plan to include French participants in your consortium, kindly contact the National Contact Point at ANR for further information. Please note that on 15.10.2013 ANR (France) decided not to participate in the Call Topic Russian Arctic & Boreal Systems.
⁵⁾ See http://www.forskningsradet.no/en/Funding/NORRUSS/1253987298461/p1184150364108?progId=1253973419025&visAktive=true
⁶⁾ See http://www.forskningsradet.no/en/Funding/KLIMAFORSK/1253982678608/p1184150364108?visAktive=true

What will funding be available for?

Under this call, funding will be granted to transnational collaborative research projects that consist of partners from at least three participating countries; preferably bring together different scientific disciplines in addressing the issues within the scope of the described call topic; and demonstrate clear links to users of climate knowledge. This collaborative research project funding scheme is intended to promote inter-institutional collaboration between researchers in different European countries. The project should be genuinely collaborative and demonstrate that more will be achieved by working together than by individual partners working on their own. Funding will be granted for transnational research collaboration as specified and described in the grant proposal. Applications must contain a description and budget of the activities for which funding is sought for each partner of the consortium. Further information is available in the call topic descriptions (Annex 1A and 1B) and the National Annexes (Annex 3).

In keeping with JPI Climate’s sustainability principle, considerations relating to climate change challenges must be integrated into all the activities under JPI Climate; applicants are therefore requested to consider their own carbon footprint as well as use of energy and other resources when planning the project. In particular, proposals should clarify how the project incorporates considerations relating to, and seeks to minimise, its own climate footprint, and how it will contribute to a climate-friendly research system, e.g. in terms of (virtual) meetings, travel and energy use. Please consult the relevant check-list for further advice.

In light of the recommendations made by the European Commission to reinforce the European Research Area partnership for excellence and growth (COM (2012) 392 final), projects should strive to use open recruitment of positions within projects, to publish their scientific work in open access journals or the like, and to make joint use of available research infrastructures.

Eligibility criteria

• The application must be written in English, with all required elements completed and all mandatory attachments attached. The application must be completed using the designated application instructions, and must be in conformance with the national eligibility criteria.
• Each project proposal must combine significant contributions by eligible partners from at least three countries participating in the call. It is possible to have more than one participant from a country in each consortium. However, consortia should aim for balanced national contributions to the research project.
  • Proposals to the call topic on Societal Transformation in the Face of Climate Change must include eligible partners from at least three of the following European countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden, the UK. Involvement of partners from civil society, politics, administration or industry for co-designing research questions and co-production of knowledge is encouraged. Each partner in the consortium must fulfil the respective national eligibility criteria for research grant application presented in the National Annexes (Annex 3).
  • Proposals to the call topic on Russian Arctic & Boreal System must include at least one  partner from the Russian Federation, based at a research institution that funds its own participation in the project ¹⁾, and partners from at least two of the following European countries: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, the UK (please note that on 15.10.2013 ANR (France) decided not to participate in the Call Topic Russian Arctic & Boreal Systems). Each partner in the consortium must fulfil the respective national eligibility criteria for research grant application presented in the National Annexes (Annex 3).
• Each applying consortium should identify a Leading Principal Investigator for the proposal, who is officially responsible for all communications with the Topic Programme Office²⁾, including submission of the proposal.
• Researchers from countries others than those participating in the funding of the call may participate in the research project at their own expense, and should document their contributions (direct funds or in kind) in the application budget.
• Funding will be provided for collaborative research activities for a time frame of 2–4 years, as described in the proposal, in the call topic descriptions (Annex 1A and 1B) and in line with national eligibility criteria as presented in the National Annexes (Annex 3). A budget showing the anticipated total costs of the project, including a specification of the requested funding from each JPI Climate participating financier must be submitted, using the template in the application portal.
• Full proposals (in the second stage) will have to include a Scientific Impact and Knowledge Dissemination Strategy, including financial provision for dissemination of research outputs, allowing for open access to research results and produced data (primary and meta data) among the scientific community as well as making use of other suitable means of dissemination of results.

¹⁾ In the Full Proposal stage, Russian partners will be required to document their contribution to the collaborative project, confirmed by a Letter of Intent
²⁾ The French National Research Agency ANR (Call Topic 1) and NordForsk (Call Topic 2)

Evaluation criteria

Pre-proposals will be reviewed under the following evaluation criteria on a scale from 0-5¹⁾:

1. Scientific Quality/Intellectual Merit (proposals have to score minimum 3 points)
   • Scientific quality and innovativeness of the objectives and approach of the research plan
   • Added scientific value to be expected from the international research collaboration
2. Envisaged Societal Relevance and Impact (proposals for call topic 1 have to score minimum 4 points; proposals for call topic 2 have to score minimum 3 points)
   • Relevance of the goals and objectives of the research plan relative to the call theme
   • Contribution to the overall JPI Climate Vision ²⁾
   • Approach to co-design of full proposal with stakeholders (“stakeholders“ refers to actors outside the scientific community e.g. change agents and knowledge partners such as policymakers, regulators, NGOs, municipalities / local authorities or business and industry)
3. Quality of the Consortium (proposals have to score minimum 3 points)
   • Competence and expertise of the team and a balance of complementary skills within the consortium, including
   • Epertise and experience in managing inter- and trans-disciplinary research collaborations
   • Balanced cooperation

Full proposals will be reviewed under the following evaluation criteria on a scale from 0-5³⁾:

1. Scientific Quality/Intellectual Merit (proposals have to score minimum 4 points)
   • Scientific quality and innovativeness of the objectives and approach of the research plan
   • Added scientific value to be expected from the international research collaboration
2. Envisaged Societal Relevance and Impact (proposals have to score minimum 3 points)
   • Relevance of the goals and objectives of the research plan relative to the call theme
   • Contribution to overall JPI Climate Vision
   • Knowledge co-production with stakeholders / involvement of relevant stakeholders / awareness of stakeholder stakeholders (“stakeholders“ refers to actors outside the scientific community e.g. change agents and knowledge partners such as policymakers, regulators, NGOs, municipalities / local authorities or business and industry)
   • Envisaged societal impacts (e.g., capacity and community building, networking effects, contributions to societal welfare and well-being, policy-related or economic impact)
3. Quality of the Consortium (proposals have to score minimum 3 points)
   • Competence and expertise of team and complementarities of consortium (inter-disciplinary / inclusion of all necessary expertise /expertise in managing inter- and trans-disciplinary research collaborations, gender balance)
   • Balanced cooperation
   • Level of shared responsibility and commitment in the incorporation of relevant scientific disciplines in terms of an active interdisciplinary project co-design, as appropriate
4. Resources and Management (proposals have to score minimum 4 points)
   • Appropriateness and justification of work plan, resources and funding requested
   • Considerations relating to the JPI Climate sustainability principle: Consideration of projects’ climate footprint and contributions to a climate-friendly research system, e.g. in terms of (virtual) meetings, travels and energy use.

¹⁾ The scores are read as: 0= Not possible to evaluate / Fail; 1=Poor; 2=Fair; 3=Good; 4=Very Good; 5=Excellent
²⁾ See Vision chapter in the JPI CLIMATE Strategic Research Agenda (http://www.jpi-climate.eu/publications/10826597/JPI-Climate-Strategic-Research-Agenda)
³⁾ The scores are read as: 0= Not possible to evaluate / Fail; 1=Poor; 2=Fair; 3=Good; 4=Very Good; 5=Excellent
⁴⁾ See Vision chapter in the JPI CLIMATE Strategic Research Agenda
(http://www.jpi-climate.eu/publications/10826597/JPI-Climate-Strategic-Research-Agenda)

Selection procedure

In this call, collaborative research projects will be selected using a 2-step procedure following the following timeline:

Final Pre-proposal submission date Closed on 29 November 2013, 12.00 (noon) CET. NO proposals can be submitted
Invitation to submit full proposals: 14 February 2014
Full proposal deadline (only for successful 1st stage applicants): 28 March 2014, noon CET
Funding decision announced: Summer 2014
Start of projects: Fall 2014

In the presently open first stage, pre-proposals are to be submitted to JPI Climate electronically through the NordForsk Application Portal no later than 29 November 2013 12:00 (noon) CET. Proposals must be submitted in English. No attachments are allowed apart from those specifically requested in the application form. The application form is based on the eligibility criteria and evaluation criteria, and can be found in its complete version via the NordForsk Application Portal. In order to access the application form you must register as a user at the Application Portal and create an application draft.

The call is governed by two Programme Coordinators’ Committees (PCC, one for each call topic), formed by the partner organisations, funding the call. All applications will be evaluated by an external Panel of Experts (PoE, one for each call topic) that encompasses the scientific expertise necessary for assessing the call topic as well as expertise in the field of policy and decision-making.

Pre-proposals will be evaluated according to the pre-proposal criteria above by the Panel of Experts, after which the Programme Coordinators’ Committee governing the call topic will decide which proposals to invite to a second stage. Proposals have to score at least the thresholds given for each criterion in order to be considered for a second stage.

Successful consortia will be invited, by 3 February 2014, to submit full proposals with deadline 28 March, 2014 (noon CET). It is anticipated that proposals will evolve somewhat between submission of the pre-proposal and the full proposal (including personnel), but major aspects should remain broadly the same. If you are making significant changes, or if you are unsure, then details of the change should be referred to the Topic Programme Office for approval.

Full proposals will be evaluated by at least two External Reviewers as well as the Panel of Experts, following the above-mentioned evaluation criteria for full proposals. Based on the second stage peer review, as well as availability of funds, the Programme Coordinators’ Committee will take the final decision on which projects to recommend for funding in June 2014.

Within each selected consortium, funding of the participating researchers will be provided by their respective national funding organisations, which will sign contracts with the respective consortium partners according to their normal terms and conditions for project funding.

Project monitoring

Should your application be successful, a consortium agreement (including provisions relating to Intellectual Property Rights) is to be drawn up between the participating researchers and shared with the relevant funding organisations.

Using their own budgets, the LPI and PIs should participate in convening joint meetings, at project mid-term and completion, assembling representatives of all projects related to a given JPI Climate call topic. Such meetings provide an opportunity to exchange views, and share questions, progress and output vis-à-vis the scientific and user community, and should be organised in conjunction with major international scientific events. Associated projects reports should be submitted by the LPI to the JPI Central Secretariat upon mid-term and completion. Each PI must also fulfil national reporting requirement(s) of his/her national funding organisation.

Contact National Contact Points and Topic Programme Offices are listed in Annex 2a and 2b.

Technical support, NordForsk Tel: +47 905 51 520 / support(at)nordforsk.org

Enclosures:

Annex 1a:  Full description of call topic Societal Transformation in the Face of Climate Change
Annex 1b:  Full description of call topic Russian Arctic & Boreal Systems
Annex 2a:  National Contact Points and Topic Programme Offices Topic 1
Annex 2b:  National Contact Points and Topic Programme Offices Topic 2
Annex 3:  National Annexes
Annex 4:  Instructions for Applicants

Downloads

JPI Climate CALL 2013/2014: European JPI Climate Joint Call for Transnational Collaborative Research Projects (complete document)

Annex 1a: JPI Climate: Societal Transformation in the face of Climate Change

Annex1b: JPI Climate Russian Arctic Boreal Systems

Annex 2a: National Contact Points Call Topic 1

Annex 2b: National Contact Points Call Topic 2

Annex 3: National Annexes (all countries)

Annex 4: Pre-proposals Instructions for Applicants