Before the new Horizon Europe framework program enters the landscape of R&I funding for good, let’s take a look at what the retiring Horizon 2020 still has to offer. Below we present currently available international research calls for proposals launched by the ERA-NET and JPI networks, in which the National Science Centre (NCN) participates. The current NCN’s portfolio includes funding schemes for multilateral research projects in various disciplines: life sciences, physical sciences and engineering, art, humanities and social sciences.
ABOUT JPI AND ERA-NET NETWORKS
The ERA-NET and JPI (Joint Programming Initiative) networks are created around specific research areas and bring together different research funding agencies (for JPIs – also ministries) from various European countries (in Poland – NCN and NCBiR). The superior mission of these networks is programming and funding scientifically excellent research carried out by international teams in various fields of science and technology. This priority is implemented through thematic calls for proposals announced by the networks usually once a year. Another important goal of the networks is also to inspire and support cooperation between scientists and a wide range of stakeholders, i.e. entrepreneurs, non-governmental organizations, decision-makers, legislators, local communities and municipalities.
The JPI and ERA-NET networks also undertake a great diversity of activities such as research and infrastructure mapping, knowledge brokerage, supporting international cooperation, jointly working on the improvement of research funding tools on the basis of shared experiences and good practices. How do the networks finance their activities? Most often from two sources: from domestic funds allocated by individual member institutions and from the European Commission funds obtained jointly by a network for the implementation of specific goals. Thanks to the European Commission’s co-funding the networks are able to award higher number of international research projects.
One of the priority of research supported by these networks is cooperation between scholars, practitioners and different stakeholders outside of academia. Most often in this type of calls, funding proposal must be submitted by international consortium composed of at least 3 research teams from at least 3 countries participating in the call. Consortia should not be limited to research partners only, but also engage the above-mentioned stakeholder groups. More and more frequently, thematic objectives of the calls encourage to undertake interdisciplinary research, the results of which should respond to the challenges of the modern world. What also matters, international partners prepare and submit just one joint proposal written in English, including the content and budget of the entire project, which is assessed by a joint panel composed of international experts. Most of these calls has a two-step application procedure, which means that first it is required only to submit a pre-proposal (on a short application form), while the submission of a full-proposal is expected only after receiving the invitation to the 2nd stage of the procedure. Thanks to this, applicants gain time to thoroughly develop their application. Please note that all partners are also requested to meet the eligibility requirements of their domestic research funding agency involved in the call (in Poland: NCN or NCBiR).
In the case of the following initiatives, the National Science Centre’s funds might be awarded to cover remuneration for the research team, remuneration and scholarships for students and PhD students, purchase or construction of research equipment and for other costs necessary for the research project implementation. It is crucial to remember that each of the following calls has its own eligibility requirements, therefore it is essential to read carefully the calls’ documentation.
OPEN CALLS FOR PROPOSALS
JPND (EU Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research) is the largest global research initiative aimed at tackling the challenge of neurodegenerative diseases. JPND aims to increase coordinated investment between participating countries in research aimed at finding causes, developing cures, and identifying appropriate ways to care for those with neurodegenerative diseases.*
The latest JPND 2021 call entitled “Linking pre-diagnosis disturbances of physiological systems to Neurodegenerative Diseases” is aimed at scientists who intend to undertake research on the early symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases. The following countries agreed to fund this transnational call: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey.
Joint pre-proposals must be submitted no later than March 2, 2021. The results of the first stage of the assessment will be published in May, whereas the research teams invited to submit full-proposals will need to meet the deadline of June 29, 2021. The announcement of the final results of the selection procedure is scheduled for October 2021.
The call documentation and all necessary information for Polish applicants can be found here.
The CHIST-ERA IV (European Coordinated Research on Long-term Challenges in Information and Communication Sciences & Technologies) is an ERA-NET Cofund consortium bringing together research funding organizations from European countries. The network supports research in ICST (Information and Communication Science and Technologies) and finances international research projects that involve researchers from participating countries.* CHIST-ERA undertakes various actions to strengthen transnational cooperation through ambitious, high-risky and interdisciplinary research projects in ICT and digital technology that can lead to ground-breaking solutions.
The CHIST-ERA Call 2020 targets research groups addressing following themes: 1. Advanced Brain-Computer Interfaces for Novel Interactions; 2. Towards Sustainable ICT. The following countries committed themselves to fund this transnational call: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Québec (Canada), Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom.
In the process of searching for potential research partners it is recommended to use the Partner Search Tool. Additionally, all potential applicants are invited to join the information webinar taking place on February 22. There will be a one-step application procedure – joint full proposals should be submitted until March 1, 2021. The announcement of the call results is expected in July, whereas start of awarded projects is scheduled for October 2021.
The call documentation and all necessary information for Polish applicants can be found here.
JPIAMR (Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance) is a global collaborative network engaging 28 member nations to curb antibiotic resistance (AMR). The initiative supports transnational research consortia using One Health approach within the 6 priority areas – therapeutics, diagnostics, surveillance, transmission, environment and interventions.*
The latest JPIAMR 13th Call entitled: „One Health interventions to prevent or reduce the development and transmission of AMR” offers funding mainly to research projects implementing the One Health approach, which will allow to 1. understand the impact of interventions on the development and transmission of antibiotic resistance and 2. design, implement, evaluate, and compare interventions that will have a true impact on preventing or reducing the development and transmission of antibiotic resistance in and between the different One Health settings (human, animal, environment).*
The following countries participate in the call: Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom. Applicants seeking for potential research partners are invited to use the special platform: Partner Search Tool. Joint pre-proposals must be submitted no later than March 16, 2021. Research consortia invited to submit full-proposals will need to meet the deadline of July 12, 2021. The announcement of the final results of the selection procedure is scheduled for November 2021, whereas start of awarded projects is scheduled for January – March 2022.
The call documentation and all necessary information for Polish applicants can be found here.
The overall objective of the ERA-NET Cofund Action “ForestValue – Innovating the forest-based bioeconomy” is to promote increased innovation and competitiveness of the forest-based sector in Europe and support its transformation from a resource-intensive to a knowledge-intensive, productive, resource-efficient and resilient sector. The aim of ForestValue is to comprise the joint implementation of a transnational call for proposals for research, development and innovation in the forest-based sector.*
The ForestValue 2021 call for proposals targets research consortia addressing following call topics:
- Sustainable and multifunctional use and management of forests, to maximize their contribution to all United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
- Building with wood from various perspectives
- Analysis of benefits, synergies and trade-offs in the use of forest biomass
Countries participating in the call: Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey. Applicants seeking for potential research partners are invited to use the special platform and check the updated list of researchers/institutions interested in joining the call.The call applies a one-step application procedure – joint full proposals should be submitted until April 13, 2021. The announcement of the call results is expected in September this year, whereas start of awarded projects is scheduled for the end of 2021/beginning of 2022.
The call documentation and all necessary information for Polish applicants can be found here.
The aim of the JPI Urban Europe is to finance international, interdisciplinary research projects that respond to the challenges of modern cities and urban areas.* The JPI UE supports transformation of cities into more sustainable, resilient, and livable places if they are to compete effectively on a world stage.
The latest ERA-NET Co-fund Urban Transformation Capacities (ENUTC) aims to fund international and ambitious projects facilitating and supporting capacity building for urban transformations. Proposals shall address at least one of the following call topics:
- Urban circular economies,
- Community-based developments and urban innovation ecosystems,
- Robust and resilient urban infrastructure and built environment.
The following countries committed themselves to fund this transnational call: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, France, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sweden. The JPI Urban Europe invites all interested scholars and actors to take part in the information meeting (February 18) and the matchmaking event (March 9) enabling to find potential partners. Joint pre-proposals must be submitted no later than April 15, 2021. Research consortia invited to submit full-proposals will need to meet the deadline of September 23, 2021. The announcement of the final results of the selection procedure is scheduled for December 2021. The call documentation and all necessary information for Polish applicants can be found here.
UPCOMING CALLS FOR PROPOSALS
CHANSE (Collaboration of Humanities and Social Sciences in Europe) is a programme supporting research in the area of Humanities and Social Sciences implemented by 27 research funding institutions from 24 European countries and coordinated by the NCN. CHANSE aims to finance high-quality international research projects and inspire collaboration between researchers and various stakeholder groups, such as: NGOs, cultural institutions, legislators, policy makers, schools, etc. The CHANSE program has been co-created by the HERA and NORFACE networks supporting research in the field of Humanities and Social Sciences, respectively.*
In March 2021 CHANSE network will announce a call for international research projects: Transformations: Social and cultural dynamics in the digital age, which intends to support new and innovative research into the workings, meaning and consequences of transformation and innovation in the present digital era vied through the lens of social and cultural dynamics.*
The list of participating countries is impressive: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom. According to indicative timeline joint pre-proposals must be submitted no later than May 7, 2021, research consortia invited to submit full-proposals will need to meet the deadline of December 7, 2021. The announcement of the final results of the selection procedure is scheduled for May/June 2022, whereas start of awarded projects is scheduled for autumn 2022. Applicants seeking for potential research partners are invited to use the Partner Search Tool. The call announcement is available here.
QuantERA II, coordinated by the National Science Centre, is currently the leading European network of public Research Funding Organisations (RFOs) for Quantum Technologies (QT). QuantERA has managed to efficiently mobilise, coordinate and pool financial resources between regional, national and EU research programmes in the area of QT for funding ambitious research and innovation in jointly identified and selected topics of common interest. Its main goal is to stimulate and intensify Research and Innovation in the field of QT at the European level through a framework for funding transnational collaborative projects and, more broadly, coordinating national and regional programmes for funding research in this field.*
The QuantERA Call 2021 call is going to fund international research projects that are expected to be aligned with one of the two topics: 1. Quantum Phenomena and Resources (QPR); 2. Applied Quantum Science (AQS). The total call budget is 40 M euro.
The list of participating countries is impressive: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey. Deadline for submitting pre-proposals is May 13, 2021, whereas deadline for full proposals submission is September 15, 2021. Start of awarded projects is scheduled for early 2022.
In this call for proposals Polish research teams may apply for funds through the National Science Centre (link) or the National Science Centre for Research and Development (link).
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Published: 2021-02-02, J. Komperda
Updated: 2021-03-04, J. Komperda
Translated: 2021-03-26, J. Komperda
Quotes marked with an asterisk (*) come from the NCN website.
Graphics – above mentioned networks’ webpages.
