The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and the Mexican National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT) announce a call for proposals to fund joint German-Mexican research projects in the following areas:
- Geosciences
- Social Sciences and Humanities1
- Chemistry
- Biology
- Physics
Proposals will be accepted for joint collaborative research projects of up to three years. Researchers must comply with the funding and eligibility requirements as stipulated by their respective funding organisation (please follow the links below). German and Mexican researchers must submit their proposals to CONACYT and DFG, respectively, by 15 September 2016. German partners must submit their proposals within the DFG’s funding scheme “Sachbeihilfe/Research Grants”, and Mexican partners must submit their proposals at CONACYT “Convocatorias del Fondo de Cooperación Internacional en Ciencia y Tecnología”.
The scientific level of the projects should be high in international comparison. Although the scientific quality of the proposals is the decisive criterion, joint projects must also demonstrate a clear added value to the applicants’ cooperation beyond what could be achieved individually. Please note that the scientific content of the proposal submitted at DFG and CONACYT must be identical! The joint proposal shall be written in English and shall contain an abstract, the scientific description, the goals and tasks of the participating scientists from both countries as well as the justification of the requested cost items in compliance with the guidelines outlined in DFG form 50.01 for German proposals. Assessment of all applications will be made by the DFG according to its rules for the individual grants programme within the regular competition and by CONACYT according to its rules for all applications from Mexican scientists. Please note that DFG does not provide special funds for this initiative.
All proposals will be reviewed by both organisations separately. The results of the review process will be shared between the agencies. Support will be granted for those proposals where both DFG and CONACYT recommend funding. Unilateral funding of only one part of the project is not possible.
German researchers from non-university research institutions who have to fulfil the duty to cooperate may only submit proposals together with a partner from a German university. Your duty to cooperate is not considered as fulfilled if you only cooperate with a Mexican university partner.
Allowable costs
For German and Mexican applicants, funds may be used to cover salaries of postdoctoral fellows and doctoral students, for consumables and instrumentation as well as travel expenses for internal consortia and scientific conferences. Within a collaborative project, researcher mobility between Mexico and Germany is strongly encouraged and can be supported by funding travel expenses and per diem expenses. All requested cost items must be in accordance with the national administrative regulations, respectively.
At DFG, only costs for the German share of projects are eligible. At CONACYT, only costs of the Mexican share of the projects are eligible according to the regulations of CONACYT.
Submission on the German side
The joint proposal shall be submitted by the German partner via the electronic submission portal at DFG, elan. After the log-in, please use the respective link “Proposal for a Research Grant” in the Proposal Forms column (Proposal Submission > New Project > Individual Grants Programme > Proposal for a Research Grant). Please, select as the relevant call: DFG-CONACYT 2016.
Please follow the general instructions for submission of a research proposal as described in the Proposal Preparation Instructions (DFG form 54.01) and upload the scientific description and the financial request. In case it applies, please upload necessary additional information (e.g. quotes for instrumentation).
If you are using the DFG’s elan system for the first time, please note that you will need to register before you may use the system. Registration must be completed by 12 September 2016 in order to submit a proposal. Allow at least one business day to process your registration.
Please note additionally
While the electronic budget figures via elan only have to be provided for the German applicant(s), the proposal itself should contain not only the German budget part but a budget overview for the Mexican part, too, in order to provide appropriate information to the reviewers.
In the proposal submitted by the German applicant(s) to DFG, an academic curriculum vitae including a list of his/her ten most important publications for all Mexican PIs should be submitted in order to complete reviewers’ information. In the DFG proposal and the electronic submission procedure in elan, all Mexican partners who apply for funding at CONACYT need to be recorded under the category “Other Participating Individuals” > “Cooperation Partners”. Employees whose positions are requested for funding do not belong into this category.
Submission on the Mexican side
On the Mexican side, the joint proposal shall be submitted by the Mexican partner via the electronic submission portal at CONACYT > Servicios en Línea > Captura de Propuestas, then log-in. Please, select as the relevant call: DFG-CONACYT 2016.
The budget of the Mexican applicant(s) at CONACYT should contain not only the Mexican budget part but a budget overview for the German part, too, in order to provide appropriate information to the reviewers.
In the proposal submitted by the Mexican applicant(s) to CONACYT, an academic curriculum vitae including a list of his/her ten most important publications for all German PIs should be included in order to complete reviewers’ information. In the CONACYT proposal and the electronic submission procedure, all German partners who apply for funding at DFG need to be recorded under the category “Other Participating Individuals” > “Cooperation Partners”.
Timeline and notification of results
- Call opening: 21 July 2016
- Call closure: 15 September 2016
- Approximate duration of the assessment of applications: October 2016 to May 2017
- Approximate communication of results: June 2017
- Approximate beginning of funding: July 2017
1 Research topics which are covered by the multilaterally funded Trans-Atlantic Platform (www.transatlanticplatform.com) cannot be proposed under this call for proposals.
Links
- To submit a proposal to the DFG, please follow the “Guidelines for the Research Grants Programme“ (form 50.01) and for DFG proposals the ”Proposal Preparation Instructions – Project Proposals” (form 54.01) under: www.dfg.de/foerderung/formulare<
- General information for German PIs on research grants may be found at: www.dfg.de/en/research_funding/programmes/individual/research_grants/index.html
- The DFG’s electronical portal “elan” can be found at:https://elan.dfg.de
Further general information on elan: www.dfg.de/en/research_funding/principles_dfg_funding/elan/index.html
elan flyer: ww.dfg.de/download/pdf/foerderung/antragstellung/elan/flyer_eant_en.pdf
elan FAQ: www.dfg.de/download/pdf/foerderung/antragstellung/elan/faq_eant_en.pdf - Link to Mexican announcement and call text: http://www.conacyt.mx/index.php/el-conacyt/convocatorias-y-resultados-conacyt/convocatorias-coopera-interna-bilate/12501-convocatoria-conjunta-para-proyectos-de-investigacion-dfg-conacyt-2016/file
Contact information at DFG
- For call administration:
Bettina Schilling
DFG, Department Scientific Affairs
Coordination of International Research Funding Activities
phone +49 228 885-2715
bettina.schilling(at)dfg.de - For general questions with regard to the German-Mexican cooperation (German side):
Marina Hesse
DFG, International Cooperation with Latin America
phone +49 228 885-2585,
marina.hesse(at)dfg.de - For general questions with regard to the German-Mexican cooperation (Mexican side):
Dr. Kathrin Winkler
DFG Office Latin America, São Paulo – SP, Brazil
phone: +55 11 51898308
kathrin.winkler(at)dfg.de
Contact information for Mexican applicants at CONACYT
- Lorena Archundia Navarro
Directora de Planeación de Ciencia
Dirección Adjunta de Desarrollo Científico, DADC – CONACYT
Insurgentes Sur 1582, 4° piso (ala sur), Col. Crédito Constructor, Deleg. Benito Juárez C.P. 03940
phone +52 55 53227700, ext. 4060
larchundia(at)conacyt.mx - Rodrigo Bueno Romo
Deputy Director of International Scientific Cooperation
Dirección Adjunta de Desarrollo Científico, DADC – CONACYT
Insurgentes Sur 1582, 4° piso (ala sur), Col. Crédito Constructor, Deleg. Benito Juárez C.P. 03940
phone +52 55 53227700, ext. 4080,
rbuenor(at)conacyt.mx
