BRICS STI FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME

RESPONSE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC COORDINATED CALL

FOR BRICS MULTILATERAL PROJECTS 2020

NATIONAL NATURAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION OF CHINA

CALL FOR PROJECT PROPOSALS

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 is one of the greatest global challenges, and as such warrants a global response. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the BRICS STI Framework Programme is launching a call for multilateral basic, applied and innovation research projects facilitating cooperation among the researchers and institutions in the consortia which consist of partners from at least three BRICS countries.

 Areas of cooperation

1. Research and development of COVID-19 vaccines and drugs, including  repurposing of available drugs (for Application Code 1, please select H10 or H30); 

2. Genomic sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 and studies on the epidemiology and mathematical modelling of the COVID-19 pandemic (for Application Code 1, please select H19 or H26);

Duration of projects

The projects will be supported for two years from January 2021 to December 2022.

Grant for projects

While NSFC funding levels are based on the actual amount of funding requested, it could be up to RMB2 000 000 (Two million Chinese RMB).

Eligibility of Applicants
(1) With the title of professor or associate professor; and as the principal investigators (PIs) of on-going or completed NSFC research project with the duration of no less than 3 years;
(2) For foreign side, the call is open to employed researchers in other BRICS countries who meet the eligibility by their own funders;

(3) The researchers of both sides should have long-term steady collaboration, and the project application should fully reflect strong cooperation and complementary advantages;

(4) Other requirements in the NSFC Guide to Programs 2020.

Application Limit

The International (Regional) Joint Research Programs of National Natural Science Foundation of China include International (Regional) Joint Research Program under Agreements/MoUs (hereinafter referred to as MoU based Joint Research Program) and Key International (Regional) Joint Research Program. "NSFC-BRICS Joint Research Program" is one of the MoU based Joint Research Programs. Applicants must follow the following restrictions when applying:

(1)Applicants can only apply for up to one International (Regional) Joint Research Project in the same year; 

(2)Applicants who is the principal investigators (PIs) of an on-going International (Regional) Joint Research Project shall not apply for this project as a principal investigator; 

(3)NSFC-BRICS cooperative research projects are not included in the scope of the total number of up to two for researchers with senior academic rank (title) applies for (including as applicant and main participant) and undertakes (including as applicant and main participant).

(4)Other restrictions in the NSFC Guide to Programs 2020.

Application process

A joint project will comprise of at least one Principal Investigator (PI) from each of the  participating countries (please also refer to national annexes for additional requirements), with one of the project participants also acting as a Project Coordinator (or leading PI). Project consortia should consist of partners from at least three of the BRICS countries participating in a specific thematic area of the call.

A Joint Application Form (JAF) shall first be submitted by the Project Coordinator to the Call Secretariat through the online BRICS STI Framework Programme Application Management System (BRICS AMS) at http://ams.rfbr.ru/BRICS. JAF must be completed in English.

In addition to the JAF, each national team including Chinese applicants shall submit an additional national component (i.e. proposal) to NSFC and other relevant national participating funding organization following all required procedures of each particular participating funding organization.Chinese applicants should write and submit an identical proposal to NSFC as required by its regulation. Please read the Chinese version of the guidelines for details.

It is not allowed that Chinese PIs from particular single project who request NSFC funding simultaneously request funding from other Chinese research funding organizations participating in this call.

Application for Chinese applicants may be completed by following the steps in the Chinese version of the guidelines, to be released on NSFC’s website.

Closing date for applications

JAF must be submitted by 18th August 2020, 15:00 Moscow Time (UTC+3). Applications received after this date will not be considered for funding. Please note that submission deadline for national component may vary from the deadline for JAF submission to the Call Secretariat.

The project which does not submit in due date a fully completed Joint Application Form to the Call Secretariat through Application Management System (ams.rfbr.ru) or national components to all respecting national funding organizations will automatically be considered as ineligible. 

Contact information