Programmes and projects |
Research projects |
Calls |
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The Public Research Agency of the Republic of Slovenia, Tivolska cesta 30, 1000
Ljubljana, pursuant to Article 9 of the Rules on the Procedures of the (co)financing
and Monitoring of Research Activities Implementation (Official Gazette of the Republic
of Slovenia, no. 23/09), Articles 12 and 13 of the Rules on (co-)financing basic,
applicative and postdoctoral research projects (Official Gazette of the Republic
of Slovenia, nos. 73/06, 23/09 and 41/09), in conjunction with Article 12 of the
Research and Development Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, nos.
22/06-UPB1, 61/06-ZDru-1 and 112/07), based on guidelines of the Ministry of Higher
Education, Science and Technology for allocation of budget funds to research priorities
within the call for proposals to receive co-financing for research projects for
2011 – call in 2010, no. 410-28/2010/2 of 7 July 2010, and based on the Methodology
for assessing applications for co-financing of research activities in 2010 – Sections
A-D, no. 6319-1/2010-1 of 31 March 2010, 21 June 2010 and 20 September 2010, hereby
publishes
Call for proposals to receive (co)financing for research projects in 2011 – call in 2010
- Name and address of the budget user
Public Research Agency of the Republic of Slovenia, Tivolska cesta 30, 1000
Ljubljana (hereinafter: the Agency).
- Subject matter of the Call
Subject matter of the Call for proposals to receive (co)financing for research
projects in 2011 (hereinafter: the Call) is (co)financing of research projects:
- big and small basic research projects and big and small applicative
research projects;
- postdoctoral basic and applicative research projects and postdoctoral
projects for businesses.
Scientific fields of the Call for proposals to receive (co)financing for
research projects and the planned annual funds:
The annual funds of the call equal € 22,300,000.00.
Allocation of co-financing funds in 2011 in line with the Call shall take
into account the distribution of funds by scientific field that will roughly
preserve the fund ratios between scientific fields from 2010 (table).
Scientific fields |
% |
Natural and mathematical sciences |
20.4 |
Technical sciences |
28.2 |
Medical sciences |
12.1 |
Medical sciences |
9.4 |
Social sciences |
9.2 |
Humanities |
15.4 |
Interdisciplinary fields |
5.3 |
TOTAL |
100.0 |
The priority fields set by the Scientific Council of the Agency (hereinafter:
the SCA) relate to big research projects.
The applications for big projects, which are included based on the score
in the list of projects selected for co-financing, will be discussed by a panel,
which will decide, with regard to alignment with the priorities, whether the
selected big project will be co-financed as a big or as a small project.
The Agency may select one big applicative project for the following topical
priorities:
- First priority set: information & communications technology – ICT (includes
computer and information sciences)
- Second priority set: advanced (new) synthetic metal and non-metal materials
and nanotechnologies
- Third priority set: complex systems and innovative technologies (including
process management technologies)
- Fourth priority set: technologies for a sustainable economy (energy
and environmental technologies, technologies for more rational use of energy,
for use of new and renewable energy sources, for safe and healthy environment,
for sustainable construction, for providing and controlling quality of the
environment (soil, forest, water and air), food, health and products etc.)
- Fifth priority set: health and life science and interdisciplinary research
in natural & technical sciences, biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical
sciences and humanities and social sciences related to the quality of life
and protection of the environment.
The Agency may select one big project in the following fields:
- basic scientific project lead by an extraordinary and established Slovenian
researcher
- basic scientific project lead by an extraordinary and established Slovenian
researcher, who has been working abroad for at least five years and is returning
to Slovenia
At least 10% of postdoctoral projects shall be selected within each field,
and at least 50% of projects in technical sciences and at least 25% in other
fields shall be applicative. At least 15% of selected projects shall have younger
researchers in charge (up to 7 active years after receiving doctoral degree).
- Entities that can apply to the Call
The call may be entered by a legal entity or natural person listed in records
of data on implementers of research & development activities (hereinafter: the
Agency Records) and meeting the conditions prescribed by the Research and Development
Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, nos. 22/06-UPB1, 61/06-ZDru-1
and 112/07, hereinafter: the Act) and the Rules on (co-)financing basic, applicative
and postdoctoral research projects (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia,
nos. 73/06, 23/09 –
Rules on the Procedures of the (co)financing and Monitoring of Research Activities
Implementation – and 41/09, hereinafter: the Project Rules). Research projects
co-financed by the Agency and complying with the framework programme of research
and technological development activities of the EU shall be open to research
entities from the EU, provided such entities finance their part of the research
from their own funds. The applicants may enter such entities as collaborating
research teams.
- Objectives of the Call
Objective of the Call is to select:
- big (basic and applicative) research projects;
- small (basic and applicative) research projects;
- postdoctoral basic and applicative research projects; and
- postdoctoral projects for businesses entered by enterprises and intended
foremost for the flow (transfer) of young doctors of science to the business
sector and implemented so that the researcher may after receiving the doctoral
degree obtain additional research experience and knowledge in the business
sector.
- Conditions
The conditions for selection of research projects are set in the Methodology
for assessing applications for co-financing of research activities in 2011 (calls
in 2010) – Section A-D, no. 6319-1/2010-1, of 31 March 2010, 21 June 2010 and
20 September 2010 (hereinafter: the Methodology), the Project Rules, the Rules
on criteria for evaluation of qualifications of project leaders (Official Gazette
of the Republic of Slovenia, no. 41/09; hereinafter: the Project Manager Rules)
and the Rules of indicators and criteria for measuring scientific and technical
efficiency (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, nos. 41/09, 86/09
and 56/10). All listed documents are a constituent part of the documentation
of the Call and are published at the Agency's website.
The research project is implemented by the project team (hereinafter: the
Team) comprising the team manager, researchers and expert and technical assistants.
Postdoctoral projects are performed by a single postdoctoral researcher meeting
the conditions for implementation of such projects.
The project managers and the Team shall have available capacity to implement
research projects (the maximum permitted capacity is 1700 hours annually or
1 FTE) and shall be employed as researchers in the research institution implementing
the project or have the status of a private researcher.
The project manager shall have at least 170 available research hours annually,
with the exception of managers of public research institutions. Notwithstanding
the previous paragraph, a project manager can be a retired researcher with 0
hours, who meets all other conditions for a project manager and has outstanding
scientific achievements. A project lead by a retired researcher shall not exceed
€ 50,000 annually.
The conditions related to available capacity and employment shall be verified
upon contract signing. The contract shall be signed within three months following
the decision of the Management Board of the Agency on the project selection.
An individual researcher can be a candidate in the Call as the manager of only
one research project. A researcher may become a candidate for the manager of
a new project if she or he was on 9 November 2010 the manager of no more than
two basic research projects or no more than two applicative research projects
or at the same time one applicative and one basic research project. A researcher
who has already been the manager of one postdoctoral project cannot enter any
other postdoctoral research project.
The SCA has determined the limit value of the sum A1+A2+A3 which the project
managers must have in the application for each field separately - the values
for 2010 are:
Big basic project:
A1+A2+A3 = 11 natural and technical sciences
A1+A2+A3 = 10 medical sciences and biotechnology
A1+A2+A3 = 6 social sciences
A1+A2+A3 = 5 humanities
Basic project and big applicative project:
A1+A2+A3=5.0 natural sciences
A1+A2+A3=5.0 technical sciences
A1+A2+A3=2.5 medical sciences, pharmaceutical sciences and geology
A1+A2+A3=3.5 biotechnology and biology
A1+A2+A3=2.0 social sciences and clinical medicine
A1+A2+A3=2.5 humanities
A1+A2+A3=4.0 interdisciplinary
Applicative project (including basic project if not more than 7 years have
passed since the project manager received the doctoral degree):
A1+A2+A3=3.0 natural sciences
A1+A2+A3=3.0 technical sciences
A1+A2+A3=1.5 medical sciences, pharmaceutical sciences and geology
A1+A2+A3=2.5 biotechnology and biology
A1+A2+A3=1.5 social sciences
A1+A2+A3=2.0 humanities
A1+A2+A3=3.0 interdisciplinary
Applicative project if not more than 7 years have passed since the project
manager received the doctoral degree:
A1+A2+A3=2.5 natural sciences
A1+A2+A3=2.5 technical sciences
A1+A2+A3=1.0 medical sciences, pharmaceutical sciences and geology
A1+A2+A3=2.0 biotechnology and biology
A1+A2+A3=1.0 social sciences
A1+A2+A3=1.5 humanities
A1+A2+A3=2.5 interdisciplinary
A third of project team members for basic and applicative projects for all
fields must meet the condition: A1+A2+A3=1.
(Basic and applicative) project managers can also apply with a lower overall
score A1+A2+A3 if they prove their excellence with achievements within A".
For postdoctoral applicants:
If the postdoctoral applicant has used the parental leave – with one year
accounted per one child – the age limit shall be raised above 35 for the period
of the actually used leave. Equally applies to documented sick leaves exceeding
three months. A postdoctoral applicant shall receive the doctoral degree by
9 November 2010.
A postdoctoral applicant shall be employed by the applying institution or
must be employed by the applying institution by the date of contract signing
for the project at least for the duration of the postdoctoral project.
The Call specifies two sizes of basic and applicative research projects,
namely:
- small projects with the annual finance of roughly € 100,000.
The applicants, notably in social sciences, mathematics and clinical medicine,
can apply projects of € 50,000 as a small project. The number of such projects
cannot exceed 10% for all fields combined.
Calculated as project research hours, that would mean roughly 3620 annual
hours of the price class A (1810 for projects of € 50,000), 3210 annual
hours of the price class B (1610), 2810 annual hours of the price class
C (1400) or 2520 annual hours of the price class D (1260); and
- big projects with the annual finance of roughly € 200,000.
Calculated as project research hours, that would mean roughly 7240 annual
hours of the price class A, 6420 annual hours of the price class B, 5620 annual
hours of the price class C or 5040 annual hours of the price class D.
The applicants entering a big project shall specify in the application form
to which part of the project proposal the increased funding relates (Stage II
– Item 14 of the application form: supplement to the research project proposal
if the applicant enters a big project).
Basic or applicative big projects shall also:
- applicative projects:
- include at least three Slovenian research organisations different by
type (with regard to the status (research institute, university and an enterprise);
- include a foreign participating partner (with no financial obligations);
and
- prove co-financing.
- Basic projects:
- include at least two Slovenian research organisations different by type
(with regard to the status (research institute, university or an enterprise);
- include a foreign participating partner (with no financial obligations).
Each project (€ 100,000 and 200,000) shall include the applicant and at least
one participating research institution which will together perform at least
20% of the project value. If the project has been approved in the amount of
€ 50,000, the applicant may exclude or reduce the share of participating research
institutions which must be stated upon application – Stage II, Item 14 (with
specification of the share of participating research institutions).
The scope of basic postdoctoral projects and postdoctoral projects for businesses
is 1700 annual research hours (1 FTE) of the price class B and of applicative
postdoctoral projects 1275 annual research hours (0.75 FTE) of the price
class B.
If the project team comprises several project sub-teams in different research
institutions, the applicant can be only that research institution which employs
the research project manager. The applicant shall have an agreement regulating
mutual rights and obligations signed with other participating institutions.
The applicant shall mark in the application form whether the contents of
the research project proposal are deemed business secret.
The Agency obtains and calculates quantitative assessments for individual
assessment elements (A1 and A2 scores) and for individual scientific fields
specified in the Methodology. The Agency will use data entered in the SICRIS
(COBISS) database and the Agency Records (A1 and A2 scores) as at the date of
conclusion of the Call to calculate quantitative assessments.
The Agency obtained data for calculation of funds of other users based on
the Methodology (A3 score) directly from research institutions (hereinafter:
the RI) for all project managers who are members of programme research teams.
The Agency will take into account for members of programme groups only data
entered in the ARRS-RPROG-VPETOST/2010 form on which competent persons vouched
for data accuracy with their signature.
Research project managers not being members of any programme group shall
enter data on funds of other users in the ARRS-RPROG-VPETOST-D/2010 form published
on the Agency’s website and send it by e-mail to
vpetostprogram@arrs.si
by 9 November 2010, 12 noon. A printed and signed form shall also be
sent via regular mail to:
Public Research Agency of the Republic of Slovenia
Tivolska cesta 30
1000 Ljubljana
Also by 9 November 2010, 12 noon. The Agency will take into account data
from those forms only if the candidate is a member of no programme group.
- Application to the Call
The Call will be carried out in two stages. All applicants enter Stage I
of the Call by a short application using the ARRS-ZV-JR-Prijava/2010-I form.
Application to the Call is made by an application form using the ARRS-ZV-JR-Prijava/2010-I
form on the Agency’s e-Forms web portal
https://www.arrs.gov.si/eObrazci/.
The portal can be used by researchers entered in the Agency Records, administrators
of the e-Forms portal in the RI, authorised persons representing the RI and
additional users. There are two ways of logging in the e-Forms web portal:
- using a digital certificate (SIGEN-CA, SIGOV-CA, NLB-CA, POSTArCA or
HALCOM-CA);
- using username and password (researchers can obtain password on the
e-Forms portal by themselves, other users get it from the administrator
of e-Forms in the RI or the Agency).
A detailed explanation of the procedure of logging in and obtaining password
is enclosed hereto.
The application form is simultaneously filled in Slovene and English –
it needs to be filled in both languages.
- Assessment criteria
Evaluation conditions, criteria and indicators for assessing project proposals
are specified in the Project Rules, Project Manager Rules and Indicator and
Criteria Rules, and the assessment method in the Methodology.
Project proposals are assessed in a two-stage procedure:
Stage I
- Preliminary selection
The SCA based on an analysis of the five-year production of Slovenian
researchers by research field (particle physics subfield is taken into account
separately in physics) and accounting for the available funds for research
fields determines researchers who can automatically enter the second round
of assessment. Those researchers are informed on the possibility of automatic
entry in the second round of assessment upon publication of the Call and
if they send an application to the Call, they will only enter the project’s
title and fill in administrative data on their application form for the
first stage. If they do not submit an application until conclusion of the
Call, they cannot enter Stage II of the assessment. The SCA selects researchers
based on the classification by order of the sum of assessments A1 + A2 +
A3 in the list within a field. All selected researchers must have scores
in category A' and the total score of A1+A2+A3 at least equal to the condition
for applying a basic project. Scores for A1 and A2 from the SICRIS database
have been calculated as at 20 September 2010.
The number of thus selected researchers roughly equals 50% of the number
of projects entering Stage II. Interdisciplinary research and post-doctoral
projects have no preliminary selection.
- Selection through the Call
The Agency will use assessments from the assessment procedure to classify
projects as A or B category.
A category: projects included in the A category are determined
from projects within a field by descending scores B1 + B2
+ B3. The A category also includes postdoctoral projects
where the applicant has entered a project at a research institution other
than that of his current employment. The A category projects have not yet
been selected for financing. A project must have the B1+B2+B3 score of at
least 15 (threshold) to be considered for the A category.
B category: Projects included in the B category are those not
included in the A category. The B category projects are rejected. The B
category includes all projects with the score B1 + B2
+ B3 less than 15 and other projects not included in the
A category.
Stage II
The Agency calls upon the applicants included in the second stage of
the project selection (A category) to submit within three weeks on the ARRS-ZV-JR-Prijava-2010-II
form (hereinafter: the Stage II Application Form) the supplemented research
project proposals on the e-Forms portal.
The project composition is included in the Stage II Application Form.
The project composition from the Stage II Application Form cannot be changed
upon contract signing.
The applicants entering projects with an enterprise as the Implementer,
co-implementer or co-financing the project shall, in accordance with the
Rules on state aid in research & development, no. 007-6/2009-8 of 17 June
2009, submit filled in form for granting state aid, ARRS-ZV-JR-Prijava/2010-II-DP.
- Amount of the Call
The planned annual amount for the call is € 22.3 million Allocation of co-financing
funds in 2011 in line with the Call shall take into account the distribution
of funds by scientific field that will roughly preserve the fund ratios between
scientific fields from 2010.
The Call will be implemented in line with the funds earmarked in the budget
of the Republic of Slovenia and the Agency's budget.
The Agency will finance basic projects up to 100% of eligible project costs.
The Agency will finance applicative projects up to 75% of eligible project costs.
The applicants entering applicative projects shall cover at least 25% of eligible
project costs from other interested users and submit evidence on project co-financing
(agreement on co-financing) for the entire period of project implementation
with regard to the research hour price in the beginning of financing. If enterprises
enter an applicative project independently (with no public research institution),
they do not have to submit evidence of project co-financing but must disclose
their share of co-financing in financial reports.
With regard to the load of researchers with research hours financed from
the budget of the Republic of Slovenia, the Agency will in line with the Decree
on criteria and standards for allocating resources for the implementation of
the National Research and Development Programme (Official Gazette of the Republic
of Slovenia, nos. 74/04, 32/05, 26/06, 80/07, 89/08 and 102/09) finance individual
researchers with regard to the share of employment for research, up to a maximum
of 1700 research hours annually. The minimum annual workload of a researcher
per project is 17 hours. A participating RI shall contribute at least 170 hours
in the project implementation period where the minimum scope of a participating
RI in a year shall be 170 hours. The number of hours of a participating RI during
the project implementation can be 0 hours in a year.
- Duration of research projects
The planned start of (co)financing of project implementation is 1 June 2011.
The Agency will (co)finance selected projects up to three years except for
postdoctoral research projects which will be (co)financed for two years. The
selected research project will be allocated an annual number of research hours,
meaning determining the annual number of research hours for all years of project
duration in the Call.
- Selection of research projects
10.1. – Stage I
The applications will be assessed by the procedure and method set by the
Project Rules and the Methodology.
The working body will prepare a draft project list to be included in Stage
II of the selection (A category, see Item 7 of the Call) and the draft project
list to be rejected in Stage I of the selection (B category), and submits them
to the SCA for discussion.
The SCA will adopt the draft financially evaluated priority project list
of the A category to be included in Stage II of the application selection and
the draft project list of the B category to be rejected after Stage I of the
selection. The draft decision is submitted for adoption to the Management Board
of the Agency.
10.2. – Stage II
The panel prepares the draft priority project list and submits it to the
SCA for discussion. The SCA prepares the draft financially evaluated priority
list for project selection after Stage II of the assessment and submits it for
approval to the Management Board of the Agency. The Management Board also decides
on any complaint against the decision on selection of research projects.
- Method, form and deadline for application submitting – Stage I
11.1. Submitting the application form with a digital signature
The application to the Call is made and submitted by an application form
using the ARRS-ZV-JR-Prijava/2010-I form on the Agency’s e-Forms web portal.
A submitted application shall be complete, if it contains both digital signatures
(authorised person of the RI and the research project manager). The applications
must be submitted by Tuesday, 9 November 2010, 12 noon.
We advise the applicants not to submit applications on the last day of the
set period because the server may overload.
11.2. Submitting the application form without a digital signature
If the applicant and/or the research project manager have no digital signature,
the application form will be submitted in electronic form unsigned (on the Agency’s
e-Forms web portal) with the application status “Submitted – not digitally signed”
and in print, including an authentic signature of the authorised person of the
RI and the research project manager and the stamp of the RI.
Both electronic and printed form of the application shall be completely the
same in terms of contents.
Printed applications shall be submitted in closed envelopes marked “DO NOT
open – CALL FOR PROJECTS” and obligatory marking of the application (ARRS-ZV-JR/2010-I
/...) with indication of the field on the envelope (a field from Item 7 of the
application form) and name and address of the applicant, sent to the address:
Public Research Agency of the Republic of Slovenia
Tivolska cesta 30
1000 Ljubljana
Timely applications shall be those submitted in print or electronically by
the deadline. An application shall be timely if submitted to the Agency’s e-Forms
web portal (with status “Submitted”) or received in the mail room of the Agency
by Tuesday, 9 November 2010, 12 noon. Timely shall be also applications
sent by registered mail from Slovenia by 9 November 2010, 12 noon (postal
stamp).
11.3. Completeness of applications
An application shall be complete if submitted in the prescribed form on the
applicable form (Item 11.1 – electronic, Item 11.2 – electronic and printed)
and containing all data as prescribed herein. Incomplete applications shall
be handled in accordance with the Rules on the Procedures of the (co)financing
and Monitoring of Research Activities Implementation (Official Gazette of the
Republic of Slovenia, no. 23/09).
The committee for opening applications shall disregard untimely and incorrectly
marked applications, which will be returned unopened to the sender.
- Applications opening date
The committee for opening applications will open all timely delivered and
properly marked applications at the registered office of the Public Research
Agency of the Republic of Slovenia, Tivolska cesta 30, 1000 Ljubljana, on
Thursday, 11 November 2010, 10 a.m.
- The deadline by which the applicants will be informed on the Call’s results
The applicants will be informed on the projects rejected after Stage I of
the selection by the end of January 2011. The applicants will be informed on
the project selection after Stage II of the selection in May 2011.
- Method, form and deadline for application submitting – Stage II
The application submitting procedure will be similar to Stage I. The applicants
entering Stage II will be informed in writing on the method, form and deadline
of submitting application forms.
- Place, time and person where interested parties can obtain documentation
of the Call
15.1. Documentation of the Call is available on the Agency’s website
(http://www.arrs.gov.si/sl/razpisi/).
15.2. Any additional information related to the Call can be obtained
by interested parties on the Agency’s website
http://www.arrs.gov.si
and the Public Research Agency of the Republic of Slovenia, Tivolska cesta 30,
1000 Ljubljana, and telephone number 400 5960 Vanja Rodič, Almira Bremec, Tina
Valenci and Mateja Gašpirc).
Number: 6316-3/2010/2
Date: 27.09.2010
Public Research Agency of the Republic of Slovenia
Dr. Franci Demšar
Director
(Published in the Official Gazette of the RS, no. 76/2010 dated 1 October
2010.)
Documentation of the Call:
- Sample of the Application Form for Phase:
- Sample of the (tripartite) Contract:
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