Grants from the RFBR and the Royal Society of London
The Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR) and the Royal Society of London (CO), on the basis of a Memorandum concluded between them, announce a competition for joint projects in 2010 (type of competition KO_a) for financial support for conducting fundamental scientific research in the following fields of knowledge:
01 mathematics, mechanics, computer science;
02 physics and astronomy;
03 chemistry and materials sciences;
04 biology and medical science;
05 Earth sciences;
07 information technologies and computing systems;
08 fundamental fundamentals of engineering sciences.
In accordance with the agreement between the RFBR and the CO, support can be provided to research jointly carried out by Russian and British scientists aimed at obtaining new scientific knowledge of interest to both the Russian and British sides.
TERMS OF THE COMPETITION
All types of support for fundamental scientific research are carried out by the RFBR on a competitive basis, regardless of age, academic rank, academic degree or position of a scientist. The KO_a competition is held according to the rules of the initiative project competition (competition "a").
A scientist has the right to submit only one application to the KO_a competition as a supervisor, and, accordingly, at the end of the competition, become the head of only one Russian-British project that has received financial support from the RFBR and Co. Participation in this competition, regardless of the result, does not prevent the applicant from participating in other RFBR competitions.
Attention! It is prohibited to submit the same initiative project at the same time to various RFBR competitions (for example, if the project is submitted to the “a” competition, it cannot be submitted to an international or regional competition; if the project has already been supported by any competition, it is prohibited to submit it to any competition in the future); as a financing organization, only the organization in which the project is being carried out, or the organization is the main place of work of the head; financing through other organizations is not allowed. Russian and British scientists participating in the project on the KO_a competition preliminarily coordinate the content of their applications. The name of the project should be the same for both the Russian and British applications and should not coincide with the name of any planned topic carried out in a Russian organization and funded from the federal budget.
In accordance with the terms of the Memorandum, no more than 10 projects are planned to be supported in 2010. The deadline for the implementation of a joint initiative scientific project is two years.
Russian scientists send applications to the RFBR, and British scientists – to the Co. The number of participants for the Russian application is no more than 10 people.
All applications admitted to the competition are subject to parallel independent examination: applications of British – in the CO, applications of Russian scientists – in the RFBR. Consideration of applications is carried out by each party independently in accordance with its own rules. The final decision on support is made jointly by the parties. Information about the examination is strictly confidential.
Financial conditions
The financing of projects supported by both funds is carried out as follows: the RFBR pays for the costs associated with the implementation of the project by Russian researchers, and the CO – British. Accommodation and per diem of the seconded scientists are paid by the host party. Travel from the place of work of a seconded scientist to the place of work by a foreign partner is paid by the sending party.
The maximum amount of the RFBR grant is 700,000 rubles per year for the project.
The project is funded only if it is supported by both organizations.
RFBR and Co. will not cover the costs of accident and illness insurance.
The competition is not allowed:
• projects submitted by only one party;
• projects received by the Fund after the announced deadline;
• projects that are not designed according to the rules.
PROCEDURE FOR REGISTRATION AND SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS TO THE RFBR
Only those applications that are processed using the interactive (via the Internet) Grant-Express system will be accepted for consideration. The registration cycle consists of the following stages: registration of the applicant's person (if this has not been done before), preparation of the application, registration of the application. After receiving the registration number, the project manager must print out and submit to the RFBR 1 (one) printed copy of the application.
Detailed rules of operation in this system are presented on the server http://grant.rfbr.ru or http://grant.rffi.ru . If necessary, requests related to the operation of the remote application registration system should be sent to grant@rfbr.ru .
When making applications through the Grant-Express system, the date of signature of the application is from July 01 to October 01, 2009 inclusive. Printed copies must be received by the Fund by October 15, 2009. The final decision will be made in February 2010.
The application consists of a title page (Form T) and 4 sections prepared according to Forms 1, 2, 3 and 35.
In the title page and form 1, in the column "type of competition", KO_a is indicated. Form 2 is filled out only for Russian project participants. The form 35 clearly states: the tasks performed by each party, the distribution of responsibilities for the project and the schedule of joint work.
The application is submitted to the Fund in an envelope marked "RFBR Competition; application number received as a result of registration through Grant Express; project code by classifier and type of competition. For example: "RFBR Competition" – №10-01– 92600 (02-200) – KO_a".
Reports on projects within the framework of the international competition KO_a are drawn up according to the rules of reports on the competition "a". The following deadlines are set for the submission of reports by Russian project participants:
a) interim report – March 15, 2011;
b) final report – March 15, 2012.
The decision to continue financing the project for the second year of the RFBR and CO will be made based on the results of the examination of interim reports.
Attention! In accordance with the RFBR rules, no more than 15% of the total funding can be used to reimburse the costs of organizational and technical support for the implementation of the project, minus the costs of sending Russian project participants to the UK and receiving British scientists.
Printed copies of applications should be sent by simple letter (without declared value) to:
119991, Moscow, B-334, GSP-1,
Leninsky Prospekt, 32A,
Russian Foundation for Basic Research, Department of Bilateral Foreign Programs.
In addition, applications can be dropped directly into the mailbox of the Foundation installed in the building at the specified address, daily from 10 to 17 hours, except Saturdays and Sundays.
Contact coordinates:
RUSSIAN FOUNDATION FOR BASIC RESEARCH
Department of Bilateral Foreign Programs
Kokurin Nikolay Leonidovich
Tel./Fax: +7 495 938 54 82 / +7 495 938 54 82
E-mail: kokurin@rfbr.ruTHE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON
International Grant Section
Dr. Hans Hagen
Tel./Fax: +44 (0) 20 7451 2551 / +44 (0) 20 7451 2543
E-mail: hans.hagen@royalsoc.ac.uk