PACE-Net Plus seed-funding — Call for Projects

Note that the selection process has been delayed (given the high number of proposals received) and the outcomes will be published in mid-July.

Background and rationale

The Pacific region represents an area of strategic importance for the European Union and for global sustainability. The Pacific Ocean, one third of the earth’s surface, is a key driver of regional and global climate. The South Pacific alone hosts a large share of global biodiversity, innumerable cultures and languages spread across more than 33 million km², as well as huge quantities of Oceania’s and South Asia’s marine resources and livestock. Rising sea levels, pollution, as well as social and cultural changes are putting all of this at risk, with the potential impacts also being felt in Europe.

The Pacific-Europe Network for Science, Technology and Innovation project supports the EU-Pacific policy dialogue and cooperation, for addressing a number of major societal challenges: health, demographic change and wellbeing; food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy; climate action, resource efficiency and raw materials. With the aim to promote the implementation of joint activities, support innovation, and strengthen Pacific-EU research cooperation and partnerships, PACE-Net Plus is offering seed funding to support initiatives intending to enhance collaboration and innovation.

Eligibility

• Proposals must address one of the Societal Challenges above and must identify how the proposed initiative will contribute to leveraging further funding, initiating further collaboration, and/or generating innovation.
• The call is open to applicants from EU countries (including OCTs), Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Island Countries and Territories. Participants from Australia and New Zealand are eligible but only if the proposal involves an EU and PICT partner. These participants must clearly outline the benefits of their participation for the EU-Pacific cooperation. Proposals have to be joint applications between the two regions, with at least one partner from Europe and one from the PICTs involved. Australian and New Zealand partners can also be associated with any application and receive funding.
• Proposals may involve joint calls, summer schools, twinning and networking of (private or public) labs or organisations (including regional ones) etc.
• Each individual applicant (e.g. researcher, innovator, policy-maker) may only contribute to one single application either as the main applicant or as a partner. Multiple applications are not permitted.
• Funds may cover consumables, travel funds and other project-related costs of up to €10,000 per project
• Funds may not be used to cover personnel costs.

Selection/Evaluation process

Complete proposals will be evaluated by thematic experts with good knowledge of the Pacific, assigned by the PACE-Net Plus project consortium. Proposed projects must be new and not part of an ongoing established cooperation. Preference will be given to applications with greatest potential to support PACE-Net Plus goals and be further funded or those with greatest potential to generate significant innovation. Only proposals strictly fulfilling the eligibility criteria will be considered. Incomplete applications will be rejected. The selection will only be based on the application documentation received, taking into account the alignment of the proposal with the call objectives and the predicted chances of initiative success and impact.

Obligation of the Recipients

Successful applicants will be expected to give a brief presentation during the final platform of PACE-Net Plus around June 2016 in Fiji, informing colleagues, stakeholders, policy-makers, funding organisations and other potential sponsors of the initiatives’ outcome, impact, lessons-learned and experience gained.

Short final written reports must also be submitted to PACE-Net Plus by the 1^st of May 2016 (EU Brussels time). Reports should describe the initiative’s activities undertaken with the seed funding and their respective outcomes with respect to the call objectives. Photos and links to media reports should also be included to support promotion of the initiative.

Scope of support

Within this PACE-Net Plus seed funding scheme, the selected applicants will be eligible to economy-class flights and/or ground transport, accommodation, consumables, workshop and conference funding of up to a maximal contribution of €10,000 per initiative.

The funds must be used within 10 months of the issuing of the letter of award from the PACE-Net Plus project consortium.

Guideline for applications

Applications shall not exceed four printed pages single-space using Times 12 font, and must address the following points (please, fill out the application form):

• Background/rationale of the proposition
• List of partners (including project leader), names and institutional affiliation with a letter or email of acceptance from each (1 page-CVs with expertise and significant publications and/or projects will be attached in appendix to the proposal)
• Work plan, including breakdown of costs (proposed work, distribution of tasks, schedule for implementation of activities, cost per categories [consumables, travel, workshops, other project-related costs approved by the seed funding coordinator])
• Expected outcomes
• Contribution to Pace-Net Plus project goals, potential to attract further funding, potential for further collaboration, and/or potential for generating innovation.

Proposals (application form in PDF format) must be submitted by e-mail to fadhila.lemeur@ird.fr. The deadline for submission is the 15^th of April 2015 (23:59 Brussels time). Applications received after this deadline will not be accepted. All applicants will be notified of the outcomes no later than the 31^st of May 2015.

For any inquiry about the seed-funding

Ms Fadhila Le Meur PACE-Net Plus Project Manager Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) BP A5 98848 Noumea (New Caledonia) Phone: +687 26 69 51 e-mail: fadhila.lemeur@ird.fr

Prof. Jean-François Marini PACE-Net Plus coordinator Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) BP A5 98848 Noumea (New Caledonia) Phone: +687 26 07 47 e-mail: jean-francois.marini@ird.fr

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions

To be a EU participant, does one have to be employed by a EU organisation or just be a EU citizen with an association with an EU Organization?

This regional affiliation depends on the institutional anchoring of the participants (not on their citizenship).

If SPC (Secretariat of Pacific Community) was to be included in an application (either as the lead organisation or a partner) since they are based in New Caledonia, does that count as an application from an EU (OCT) partner country?

SPC includes 22 PICTs (out of 26 member-states) and is therefore a regional “Pacific” partner.

Can Australian or New Zealanders lead initiatives as well?

There is nothing to preclude Australians and New Zealanders from leading initiatives. These just need to be trilateral in that case, with a PICT and EU partner.

What can the funds cover?

Examples: in the framework of joint-calls, meetings expenses (travel, accommodation and catering); instructors in the framework of summer-schools; assignment/mission work in the framework of twinning and networking of (private or public) labs – excluding all equipment purchase; participation in a conference relating to the challenge topic… this will be left to the partner managing the funds, according to their own accountancy rules.

To what extent PACE-Net Plus can follow-up the project proposals once submitted? The relation to Horizon 2020 proposals as an aftermath of this exercise…

The project will only be able to provide general advice and specific guidance on Horizon 2020.

Length of the project

Whatever project length, the funds must be used within 10 months of the issuing of the letter of award from the PACE-Net Plus project consortium.

Quality of the consortium

Any private or public organizations involved in Science, Technology and Innovation in the Pacific.

Are the applicants only allowed to apply for a maximum of €10,000 seed-funding?

Yes, the maximum is €10,000. The costs (flights/hotel/catering etc) will need to be itemised and they could be paid to different partners (up to the €10,000 in total).

One of the conditions for the applications for the PACE-Net Plus Seeding Funding is a letter or email of acceptance from each of the partners. Is the email or letter to be sent directly to the PACE-Net partner mentioned in the Call or can the potential partners of the proposed project email their acceptance letters to the Principal applicant (who will then forward the email/letter to the PNP partners in charge?

The acceptance emails or letters should be attached to the application and sent to the PNP partner in charge.

Do you mean only one proposal per organisation or per person? Could a particular organisation appear in 2 proposals but each proposal involves different named people.

“Only one proposal per applicant” means that each main applicant/researcher can only propose one project (but may appear in other projects as a partner); each organization can apply several times (but with different people) within the same challenge or to different challenges.

Successful applicants will be expected to give a brief presentation during the final platform of PACE-Net Plus around June 2016 in Fiji, informing colleagues, stakeholders, policy-makers, funding organisations and other potential sponsors of the initiatives of outcome, impact, lessons-learned and experience gained. Will the cost of participation in the Fiji meeting be met from the 10,000 grant, or from another source?

The projects leaders will be invited at the project’s costs.

Can International organizations qualify as EU partners? Do they have to be EU registered? And what about Switzerland?

International organizations can participate in Horizon 2020 (and do not need to be based in Europe).
As for Switzerland, it can now participate in some parts of Horizon 2020. But this doesn’t including the societal challenges, and doesn’t include INCO-NETs (such as PACE-Net Plus, projects promoting Imternational Cooperation).
However, PACE-Net Plus is a FP7 project, and Switzerland was a full Associated Partner to FP7.
Therefore, for the purpose of these funds, the projects will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. International and Swiss partners would need to demonstrate that the project would have broader integration with the EU countries.

List of partners (including project leader), names and institutional affiliation- with a letter or a mail of acceptance from each (1 page-CVs with expertise and significant publications and/or projects will be attached in appendix to the proposal).

The list of partners (including project leader) should include all participants’ names and institutional affiliations (a 1 page-CVs with expertise and significant publications and/or projects for each researcher/participant will be attached in appendix to the proposal).
In addition, a letter or a mail of acceptance from each organisation will be requested.