8th call for proposals ICT-ASIA regional programme
1. THE ICT-ASIA REGIONAL PROGRAMME
The ICT-Asia regional programme is an initiative by French cooperation directed at Asia in order to invite and to strengthen high-level collaboration and the networking of research and development in the area of Information and Communication Sciences and Technologies (ICST).
The programme is implemented by the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MAEE) and the science and technology sections of French Embassies in Asia, working in partnership with:
French research bodies and higher education establishments partnering the programme, including the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), the Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), the National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control (Inria), the Institut Telecom and the Research Institute for Development (IRD);
The Ministry of Higher Education and Research (MESR).
The programme is aimed at projects involving France and the ten countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN: Burma, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), the Far East (China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan) and South Asia (India and Pakistan).
OBJECTIVE
The objective of the programme is to promote the internationalisation of French research, to strengthen, on the basis of mutual benefit, high-level cooperation with emerging and developed Asian countries and to contribute to the regional integration of the geographical area’s various countries within the information society by driving a search for excellence and support for scientific communities in Asia.
IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY
The programme aims to:
present what is offered by French partnership in the ICST domain and to develop information and exchange mechanisms;
select and fund fundamental and applied research projects with a potential technology transfer or innovation dimension and with a regional scope involving France and at least two partner countries in Asia, of which at least one must be one of the following: Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand or Vietnam;
encourage future participation in other regional and multilateral programmes in this sector and geographical area (e.g. the French National Research Agency (ANR), European Union, Europe-Asia Meeting, Asian Development Bank, Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF)).
2. 8th CALL FOR PROPOSALS – TIMETABLE
Launch of call for proposals : 18 April 2012
Deadline for receipt of applications : 25 June 2012
Assessment of projects : July-August 2012
Selection Committee : mid-September 2012
Notification of results to project leaders: First week in October 2012
Signing of funding agreements with AFD** : October-November 2012
** The date of signing of the agreement between the project leader and the French development agency (AFD) is the effective date of commencement of the project.
3. INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARING AND SUBMITTING THE APPLICATION
PROJECT TOPICS
The call for proposals covers the whole range of topics in the area of information and communication sciences and technologies. Priority will be given in the 2012 call to projects that address societal and environmental issues (e.g.: food security, management of natural resources, energy, health, risk monitoring).
PROJECT NATURE AND DURATION
Each project must have a research component and may include other components relating to innovation and/or doctoral or post-doctoral training.
Project duration is set at two years. Funding is allocated on an annual basis. Payment of a second amount at the beginning of the second year (the amount may be reassessed) is dependent on submission of an interim report by the project leader, which must be approved by the MAEE.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
The call for projects under the ICT-Asia programme is directed at public- or private-sector research units and laboratories attached to higher education establishments, research organisations or private companies. Private-sector participation is encouraged.
Each project must bring together at least one French team and at least two teams from two different countries in Asia, and involve participation of a team from one of the following countries: Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand or Vietnam.
PROJECT FUNDING STRUCTURE
The amount allocated by the MAEE will be in the range €23,000 to €40,000 for the two years covered by the project (i.e. €11,500 minimum and €20,000 maximum per project per year).
Co-financing by the French body proposing the project is mandatory (host institution).
Contributions from the other partners, whether Asian or French, must be declared in the text describing the proposal; since such contributions (funding, staffing or resources) mark the involvement of the partners they are a decisive criterion for project selection.
The consolidated budgets submitted must set out clearly the income that is expected (sources and amounts) and the expenditure budgeted for each year of the project. Funding is granted on an annual basis.
French project leaders should contact the international relations department of their host organisation or the university in which their laboratory is based prior to the submission of the project and the meeting of the selection committee. If your host organisation is informed of the submission of an ICT-Asia project proposal this will allow anticipation of that organisation’s possible co-financing of the project at the meeting of the selection committee. Support from the host institution is mandatory for eligibility.
A subsidy from the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs under the regional ICT-Asia programme can relate only to a contribution to payment of the extra project costs arising from its international aspect, i.e. for the mobility of researchers, doctoral or post-doctoral students (travelling and living expenses) or the organisation of international workshops and seminars (mobility and logistics). The estimated average cost of assignment allowances and travelling expenses must be indicated. All other funding necessary to project implementation, notably relating to equipment and long-term study grants, must be funded from the laboratory’s own resources or from other sources.
SELECTION CRITERIA
Apart from scientific excellence, the principal assessment criteria are the following:
The competence of the teams involved;
The quality of the project infrastructures;
The novel character of the project;
The novel character of the cooperation involved;
The benefits of forming a partnership network for the execution of the project;
The complementarity of the teams involved;
Reciprocal transfer of skills;
The attention paid to integration within the framework of the project of countries widely different in terms of the sophistication of their R&D capabilities;
Foreseeable scientific, societal and industrial spin-off;
Participation of post-doctoral staff and young researchers in the international work abroad;
The quality and efficacy of the French and foreign co-financing;
Mandatory co-financing by one of the research bodies partnering the ICT-Asia programme;
The contribution from involved Asian partners.
SELECTION PROCEDURE
Following verification of proposal eligibility by the MAEE and MESR, each application will be assessed by the International Expertise Mission (Mission d’Expertise Internationale – MEI).
The MAEE will pass the project proposals received for MEI evaluation to the resource-persons of each organisation (international relations department) in order to inform the latter of the projects submitted and to allow them to provide, by the date of the meeting of the selection committee, a firm pronouncement as to their priorities and co-financing decision.
The selection committee will meet following this to draw up a list of selected projects based on the scientific evaluation, the criteria for suitability and the availability of budgeted funds. This committee will comprise MAEE and MESR representatives plus representatives from the co-financing organisations and institutes.
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION
Project acceptance will be notified to the project leader in a letter sent by the MAEE.
The arrangements and timetable for the payment of the contributions of donors other than MAEE will be defined between those donors and the project leader.
The arrangements and timetable for the payments to be made by MAEE are as follows:
1. Execution of a financing agreement between the French Development Agency (AFD) mandated by the MAEE for actual provision of its support and the project leader;
2. Payment by the AFD of the precise amount of the MAEE financial contribution for the first year of the project following execution of the abovementioned agreement;
3. Payment by AFD of the precise amount of the MAEE financial contribution for the second year of the proposal following submission by the project leader of an interim report detailing the progress achieved on the programme of scientific work and the expenditure incurred by the end of the first year, in addition to an estimated budget and a work programme for the second year.
Within three months of the completion of the project, the project leader should produce a final activity report, to be submitted to MAEE and the other donors.
Important: If the project leader is attached to an institution in Asia, a co-project leader attached to a French institution must be indicated so that a managing institution based in France, co-signatory of the financing agreement with the AFD is clearly identified.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
It is the responsibility of project leaders to take all relevant steps to ensure appropriate protection for intellectual property.
SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS
Download the Application Form: HERE
Application forms should be completed and sent by electronic mail in a file attachment to Mr André de Bussy, counsellor for cultural cooperation in Southeast Asia and Ms Emmanuelle Platzgummer, responsible for scientific exchanges with Asia at the MAEE:
emmanuelle.platzgummer@diplomatie.gouv.fr ; andre.de-bussy@diplomatie.gouv.fr
Project leaders are invited to send copies of their applications to the international relations department of their host research organisations.
In order to ensure due receipt of proposals, project leaders are requested to send their applications exclusively as PDF files less than 2Mb in size.
Non-exhaustive list of contacts in partner organisations (for information only):
CEA : Pascal Chaix : pascal.chaix@cea.fr
CNRS and its institutes: Chantal Khan Malek: chantal.khan-malek@cnrs-dir.fr /
Tel.: +33 (0)1 44 96 42 73
INRIA: Christian Laugier: christian.laugier@inrialpes.fr and Angelica Biard angelica.biard@inria.fr / Tel.: +33 (0)1 39 63 57 68
Institut Télécom: Pierre Simay: pierre.simay@mines-telecom.fr /
Tel.: +33 (0)1 45 81 70 65
IRD: dri@ird.fr; dpf@ird.fr