14.07.2011 - 04.10.2011

Announcement

of 6 July 2011

1 Funding purpose and legal basis

1.1 Funding purpose

Securing the global food supply is a central aim of the National Research Strategy BioEconomy 2030. Global agricultural production urgently needs to be increased and it must be better secured by reducing losses in order to be able to ensure the future food supply of 8-10 billion people across the world. The need for refined food is increasing due to changed consumption patterns. There will also be a rising demand for biomass as a source of energy and materials. It is important to make sure that efforts to create a "bioeconomy" - an economic model in which sustainable biological processes replace resource-intensive and environmentally harmful processes - are not at the expense of the global food supply. In many countries, however, there is growing competition from agricultural biomass production for different uses, which is putting pressure on existing food supply systems. In addition, the effects of climate change are also reducing the amount of agricultural land available. This affects in particular the countries in Africa in which the food situation is already unstable. That is why measures to stabilize and develop the food supply are particularly important in these regions. The aim is to support the development of sustainable agriculture in African countries in order to secure a stable food supply for the local population. The present call is thus contributing to the objectives of the Federal Government's Internationalization Strategy.

In addition to developing adequate political and economic conditions, the BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research) believes that new knowledge can make an effective contribution to improving the food situation. The requirements must always be formulated for the specific target region in keeping with regional or national research and development strategies. National research and development competences must therefore be combined with local competences and developed further in a targeted way. The aim is to find innovative, regionally adapted research approaches and solutions and enable their future implementation by local stakeholders. Existing collaborations with African partners are to be intensified and new partnerships established through collaborative research projects, with the aim of developing a high-quality and sustainable agricultural research landscape in the target regions. This requires not only expertise in the agricultural and natural sciences but also socio-economic know-how.

The present funding initiative therefore pursues the following central aims:

• Participatory design of German-African research networks which focus on the food system
• Identifying and solving central problems related to the overarching food system in Africa, involving researchers and institutions of the target region through collaborative research projects
• Developing regionally adapted research solutions based on a solid situation analysis of the target region in question
• Supporting and further developing research capacities in Germany and in the partner countries

1.2 Legal framework

Project grants will be awarded in accordance with these funding regulations, the BMBF's standard terms and conditions for grants on an expenditure or cost basis and the administrative regulations under sections 23 and 44 of the Federal Budget Code (BHO). There is no legal entitlement to funding. The funding provider will take a decision after due assessment of the circumstances and within the framework of the budget funds available.
Funding under these regulations complies with the preconditions stipulated in Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/2008 of 6 August 2008 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the common market in application of Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty (General Block Exemption Regulation), OJ (EU) L 214 of 9 August 2008, p. 3, and is therefore compatible with the internal market within the meaning of Art. 107 para 34 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and exempt from notification in accordance with Art. 108 para 3 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

In accordance with Art. 1 para 6a of the General Block Exemption Regulation, payment of individual aid in favour of an undertaking which is subject to an outstanding recovery order following a previous Commission Decision declaring an aid illegal and incompatible with the common market is excluded.

Further information on the National Research Strategy BioEconomy 2030, which is exempt from notification in accordance with the General Block Exemption Regulation, can be found at http://www.bmbf.de/en/1024.php and in the documents linked to this website.

2 Object of funding

Increasing productivity and income in agriculture and striking a balance between demand and supply are central challenges of securing the global food supply. The "food system" should be viewed as an overarching system based on numerous interactions and interrelations between a wide range of different resources, biotic and abiotic parameters and stakeholders. The optimization of such a system will only be possible on the basis of previous system-oriented analysis of specific regional requirements. All factors influencing this system must therefore be thoroughly analysed before the system can be described.

The productivity of the food system depends on the use of resources (soil, water, nutrients, energy, labour), the use of additional means of production in keeping with local conditions and demand (e.g. technical devices, fertilizers, animal feed, seeds and plants), the safety and quality of food, the consumption and dietary patterns, adapted cropping, harvesting, husbandry and storage methods as well as on market access. The processes along the agricultural production chain from sowing to the consumption of agricultural products are part of a specific cultural, political, social, ecological and economic environment. When looking for ways to increase yield, for example, we should not only consider the "plant-soil-climate" system but also the systems of land use, social structure and infrastructure. The entire range of factors determines the food system. In particular, socio-economic aspects such as the local societal structures play an extremely important role in addition to local environmental conditions. These aspects therefore need to be recorded, analysed and integrated into the research approach. All these objectives and measures to support the establishment of a high-quality and sustainable agricultural research landscape in African target regions require cooperation on a partnership basis with local carriers of knowledge and a high degree of sensitivity towards the cultural and political circumstances in the participating countries or regions.

An open-theme competition between network concepts of interdisciplinary research collaborations involving partners from Germany and African countries is to identify topics for research with the aim of increasing and/or securing agricultural production. All research efforts dealing with the overarching "food system" should take the entire system into account.

Research priorities should first be identified and then addressed in the respective systemic studies on the basis of the following four central topics (that is, these topics must be considered by the collaborations).

It should be noted that sustainability is of central importance in all these topics:

• Agricultural production / nutrition / health
• Soil / water / material flows and cycles
• Minimization of losses along the entire value chain
• Agricultural and gender-specific structures / location-specific solutions

The following topics can be integrated in the systemis studies on a supplementary basis:

• Plants / plant breeding
• Biomass / bioenergy
• Animals in the system

Other topics can be proposed, as long as they are in line with the objectives of the funding regulations.

The following are overarching objectives of this funding initiative:

• The research concepts submitted must be based on a detailed system analysis which will form the basis for cooperation within the consortium. Because of the complexity of the topics to be studied, the research activities should include agricultural and scientific disciplines as well as related disciplines such as the geosciences, engineering, economics and social sciences.
• Cooperation with local stakeholders on a partnership basis is a prerequisite for funding. The knowledge and experience of partners from the affected regions must be taken into account. The identified research topics must be needs-based, which is a special feature of this initiative and must be substantiated by describing the specific situation in the region.
• Networking between German and African partners needs to be established not just at the level of individuals and projects but also at institutional level in order to ensure that sustainable collaborative relations can develop. Cooperation should include a wide range of activities in the areas of research as well as knowledge and technology transfer.
• These objectives will be achieved in a multi-phase procedure. Funding will be provided for a preparatory phase of several months (cf. para 7.2 below) in order to ensure the integration into the consortiums of all German and African partners needed for the systemic approach as well as their participation in the final definition of the project goals.

The consortiums will be centred around universities, non-university research institutions and companies which are engaged in interdisciplinary cooperation projects with African partners from science and business. The involvement of partners from the private sector is desirable in order to facilitate the future commercialization of research results and take advantage of the experience of commercial companies in this sector.

3 Project structure and funding recipients

Funding will exclusively be provided for collaborative projects in which (depending on the project's orientation) universities, non-university research institutions or Land and Federal institutions with research responsibilities as well as companies work together with partners from African countries on interdisciplinary projects. An academic partner may take charge of coordinating the collaboration. An additional application can be submitted for funds needed to support coordination (usually up to one E13/2 post governed by the applicable provisions of the TVöD collective agreement for the public service). The proposed projects must be structured in such a way that the project objectives can be reached within a period of up to five years. Projects that are designed to run for more than three years can be continued for a maximum two years following an interim evaluation.

Applications may be submitted by universities, non-university research institutions, Land and Federal institutions with research responsibilities and by commercial companies based in Germany, particularly SMEs (the European Community's definition of SMEs can be found at http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/facts-figures-analysis/sme-definition/index_en.htm). Research institutions which receive joint basic funding from the Federal Government and the Länder can only be granted project funding for their additional expenditure under certain conditions.

4 Prerequisites for funding

In their own interest, applicants should familiarize themselves with the EU's Research Framework Programme in the context of the envisaged national project. They should check whether the intended project includes specific European components which make it eligible for exclusive EU funding. Furthermore, they should check whether an additional application for funding can be submitted to the EU in the context of the proposed national project. The result of these checks should be described briefly in the national project proposal.

Cooperation between the partners in a collaborative project must be laid down in a cooperation agreement. Applicants must prove that they have reached basic agreement on specific criteria stipulated by the BMBF before a funding decision can be taken. For further details please refer to BMBF form 0110, which can be found at http://www.kp.dlr.de/profi/easy/bmbf/pdf/0110.pdf.

5 Type, scope and rates of funding

Funds will be awarded in the form of non-repayable project grants.

Grants for commercial companies are calculated on the basis of the eligible project-related costs, up to 50% of which can as a rule be covered by government grants, depending on the project's relevance to application. The BMBF's policy requires an appropriate own contribution towards the eligible costs incurred - as a rule of at least 50%.

Grants for universities, research and science institutions and similar institutions are calculated on the basis of the eligible project-related expenditure (in the case of the Helmholtz centres and the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft (FhG) the eligible project-related costs), which can be funded up to a maximum of 100%.

The thresholds stipulated in Art. 6 para 1 subparas c to f of the General Block Exemption Regulation and the funding levels stipulated in Art. 26, 27, 31, 32, 33 and 36 of the General Block Exemption Regulation will not be exceeded.

Relevant standards and guidelines can be developed during the project where such standards or guidelines are not available or insufficient.
The requirements stipulated in paras 2 to 5 and 7 of Art. 34 of the General Block Exemption Regulation must be met with regard to aid for research and development in the agricultural sector.

The duration of the funded measure will be 3+2 years as a rule (see para 3 above).

This funding measure is designed to promote the involvement of developing countries. To this end, existing collaborations are to be expanded and new ones established through collaborative R&D projects. African partners will preferably make their own contributions in keeping with their economic potential but they can also be integrated into the research collaboration by means of research contracts. This must be taken into account when the German project partners submit their application. Furthermore, the international research centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) as well as the African insect science institute icipe and the World Vegetable Centre AVRDC could use the established funding instruments under the priorities of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

6 Other terms and conditions

The Nebenbestimmungen für Zuwendungen auf Kostenbasis des BMBF an Unternehmen der gewerblichen Wirtschaft für Forschungs- und Entwicklungsvorhaben (Auxiliary Terms and Conditions for Funds Provided by the BMBF to Commercial Companies for Research and Development Projects on a Cost Basis - NKBF98) will be part of the notification of award for grants on a cost basis.

The Allgemeine Nebenbestimmungen für Zuwendungen zur Projektförderung (ANBest-P) (General Auxiliary Conditions for Grants Provided for Projects on an Expenditure Basis) and the Besondere Nebenbestimmungen für Zuwendungen des BMBF zur Projektförderung auf Ausgabenbasis (BNBest-BMBF98) (Special Auxiliary Terms and Conditions for Funds Provided by the BMBF for the Promotion of Projects on Expenditure Basis) will form part of the notification of award of grants on an expenditure basis.

7 Procedure

7.1 Involvement of a project management organization and request for documents

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research has charged the following project management organization with implementing the funding measure:

Projektträger Jülich (PtJ)
Geschäftsbereich Biologie
Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH
http://www.ptj.de/globe.

Contact:

Dr. Frank Jansen
Fachbereich PtJ-BIO 6
Tel.: +49(0)2461-61-1988
Fax: +49(0)2461-61-2730
E-mail: f.jansen@fz-juelich.de

Dr. Ramón Kucharzak
Fachbereich PtJ-BIO 6
Tel.: +49(0)30-20199-3175
Fax: +49(0)30-20199-470
E-mail: r.kucharzak@fz-juelich.de

Application forms, guidelines, information for applicants and the auxiliary terms and conditions for the award of grants are available at http://www.kp.dlr.de/profi/easy/bmbf/index.htm or can be obtained directly from the project management organization.

Applicants are strongly recommended to use the electronic application system "easy" (http://www.kp.dlr.de/profi/easy/) for drafting formal applications.

7.2 Two-phase funding procedure

The funding procedure consists of two phases and includes an international evaluation by external experts as a basis for decision-making.

7.2.1 Procedure for the first phase

In the first phase, overall concepts are to be prepared on the basis of preliminary conceptual outlines. The research concepts must be new and evidence-based. A decision about admission to the second phase of funding will be taken after evaluation on the basis of the overall concepts.

For the concept development phase, applicants are initially expected to submit electronic project outlines to the Jülich project management organization via the web portal ptoutline (http://www.pt-it.de/ptoutline/application/GlobE). General information for drafting project outlines can be found under "Allgemeine Hinweise" on ptoutline (http://www.ptoutline.de/GlobE). The project outlines should contain all the information needed to enable the panel of experts to form a final opinion. In view of the international evaluation procedure, it is strongly recommended that the project descriptions be submitted in English. Applicants are requested to visit the ptoutline portal and upload a pdf file of their project description. A project overview is generated using the data entered in an Internet form at the portal. The evaluation will cover both the project overview and the project description. Printed versions of the project overview and the project description must be signed by the collaboration coordinator or the project leader in the case of individual proposals and then submitted to the project management organization after the electronic application to ensure that the electronic version of the two documents has a binding effect.

Entries in the ptoutline web portal can be submitted until 4 October 2011. The portal will close when the deadline is passed. The submission deadline is not a cut-off deadline. For technical reasons, however, it may not be possible to consider project outlines received belatedly. Applicants submitting their proposals after this deadline must contact the competent project management organization. Applications may not be sent by e-mail or fax.

As a rule, concept development should be coordinated by a university or non-university research institution; in exceptional cases it may be coordinated by a federal institution with research responsibilities.

The conceptual outlines should be structured as follows:

1. Description of the research topic and of the subject of the concept including its relevance to the call and its objectives and milestones as well as a rough outline of the subject-related and structural ideas for their implementation
2. Description of the German and African partners from universities, non-university research institutions, departmental research institutions and commercial companies (core competences, previous work, capacities, infrastructure, etc.) which are initially involved in the collaboration or may be involved in the future
3. Description of the procedure and work schedule for drafting the overall concept within a maximum period of six months
4. Expected funding requirement for the drafting and reasons

The conceptual outline must be self-explanatory and allow evaluation without further information or inquiry. It must not exceed 20 A4 pages (Arial 11, 1.15 spacing).
The projects suitable for funding will be selected on the basis of the criteria for approval which are listed in para 7.2.2 below.

The coordinators of the selected conceptual outlines will be informed about the deadline for submission of a full overall concept; this information may be accompanied by recommendations for revision and amendment.

Applications can be submitted for funding of expenditure that will be needed for staff, travel, workshops and external advisory services as well as other activities related to the networking of partners and which is incurred by the partners cooperating closely to draft the overall concept. The applications for maximum grants of €75,000 over a period of six months should be submitted to the Jülich project management organization together with the conceptual outlines under the terms of para 7.1 above; they must be submitted in electronic and paper form, bearing the legally binding signature of the applicant. The period should begin on 2 January 2012.

7.2.2 Selection of conceptual outlines: Panels of experts

The evaluation of the conceptual outlines received will involve external panels of international experts and will be based on the following criteria:

• Relevance to the funding measure
• Plausibility of the system-based needs analysis outline
• Quality of cooperation with African partners
• Excellence and expertise of the applicant and the partners involved (both African and German); relevant previous work of all partners
• Relevance of the research topics to be studied and prospects of success
• Quality and functionality of the selected research structure with regard to the envisaged objective (suitability of the size and structure of the project, quality and consistency of the time and work schedule, quality of the integration of the partners and their interdisciplinary and work-sharing approach)
• Feasibility of the project: suitable budget, evidence of all necessary expert opinions and resources
• Suitability of the collaboration's internal structures for coordination 
• Evaluation of the details concerning support for building up an efficient and sustainable agricultural research landscape in the African partner region.

As a result of such funding for up to six months in the first phase, an overall concept should be received together with full proposals for interdisciplinary, systemic cooperation projects, which will form the basis of the second round of evaluation. The first phase is completed with the drafting of the overall concept.

7.2.3 Procedure for the second phase

The full overall concepts should not exceed 30 A4 pages (Arial 11, 1.15 spacing) for the details listed below and 4 pages for each of the sub-projects (cf. 1. below). The applications describe the overall concept for system-based collaborative research to support a high-quality and sustainable agricultural research landscape in African partner regions. In addition to the information which is required in accordance with para 7.2.1 above, the following details must be provided:

1. Description of the evidence-based research topic and subject of the cooperation project including relevance to the call, objectives, milestones
2. Description of the German and African partners from universities, non-university research institutions, departmental research institutions and commercial companies (core competences, previous work, capacities, infrastructure, etc.) which are involved in the cooperation project
3. Description of the type, intensity and scope of cooperation between the participating partners (referring to the outlined projects if appropriate)
4. Activities and organization of coordination
5. Financial requirements
6. Utilization plan
7. Prospects of sustainable continued operation of the established structures after the end of funding

Applicants are free to add further information which they consider to be significant for evaluating the collaborations; the application must, however, not exceed the above-stated number of pages. Applications must be self-explanatory and allow evaluation without further information or inquiry. The procedure will be concluded by a second round of evaluation.

7.2.4 Submission of formal applications for funding and decision-making procedure

When the best and most promising overall concepts have been selected, efforts will be made to support specific cooperation projects. This includes cooperation with the coordinator of the research collaboration with a view to inviting the project leaders to submit formal proposals. A decision on these proposals will be taken after final evaluation. Funding of the projects is subject to the proviso that the budget funds required for them are available to the BMBF.

Applicants who have submitted documents under the first and second phases or project proposals do not have a legal claim to funding. The deadlines for submission are not cut-off deadlines. However, it may not be possible to consider applications which are received belatedly or which are incomplete.

Approval and payment of and accounting for the funds as well as proof and examination of proper use and, if necessary, revocation of the award and reclaiming of the funds awarded are governed by the administrative regulations pertaining to section 44 of the Federal Budget Code (BHO) and sections 48 to 49a of the Administrative Procedure Act (VwVfG) unless deviation is permitted under the present funding regulations.

7.3 Special information for universities of applied sciences

Universities of applied sciences which have been successful in the selection procedure for the collaborative projects may receive additional funding. For that purpose, they can submit a proposal for a related research project to be funded under the BMBF's ProfilNT funding line to raise their research profile in the field of new technologies. The second, separate proposal must address advanced or new R&D aspects related to the topic of the collaborative project. The work plans/research activities and staff planning of the two proposals must not overlap.

The evaluation and funding decision under the ProfilNT funding line will take place in a separate selection procedure. The BMBF has entrusted the PT-FH of the German Federation of Industrial Research Associations (AiF) with the management of the ProfilNT funding line. For further information (legal basis, prerequisites for funding, guidelines for applicants, contacts, etc.) please visit http://www.bmbf.de/de/1956.php.

7.4 Project monitoring

Annual status seminars are to be held under the "GlobE - Global Food Security" initiative in order to ensure an active exchange between the different research approaches. Participation in the status seminars is compulsory for the project leaders and must be included in travel cost planning. Furthermore, project leaders can be requested to participate in BMBF events that are not related to specific research topics, for example career advancement events for young researchers.

7.5 Information event

Information can be obtained directly from the above contacts as well as by visiting the planned information event on this funding measure. The event is scheduled to take place in Berlin on 4 August 2011. Further details concerning the event can be found at the website ot the Jülich project management organization (www.ptj.de/globe, see 7.1 above).

8 Entry into force

These funding regulations will enter into force on the day of their publication in the Federal Gazette (Bundesanzeiger).

Berlin, 30 June 2011

Federal Ministry of Education and Research

Dr. Henk van Liempt
Head of Bio-Economy Division