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2024 Guidelines for Cooperative Research and Exchange Projects on Biodiversity between the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the National Science Foundation of the United States
According to the bilateral cooperation agreement between the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the National Science Foundation of the United States (NSF), as well as the consensus reached with the Sao Paulo Research Foundation of Brazil (FAPESP) and the National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF), the parties will continue to carry out the "Changing the Earth's Biodiversity (BoCP)" in 2024 Solicitation and funding of cooperative research and exchange projects in the field. The project aims to deepen bilateral cooperation between China and the United States in the field of biodiversity, and encourage Chinese scientists to carry out multilateral cooperation such as China US Brazil, China US South Africa, and China US Brazil South Africa.
1、 Project description
This project includes inter organization international (regional) cooperative research projects (hereinafter referred to as cooperative research projects) and international (regional) cooperation and exchange projects (hereinafter referred to as cooperation and exchange projects).
（1） Cooperative research projects.
1. Funding fields
The project of "Biodiversity of the Changing Earth" is based on such projects as "Biodiversity Multidimensional" and "Ecology and Evolution Intersection", but mainly focuses on the function and dynamic change dimension of biodiversity in the context of the changing earth. See Annex 1 for the description of specific funding fields.
The project application should be guided by key scientific issues to clarify the dynamic changes of biodiversity, functional diversity, and the deficiencies of existing scientific research in theory, methods, basic conditions and data in their interactions with climate and the Earth system. The project encourages the research team to include multi-disciplinary experts in evolutionary biology, ecology, paleontology, organic biology, systems science, biogeography, marine science, geobiology, geology and climatology to clarify complex biodiversity issues in the context of dynamic earth systems.
Please refer to:
https://new.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/biodiversity-changing-planet-bocp/nsf24-574/solicitation 。
2. Application code
Chinese applicants should fill in the Chinese application form by selecting the code of the Department of Life Sciences (C03) or the code of the Department of Earth Sciences (D01, D02, D05, D06) as the application code 1 according to the research content.
3. Funding scale
The scale of funding is about 3.
4. Funding intensity
The intensity of Chinese funding for approved projects is no more than 4.5 million yuan, including research funds and international travel expenses (economy class air tickets) used to fund Chinese researchers to carry out exchange activities, foreign living expenses and other expenses closely related to exchange activities. The intensity of US funding is no more than 2.5 million US dollars per item, including research funds and international travel expenses, foreign living expenses and other expenses closely related to exchange activities for US researchers.
5. Declaration requirements
(1) The funding period shall be 5 years, and the research period in the application form shall be from May 1, 2025 to April 30, 2030.
(2) The number of domestic cooperative research units shall not exceed 2.
(3) All applicants must submit project applications to the national science funding institutions (i.e. NSFC, NSF, FAPESP, NRF).
(4) The project application should reflect the strong combination and complementary advantages.
（2） Cooperation and exchange projects.
1. Funding fields
The purpose of this cooperation and exchange project is to promote the establishment of new research teams by researchers from participating countries of the "Changing the Earth's Biodiversity" project. In view of the complexity of such cooperation, the project encourages personnel without prior cooperation to form teams with innovative research and technical approaches, aiming at making research preparations for key but not yet verified, novel or high-risk characterization predictions of complex biodiversity functions and dynamic change dimensions in the context of a changing planet. Applications based on existing cooperation teams will not be funded. See Annex 1 for the description of specific funding fields.
Please refer to:
https://new.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/biodiversity-changing-planet-bocp/nsf24-574/solicitation 。
2. Application code
Chinese applicants should fill in the Chinese application form by selecting the code of the Department of Life Sciences (C03) or the code of the Department of Earth Sciences (D01, D02, D05, D06) as the application code 1 according to the research content.
3. Funding intensity
The intensity of China's funding for approved projects is no more than 1 million yuan, including international travel (economy class air tickets), foreign living expenses and other expenses closely related to exchange activities used to fund Chinese researchers. The funding intensity of the US side is no more than US $500000/item, including international travel expenses, foreign living expenses and other expenses closely related to exchange activities for US researchers.
4. Declaration requirements
(1) The funding period shall be 3 years, and the research period in the application form shall be from May 1, 2025 to April 30, 2028.
(2) All applicants must submit project applications to the national science funding institutions (i.e. NSFC, NSF, FAPESP, NRF).
2、 Application conditions
（1） Applicants for cooperative research projects shall meet the following requirements.
1. Have senior professional and technical positions (titles).
2. As the project leader, he is undertaking or has undertaken the National Natural Science Foundation of China for 3 years or more.
3. Good cooperation foundation with foreign (regional) partners.
4. Please refer to National Natural Science Foundation of China Program Guide for 2024 for detailed description of application qualification.
（2） Applicants for cooperative exchange projects shall meet the following requirements.
1. Project leader who is undertaking projects of National Natural Science Foundation of China for 3 years or more.
2. Participants who are undertaking NSFC projects for 3 years or more and have senior professional and technical positions (professional titles) or doctorate degrees, or have two scientific and technical personnel with senior professional and technical positions (professional titles) in the same research field, and shall be approved by the head of NSFC funded projects.
3. The Chinese and foreign applicants should establish a new cooperative relationship, aiming to lay the foundation for the subsequent substantive cooperative research.
4. Please refer to National Natural Science Foundation of China Program Guide for 2024 for detailed description of application qualification.
3、 Regulations on limit application
（1） Cooperative research projects.
International (regional) cooperative research projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China include inter organizational international (regional) cooperative research projects and key international (regional) cooperative research projects. The cooperative research project belongs to inter organization cooperative research project, and the applicant must comply with the following restrictions when applying:
1. Applicants (excluding major participants) can only apply for one international (regional) cooperative research project in the same year.
2. The person in charge of an international (regional) cooperative research project shall not apply for the cooperative research projects listed in this Guide as an applicant.
3. As an applicant, apply for and undertake the cooperative research projects listed in the guide as a person in charge, which is included in the total limit of 2 projects applied for and undertaken by senior professional and technical personnel (professional title) (as a major participant is not limited).
4. Other restrictions on the number of applications in the 2024 National Natural Science Foundation Program Guide.
（2） Cooperation and exchange projects.
1. Applicants for cooperation and exchange projects are not restricted by the provision that "applicants can only apply for one project of the same type in the same year".
2. The total number of international (regional) cooperation and exchange projects applied by the applicant and undertaken by the project leader under the framework of the same inter organizational agreement is limited to 1.
3. Applications for cooperation and exchange projects listed in this Guide are not limited by the total number of projects applied for and undertaken.
4. Other restrictions on the number of applications in the 2024 National Natural Science Foundation Program Guide.
4、 Application considerations
（1） Notes for applicants.
The application forms for cooperative research projects and cooperative exchange projects are filled in online, and the specific requirements for the applicants are as follows:
1. Before filling in the application form, the applicant should carefully read the relevant contents of the project guide and the 2024 National Natural Science Foundation Project Guide, and the project application that does not meet the project guide and relevant requirements will not be accepted.
2. Chinese applicants must log in to the GRANTS Science Foundation Network Information System（ http://grants.nsfc.gov.cn/ ）And wrote the Application for International (Regional) Cooperation and Exchange Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (hereinafter referred to as the "Chinese Application") according to the outline and relevant requirements. The specific steps are:
(1) Select the "Project Leader" user group to log in to the system, and then click "Online Application" to enter the application interface; Click the "New Project Application" button to enter the selection interface of the science department to which the application belongs; Click "Apply for General Science Department Project" to enter the project category selection interface.
(2) Click the+sign on the left side of "International (Regional) Cooperation and Exchange Projects" or the "Expand" button on the right side to expand the drop-down menu.
(3) For applicants of cooperative research projects, click "Fill in Application" on the right side of "Inter organization Cooperative Research (Inter organization Cooperation Agreement Project)" to enter the "Cooperation Agreement" interface, select "NSFC-NSF (China US)" from the drop-down menu, and then enter the approval number of the fund project to be trusted according to the system requirements, After passing the qualification certification, you will enter the specific application filling interface.
(4) For applicants of cooperation and exchange projects, click "Fill in Application" on the right side of "Cooperation and Exchange (Inter organization Cooperation Agreement Project)" to enter the "Cooperation Agreement" interface, select "NSFC-NSF (China US)" from the drop-down menu, and then enter the approval number of the fund project to rely on according to the system requirements. After passing the qualification certification, the specific application form filling interface will be entered.
3. The interorganizational cooperative research projects and cooperative exchange projects are funded by quota subsidies. The applicant should carefully read the budget preparation requirements in the application instructions of the 2024 National Natural Science Foundation Project Guide, and strictly follow the requirements of the National Natural Science Foundation Fund Fund Management Measures (Cai Jiao [2021] No. 177) and the National Natural Science Foundation Project Fund Budget Statement Preparation Instructions, Prepare and report the National Natural Science Foundation of China Project Budget Table carefully and truthfully.
4. Requirements for application materials
After the applicant completes the writing of the application form, he/she submits the electronic application form and attachment materials online without submitting the paper application form. After the project is approved, the paper signature and seal page of the application shall be bound at the end of the Funded Project Plan and submitted together. The information signed and sealed shall be consistent with the electronic application.
Attachment materials include:
(1) A full copy of the English application submitted by the US partner to NSF.
(2) Cooperation Agreement. The applicants of the cooperative research project must reach an agreement on the cooperation content, intellectual property rights and other issues, and sign a cooperation agreement (see Annex 2 for the model agreement).
(3) Letter of Intent for Cooperation. Applicants for cooperation and exchange projects shall provide a letter of intent signed by all foreign applicants.
5. The English name of the cooperative research project filled in the Chinese application form must be identical with the English project name submitted by all partners. To facilitate the identification of the project management department, the applicant should use the prefix "BoCP: US China:" "BoCP: US China Sao Paulo:" "BoCP: US China South Africa:" or "BoCP: US China Sao Paulo South Africa:" when filling in the Chinese project name of the cooperative research project or cooperative exchange project.
6. In the process of preparing application materials and implementing the project, if the research content involves animal and plant resources, the project applicant or undertaker and supporting units must strictly comply with relevant national regulations on animal and plant resources protection; If human genetic resources are involved, the relevant provisions of the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of Human Genetic Resources (Decree No. 717) must be strictly observed, and the management of human genetic resources in China must be done well in international cooperation.
（2） Precautions for supporting units.
The supporting unit shall review the authenticity, integrity and compliance of the application materials submitted by the applicant of the unit, and the target relevance, policy consistency and economic rationality of the declared budget. This project is included in the scope of paperless application. For the submission of the commitment letter of scientific research integrity and project list, please refer to the Notice on the Application and Conclusion of National Natural Science Foundation Projects in 2024.
（3） Receive project application.
The deadline for online application of the Science Foundation Network Information System (GRANTS) is 16:00 p.m. (Beijing time) on September 6, 2024. The electronic application form and attachments of the unit shall be submitted before the deadline for project application.
In case of technical problems, please contact GRANTS system technical support (information center) at+86-10-62317474.
5、 Project Contact
Chinese contact: Luo Jingyu
Tel.: 010-62326479
Email: luojy@nsfc.gov.cn
American contact: Christopher Balakrishnan
Tel:+1 703 2922331
Email: biodiversity@nsf.gov
