To facilitate and foster collaborative work between research teams from Germany, Mozambique and Zambia, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), the Fundo Nacional de Investigação (FNI) of Mozambique, and the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) of Zambia have issued a call for joint project proposals for the funding period 2018 to 2020 in the field of agricultural and livestock sciences. Collaborations of research teams from these countries are invited to submit bilateral or trilateral proposals with at least one partner in Germany and one partner in Mozambique or Zambia respectively.

The following are the thematic area of focus:

• crop sciences (including plant breeding, plant genetics and genomics, plant health, crop production)
• livestock sciences (including animal breeding, genetic improvement of livestock, livestock production, animal nutrition, livestock health and veterinary medicine)
• agro-ecological systems in Zambia and Mozambique including socioeconomic aspects

Support will be granted only to those proposals where the respective partner organisations recommend funding. Please note that at the DFG there are no separate funds available for these efforts, proposals must succeed on the strengths of their intellectual merit and teams.

The proposal must include a description of the full proposed research programme and research team and describe the total resources for the joint project (that is, the funds requested for both the African partners and German groups). All applicants are requested to use the Joint Project Description Template.

All requested cost items must be in accordance with the national administrative regulations or guidelines respectively. The German applicants can request for a certain amount of funds for personnel, hosting costs and travel expenses etc. for their African partner in the project according to the rules for projects involving cooperation with developing countries (see DFG form 54.013 – 10/11). Please note that the budget for consumables and operational costs in Mozambique and Zambia cannot be financed by the DFG. These costs must be covered by FNI and/or NSTC. The ceiling for FNI and NSTC is US-$ 6,000 per research project.

Evaluation of project proposals

The scientific evaluation of the joint research proposals will be organised by the DFG, FNI and NSTC in form of a joint evaluation. The most important evaluation criteria are:

• qualification of the applicants
• scientific quality and innovativeness of the joint research plan
• feasibility of the joint research plan
• added value to be expected from the collaboration

Eligibility and submission procedure of the DFG

The eligibility to submit a proposal follows the regulations for the funding scheme „Sachbeihilfe/Research Grants“ at the DFG side (DFG form 50.01). This includes the duty to cooperate (“Kooperationspflicht”) within Germany for members of non-university institutions with permanent positions. For German groups this means submission via DFG’s elan system according to the guidelines for the Research Grants Programme (DFG form 50.01).

For submission via the elan system German partners should select under “Call for Proposals” “DFG-FNI-NSTC 2018”.

For German partners – please note that if you are using the elan system for the first time, you need to register prior submitting your application with your complete personal and address details via https://elan.dfg.de/en by 28 February 2018 at the latest.

Eligibility and submission procedure of the FNI

The eligibility to submit a proposal follows the Manual of Norms and Procedures at the FNI. For Mozambican partners, proposals must be submitted via FNI online system that could be found at the FNI website. Please note that if you are using the online system for the first time, you need to register prior submitting your application by sending your request to submit to dsi@fni.gov.mz (you will need to complete personal and institutional details).

Eligibility and submission procedure of the NSTC

The eligibility to submit a proposal on the NSTC side is in line with the Strategic Research Fund (SRF) Implementation Guidelines. It is open to Researchers in Public and Private Science and Technology Research and Development (R&D) Institutions/Centres and Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) that are registered with NSTC. Individual Zambian researchers who are not in any institution shall be required to be affiliated to a R&D or higher learning institution registered with NSTC.

For Zambian partners, the Joint Project Description Template for submission of proposals may be obtained from the NSTC website. Electronic copies of the completed template must be sent to nstc@nstc.org.zm. For further information download the NSTC Strategic Research Fund (SRF) Implementation Guidelines on the NSTC website.

Please Note: All proposals must be submitted to the respective organisations in parallel in accordance with the requirements of each side.

Submission Date and Acceptance of the Grant Offer:

In accordance with the proposal target date of the FNI and NSTC, proposals to the DFG should be submitted not later than 15 March 2018.

Please note that the African partners must accept the grant offer within one month and start the project within six months.

Further Information

Joint Project Description Template:

• www.dfg.de/download/pdf/foerderung/internationales/ project_proposal_fni_nstc_cooperation.rtf

Guidelines for the DFG Research Grants Programme (DFG form 50.01):

• www.dfg.de/formulare/50_01

Supplementary Instructions for Projects Involving Cooperation with Developing Countries (DFG form 54.013):

• www.dfg.de/formulare/54_013

DFG’s Electronic Proposal Processing System for Applicants – elan:

• https://elan.dfg.de/en

Contact at the DFG:

• Programme inquiries: 
  Dr. Patricia Schmitz-Möller, 
  patricia.schmitz-moeller@dfg.de
  
   
• Administrative inquiries: 
  Stefanie Unkelbach, 
  stefanie.unkelbach@dfg.de

Contact at FNI:

• Administrative inquiries: 
  Edson Faria, 
  edson.faria@fni.gov.mz
  
   
• Projects Service: 
  Dirce Madeira, 
  dirce.madeira@mct.gov.mz

FNI website:

• www.fni.gov.mz

Personal/institutional registration must be sent to:

• dsi@fni.gov.mz

Contact at NSTC:

• Administrative inquiries: 
  Filipo Zulu, 
  fzulu@nstc.org.zm
  
   
• Projects Service: 
  Atridah Mulonga, 
  amulonga@nstc.org.zm

NSTC website:

• www.nstc.org.zm

Electronic copies of the completed template must be sent to:

• nstc@nstc.org.zm