Call for submission of proposals for common scientific and technological projects on cooperations between institutions of the Slovak Republic and the Republic of South  Africa in years  2008 and 2010 

1. LEGAL FRAME
Based on the Agreement between governments of the Slovak Republic and the Republic of South Africa, signed on May 15, 2006 in Pretoria, the Slovak Research and Development Agency (SRDA) in co-operation with Science and Technology Division of the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic opens a Call for submitting proposals for scientific and technological projects between collaborating organizations in the Slovak Republic and the Republic of South Africa.
2. THEMATIC FIELDS 

The priority areas were mutally agreed as follows:
•	Biotechnology (with emphasis on the  agriculture, environment and food technology)
•	Renewable Energy Resources (including biofuels)
•	Applied Physics (with emphasis on the laser technology, cyclotron and computed tomography)
•	New Materials and Technologies (including nano-materials)
•	Social Sciences and Humanities (including economics)

Maximum duration of such a project is three years. Partners who are already involved in running projects will propose together parallel and complementary “mobility projects”.
Cooperating partners from RTD organizations with common objectives and complementary skills are invited to submit joint proposals for such mobility support. The projects will be implemented by means of exchange visits by scientists and by  information exchange. 

3. ELIGIBLE PROPOSERS  

Project proposals can be submitted by any legal or physical body in science and technology in the Slovak Republic within all research and development sectors (universities, enterpreneurs, governmental, non-profit) that is involved in an agreed research program by means of existing supported projects. At least one partner within the proposal must be from South Africa.

4. CALL DURATION AND SUBMISSION OF PROPOSAL     

The Call is being effectively opened on September 15, 2007, the deadline for submission being November 30, 2007. Applications from Slovak side must be submitted in electronic form using on-line system in Slovak and English language. An original copy of signed form should be delivered to the Agency at the latest  by 18.00 on November 30, 2007, or sent by mail to the address APVV, Mýtna 23, P.O.BOX 346, 814 99 Bratislava with post stamp date latest November 30, 2007. 
After this deadline it is impossible to submit proposals. The proposal must be signed by all participating organizations (signatures of responsible project leaders, statutaries and stamps). Signatures and stamps of South African partners sent by fax will be accepted.

5. START AND TERMINATION OF THE PROJECT           

The projects submitted in the frame of this Call can start at the earliest on April 1, 2008, and must be completed at the furthest on December 31, 2010.

6. FINANCING   

The financial support offered within this call is strictly limited to mobility (travelling costs and daily subsistence allowances). The involved organizations must be able to demonstrate that they have the other necessary resources to carry out the project (a grant, institutional resources, commercial funding, etc.). The numbers of grants and the way of financing should be declared in the box „Actual assured financial resources“. It is possible to plan short-time stays maximum 2x10 days/year.
The Slovak party provides:
•	travel expenses up to the level of return plane ticket price - economy
	class - to South Africa for Slovak research and development employees/experts 
•	health insurance of Slovak experts during their stay in South Africa
•	daily allowances for South African experts in Slovakia in accord with the Slovak law on reimbursement of travel expenses (Art. 283/2002), maximum 20 person day/year 
•	accommodation for South African experts in Slovakia maximum 20 nigths/year (max. 2000,-SKK/night)
•	potential travel expenses, daily allowances and accommodation for Slovak research and development employees/experts which  accompanied  South African experts in Slovakia
•	conference expenses for Slovak research and development employees/experts (travel, daily allowaces, accomodation, no conference fee) in Slovakia in case when the conference is clearly connected with project’s subject. 

Similarly, the South Africa party will cover travel  and insurance for South African experts coming to Slovakia. Further, daily allowances for Slovak experts during their stay in the South Africa will be provided by the South Africa party.
 
Finances in the Slovak Repubic (SR) will be provided in accordance with the approved budget of the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic by the SRDA for the mobility project duration. The expenses in the Slovak Republic will be provided in accord with the approved budget for bilateral scientific and technological cooperation for the years 2008, 2009 and 2010.  

7. EVALUATION

The selection of projects has two stages. In the first stage the proposals will be treated separately by national committees, the second round will be accomplished by a Joint Committee.
At national level the proposals will be evaluated using the following criteria:
I.	Scientific and applicable value of the project (60 points)
-	Current relevance in given area of Science and Technology (10 points)
-	Originality at national and international level (10 points)
-	Clarity of stated aims and formal presentation (10 points)
-	Justification of suggested bilateral cooperation (10 points)
-	Current relavance and convenience of used methods (10 points)
-	Applicability of anticipated results (socio-economic  benefits) (10 points)

II.	 Expertise of project leader (20 points)
-    Expert ability and experience of the project leader and his/her team (15 points)
-	Existence of necessary infrastructure (5 points)

Maximum points: 80

The evaluation in Joint Committee will be done under these conditions:
•	Single party proposal will be excluded from the evaluation process
•	Proposal with high ranking from both parties will have priority as compared to controversial ones
•	Discrepances will be discussed having in mind mutual interest

Evaluation results and final list of financed projects will be announced after Joint Committee meeting.

8. RULES FOR PROPOSERS                    

Each project proposal must designate one responsible person from each Slovak and each South African participating organisation. The proposal must be submitted in parallel by the leading Slovak partner in Slovakia and the leading South African partner in the South Africa. The responsible persons submit forms filled in Slovak and English (on Slovak side) and in English (on South African side). The proposals must involve the title, list of all participants, duration and specific goals. Further, the timetable and detailed finacial requirements, brief CV`s of Slovak participants, list of South African participants and clear arguments for international cooperation should be present. If the projects is linked to already existing cooperation, the responsible proposer should mention the anticipated results and their added value for Slovakia.

9. OBLIGATIONS OF THE PROPOSER       

The signatory of the Slovak organization will sign a contract for financial support with the SRDA. At the end of each year the responsible person must provide a written report to the Agency. The report must include a statement of progress with the project and cost statements relating to the claimed travel and subsistence expenses for the period in question. After the project is terminated the responsible person must provide a final written report to the Agency.
 
Contact:

Slovak Republic        

Soňa Ftáčniková, PhD.
Head of bilateral and multilateral cooperation
Slovak Research and Development Agency
Mýtna 23, P.O.BOX 346                                                         
814 99 Bratislava
tel:  02/57204502
fax: 02/57204599 
e-mail: ftacnik@apvv.sk
http://www.apvv.sk

Ing. Soňa Straková
Chief Governmental Counsellor
Division of Science and Technology
Unit of Bilateral Cooperation and International Organizations
Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic     
Stromová 1
813 30 Bratislava
Slovak Republic

Work address:
Hanulova 5/b
Tel.: +421 (02) 69 252 212
Fax: +421 (02) 69 252 203
e-mail: sona.strakova@minedu.sk
http://www.education.gov.sk

South Africa

Mr. Johan Viljoen
Professional Officer 
Science and Technology Agreements Fund, 
National Research Foundation
P.O.Box 2600
Pretoria 001
South Africa

Work address:
Meiring Naude Road
Brummeria,
Pretoria
South Africa
Tel.: +2712 481 4172
Fax: +27 12 481 4044
e-mail: jviljoen@nrf.ac.za