Information for Researchers, No. 62 | September 15, 2017

DFG-SFFRU Cooperation: Possibility for Joint German-Ukrainian Project Proposals in Physics and Mathematics

To facilitate the support of collaborative work between German and Ukrainian research groups, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and the State Fund for Fundamental Research of Ukraine (SFFRU) have opened the possibility for joint German-Ukrainian project proposals in the fields of physics and mathematics (themes falling in the responsibility of the elected grand committees (Fachkollegien) 307–312). Collaborations of research teams from both countries are invited to submit joint proposals.

At the DFG these proposals are submitted in the funding scheme „Sachbeihilfe/Research Grants“ and will be reviewed in competition with all other proposals in this scheme. It is important to note that there are no separate funds available for these efforts, proposals must succeed on the strengths of their intellectual merit and teams in competition with all other proposals in the funding scheme “Sachbeihilfe/Research Grants”. At the SFFRU the proposals will be part of the joint DFG-SFFRU call.

All proposals will be reviewed by both organisations separately. The results of the review process will be shared between the agencies. Support will be granted for those proposals where both DFG and SFFRU recommend funding.

Proposal preparation and submission:

The eligibility to submit a proposal follows the regulations for the programmes for the joint DFG-SFFRU call at the Ukrainian side and for the funding scheme „Sachbeihilfe/Research Grants“ at the German side (DFG form 50.01). This includes the duty to cooperate (“Kooperationspflicht”) within Germany for members of non-university institutions with permanent positions.

Proposals must be submitted to both organisations in parallel in accordance with the proposal preparation requirements of each side, respectively. For German groups this means submission via DFG’s elan system according to the guidelines for the Research Grants Programme (DFG form 50.01).

All German applicants are requested to use the “Joint Project Description Template” instead of form 53/01-05/16. For submission via the elan system German partners should select under “Call for Proposals” “DFG-SFFRU 2017”. SFFRU applicants should follow the “Application Form for the Joint DFG-SFFRU Call”, given at the SFFRU webpages under “Competition F81”. The scientific contents in the project description in both documents must be identical.

The proposal must include a description of the full proposed research programme and research teams and describe the total resources for the joint project (that is, the funds requested for both the Ukrainian and German groups). However, the budget forms submitted to the DFG should only indicate the amount requested from the DFG. For the project description please use the “Joint Project Description Template”. Additional documents as CVs of the principal investigators (PI) from both sides must be uploaded following the rules of each organisation respectively. Please note that the reviewers on both sides will need the full information on the PI from Germany as well as from Ukraine.

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 http://elan.dfg.de by 4 December 2017 at the latest.

In accordance with the full proposal target date of the SFFRU, proposals to the DFG should be submitted not later than 11 December 2017.

Further Information

Joint Project Description Template: