04/02/2020

The call for proposals in Lithuania

 

The Research Council of Lithuania in cooperation with the Research Council of Norway and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Lithuania are pleased to open the call for proposals under European Economic Area (hereinafter – EEA) Financial Mechanism Baltic Research Programme in Lithuania.

The main goal of the Baltic Research Programme is to enhance research-based knowledge development in Baltic States through research cooperation between Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein and Baltic States. During the programme period, three open calls are announced: one in Estonia, and two calls in Latvia and in Lithuania (2020) respectively.

The Programme will contribute to the reduction of economic and social disparities in the European Economic Area and to the strengthening of bilateral relations between the Donor States and Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania through financial contributions in the field of research. Based on the programme agreement, the funds of donor countries account for 85% of the programme budget and 15% is contributed by the Baltic state. The major objectives of the programme are to stimulate  Baltic research and to disseminate its outcome internationally.

The Baltic Research Programme shall strengthen research cooperation with the aim of stimulating strong and sustainable collaboration, complementarity, capacity and competence-building and provide a step for future collaborative research projects on EU and regional level. An important objective of the Programme is to present regional Baltic added value and strengthen human resources in research through facilitating international relations and involving PhD students and postdocs in the projects.

The total budget for the Baltic Research Programme for collaborative research projects between the three Baltic States and the donor countries – Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein consist of €22 million. The date for the final eligibility of expenditure in the projects is 30 April 2024.

For the Lithuanian call in 2020, applications have to address the challenges of the Baltic region in the following areas: 

  1. Technologies and innovation development

This thematic area tackles global issues of climate change, fostering energy efficiency, decarbonization and more responsible using of resources by creating new technologies and innovations. The project should address at least one of the following subtopics.

  • Efficient urban energy systems (buildings, industry, services, transport and mobility);
  • Renewable energy for local energy systems;
  • Alternative fuels for transport and heating;
  • The development of waste-to-resource (can refer to any kind of waste, e.g. food, materials, water – and technological solutions converting it into a new resource);
  • Safe and sustainable food systems;
  • Sustainable management of water and aquatic resources.
  1. Cyber security

This thematic area contributes towards exploring possibilities of using artificial intelligence for developing new technologies in the fields of digital security, infrastructure security and the public safety. The project should address at least one of the following subtopics.

  • Security of critical infrastructure (prevention, detection, response and reduction of common physical and cyber threats) by applying artificial intelligence;
  • Public security and the fight against crime and terrorism (prevention, detection, response and reduction of common physical, biological and cyber threats), including creation and development of new technologies;
  • Digital security (governmental institutions, private enterprises and individuals digital privacy and data protection).
  1. Preventive and personalized medicine

This thematic area aims to obtain knowledge and develop new approaches about chronic diseases prevention and personalized patient care. The project should address at least one of the following subtopics.

  • Population based studies on health behaviors (alcohol and drug use and addiction; physical activity, sedentary lifestyle and diet; mental health) and implications for disease prevention;
  • Risk assessment, personalized care, secondary and tertiary prevention of chronic diseases.
  1. Culture, migration and inclusive society

This thematic area addresses various aspects of change of cultural-social environment in the Baltic region and Scandinavia tackling challenges that raises from globalization, migration, inequalities and segregation. The project should address at least one of the following subtopics.

  • Cultural, social, political aspects of migration between Baltic countries, Scandinavia and third countries;
  • Identifying cultural and social patterns as causes for segregation and exclusion;
  • Preservation and management of cultural resources of the region in order to increase social awareness, cohesion and inclusive cooperation;
  • Facilitation of social inclusiveness by fighting inequalities (gender, education, languages, age, ethnic) in various fields such as everyday life, social infrastructure, labor market or legal systems.
  1. Economic, social challenges and innovative society

This thematic area contributes towards exploring processes of social and economic development and tackling challenges to sustainable growth, social inclusion and public services. The project should address at least one of the following subtopics.

  • Dynamics in labor markets and income in contemporary societies, and their impact on social services and welfare;
  • Social and economic innovations in such areas as education, new business models, social services, labor market;
  • Effects of demographic, social, economic and technological transformations on access to public services (education, health care and social services, cultural services).

Eligible applicants (Project Promoters) are research organisations (Ref section 1.3.ee on p.11)  established in Lithuania who have partners in Latvia, Estonia and Norway and/or Island, and/or Liechtenstein.

Project partners can be research institutions, as defined in the EU Framework for State aid for research and development and innovation (2014/C 198/01), established in Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein.

Entities established in third countries are eligible partners but cannot receive funding from the project grant (except travel costs). Cooperation among Project Partners from all Baltic States with at least one partner from Norway and/or Iceland and/or Liechtenstein (donor project partners) is mandatory.

Proposals are submitted by the Lithuanian institutions (Project Promoters) electronically to the Research Council of Lithuania via JUNKIS submission system (junkis.lmt.lt). Partners from Baltic and donor countries can view an application form in PDF format only. The online submission system is available for the Lithuanian applicants as of 3 February, 2020. The deadline for submission of proposals is 3 April, 2020 at 16.00 (EET).

The rules and procedures for submission of proposals are described in the Guidelines for Applicants.

The eligible duration of the projects is 36 months. The projects are planned to be started on 1 January 2021, but not before the date on which the Programme Operator decides to award the project grant. The date for the final eligibility of expenditure in the projects is 30 April 2024.

Applications with partners from all Baltic States and one Donor State partner may apply for a project grant from € 300,000 up to € 1,000,000 (including overhead costs and VAT). The total amount available in the 2020 call is € 10,000,000.

Grants from the Programme may be up to 100% of total eligible project costs, provided all applicable national and EU rules on State aid are complied with. Any remaining costs of the project shall be provided or obtained by the Project Promoter and the project partners, according to their respective shares of the project budget.

Eligible costs are personnel costs (the cost of staff assigned to the project), travel and subsistence allowances for staff taking part in the project, subcontracting costs (no more than 15% of total budget project), other costs (consumables), and institutional overhead (flat rate of 25% of total direct eligible costs, excluding direct eligible costs for subcontracting). Costs are eligible if they are justified, necessary and appropriate, and directly related to the project.

Norwegian research institutes may, as an alternative to an institutional overhead flat rate of 25 %, use unit costs set on the basis of hourly rates related to “cost of staff” and “indirect costs”, approved by the Research Council of Norway for each individual research institute. These unit costs can form part of the grant awarded to research institutes from donor programme partners participating in projects falling under Programme Area “Research”, provided that:

  • That entity does not claim any further staff costs or indirect costs for its participation in the project;
  • That any other costs claimed by that entity (e.g. travel costs) follow the general rules on eligibility of expenditure contained in the legal framework of the EEA and Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014-2021.

The rules and procedures for evaluation of proposals are described in the Guidelines for Evaluators.

Each proposal will be evaluated by three international independent experts following the consensus report with the scores of the panel assessment, on the basis of which the preliminary ranking list is drafted by the Research Council of Lithuania. The Programme Committee shall review the preliminary ranking list submitted by the Programme Operator. The Programme Operator will take into account the recommendations of the Programme Committee on which proposals to select for funding and final awarding of grants.

Please note:

  • An application submitted to the calls administered by Latvia or Lithuania will not be considered for support if a similar application already was funded by the Baltic Research Programme under its first call (administered by Estonia). Both theme and research group (Principal Investigator) will be considered in this regard.
  • Similar applications sent to both the call in Latvia and in Lithuania will only be considered for support under one of the calls. Both theme and research group (Principal Investigator) will be considered in this regard.

References:

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