2024 STI Joint Call for Proposals: Climate Change Adaptation and Local Resilience (9th Call)

THE 2024 JOINT CALL FOR SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION PROPOSALS (9TH CALL) 

IN THE OVERALL AREA OF

CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION AND LOCAL RESILIENCE

Deadline for Submission: 31 January 2025 12:00 (noon) CET / 05:00 pm Bangkok / Jakarta time

Both Europe and Southeast Asia increasingly suffer from the impact of climate change and related extreme weather events, sea-level rise and changing precipitation patterns. Adaptation to these conditions and increased local resilience are high on the agenda in both regions. 

Therefore, the European Commission (EC) and the JFS funders have decided to devote the 2024 JFS Call for Proposals to the overall area of CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION AND LOCAL RESILIENCE, and to support under the umbrella of this area research proposals for the following three topics towards sustainable green and blue economies.

• Topic 1      :  Waste water treatment and reuse (industrial & municipal)
• Topic 2      :  Underwater and above-water biomass farms working with renewable energy
• Topic 3      :  Assessment and remediation of contaminated inorganic and organic soils

TYPE OF FUNDED PROJECTS
•    Southeast Asia - Europe Joint Call Project consortia must comprise of at least 3 partners from 3 different countries fulfilling the 2+1 rule: Either 2 partners from 2 different Southeast Asian countries and 1 European partner OR 2 partners from 2 different European countries and 1 Southeast Asian partner. At least 1 partner from each region must be eligible for JFS funding.
•    The Project Coordinator (PC) must be selected from among the partners eligible for JFS funding. The third partner can be funded by a funding organisation from a country participating in the JFS OR bring his/her own funding from different Southeast Asia or European countries. The fourth partner can be funded by a funding organisation from a country participating in the JFS OR bring his/her own funding from non-Southeast Asia or non-European countries.   
•    The proposals have to address the link and impact of the proposal to the overall area of “CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION AND LOCAL RESILIENCE” under one of its topics, to enhance bi-regional cooperation and develop new partnerships as well as strengthen the existing ones. 
•    The JFS wants to support integrated research approaches and specifically encourages the submission of proposals by interdisciplinary consortia including expertise from humanities and social sciences. 
•    Applicants are requested to read carefully the National Regulations from the funding organisation that you are requesting funding from, as well as the National Regulations from your partners, since the National Regulations may include additional requirements, e.g.: certain Technology Readiness Levels, submission proposal to the funders’ website besides to JFS’, budget allocation criteria, etc.
 

TOPIC AREAS

Topic 1: Waste water treatment and reuse (industrial & municipal) 
Climate Change can lead to changed precipitation patterns. This can have an impact on waste water compositions and amounts. Droughts may require careful use and recirculation of water. Under the 2024 JFS Call, research proposals will be selected for funding that address the impact of climate change e.g. through the development of cost-effective technologies on water and wastewater reuse and recycling for industries and communities. Projects may address potable and non-potable uses, emerging pollutants, and/or possible nutrient recovery following circular economy pathways.

Topic 2: Underwater and above-water biomass farms working with renewable energy
The world population is increasing, greenhouse gas emissions related to biomass production are a concern in times of global warming and there is a requirement for new and more biomass production. These different challenges are leading to increased attention on underwater and above-waster biomass farms working with renewable energy as part of the development towards a climate neutral society. 
This topic supports sustainable utilization of marine and coastal ecosystems in both the European and Southeast Asian regions. Policy documents such as the European Green Deal and the ASEAN Blue Economy Framework strategy encourage the establishment of marine biomass farms based on renewable energy sources. 
The 2024 JFS Call plans to support research proposals addressing aspects like developing innovative submarine and offshore biomass farms. These systems shall be designed to harness renewable energy sources such as wind, currents, waves, and solar energy, along with various hydrogen sources in water (H2O, H2S, NH3), to develop ecosystem-sensitive, net-zero emission energy and biomass production. Above and underwater biomass farms can aim at harvesting different products, such as fish, shrimps, micro and macro algae and further biomass products.

Topic 3: Assessment and remediation of contaminated inorganic and organic soils
The research on assessment and remediation of contaminated soils is vital for both ASEAN and EU. It enhances agricultural productivity, environmental conservation, and climate change mitigation aligned with sustainability goals. Collaboration can drive policy implementation, technological advancement, and economic development while supporting global environmental and socio-economic objectives. Research proposals submitted under this topic of the 2024 JFS Call may include expertise related to e.g. Bioremediation, Ecotoxicology, Environmental Biotechnology, Environmental Policy and Management, Geochemistry, Inorganic Absorbents, Soil Engineering & Science, Sustainable Development.

PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES AND FUNDING AGENCIES / MINISTRIES
Please Note: Some funders may only participate in one or two of the topics, which is indicated with numbers after the name of each funding agency in the list below:
1= Waste water treatment and reuse (industrial & municipal) 
2= Underwater and above-water biomass farms working with renewable energy 
3= Assessment and remediation of contaminated inorganic and organic soils

• Belgium – National Fund for Scientific Research (F.R.S.-FNRS) - 1, 2, 3
• Brunei Darussalam – University of Brunei Darussalam (UBD) - 1, 2, 3
• Czech Republic – Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS) - 1, 2, 3
• Indonesia - National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) - 1, 2, 3
• Myanmar – Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) - 1, 2, 3
• Spain – Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI-E.P.E.) - 1, 2, 3
• Switzerland – Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) - 1, 2, 3
• Thailand – National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) - 1
• The Philippines – Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD) - 1
• Türkiye – Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBITAK) - 1, 2, 3
• Viet Nam – Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) - 1, 2, 3

SCOPE OF PROJECTS
Funding will be provided for the duration of a maximum of three years (36 months). The projects may start at the earliest in October 2025. The starting time of project might be varied, depending on delays in internal JFS procedures or the readiness of the cooperation contract among the parties and funders.  
Within the framework of the Joint Call, the funding can in general be applied for:
•    Personnel costs;
•    Equipment and consumables (project-related miscellaneous expenses and project-related larger equipment);
•    Mobility costs (exchange research visits between Europe and Southeast Asia, travel costs, living expenses and visa costs, are eligible for funding);
•    Other costs (costs which cannot be classified under the previous cost items but are required for the project implementation, such as costs related to: dissemination, intellectual property, demonstration, market search, management, organisational and subcontracting costs.).

The eligibility of cost items and their calculation is according to the respective National Regulations from the participating organisations. The upper funding limit usually can also be found in there. The National Regulations are available for download on the JFS website: https://www.sea-europe-jfs.eu/calls

WHO CAN APPLY?
Proposals may be submitted by public legal RTD (Research and Technology Development) entities, higher education institutions, non-university research establishments, companies, which all depend on the respective National Regulations as well as the eligibility criteria. 
Institutions which cannot be funded by a participating JFS funder might be included in a project consortium if they can provide their own funding / costs and if the consortium still meets the above described criteria. In this case, a Letter of Commitment must be provided attached to the project proposal to confirm his/her contribution. These institutions can be from Southeast Asia or Europe or from a different region, if in line with the National Regulations of further involved partners.
The JFS welcomes project consortia proposals related to: interdisciplinary research approaches, integrating research with humanities and social sciences, involving partners from private sectors.  

We strongly suggest that applicants discuss their intentions and confirm their proposal eligibility with their respective National Focal Points (NFPs) before submitting a proposal. The contact details of the NFPs can be found at the end of this document.

APPLICATION PROCESS
Proposals for JFS projects have to be submitted online in the PT-Outline Web Tool, which is accessible through https://ptoutline.eu/app/jfs24sti 
During the submission phase, the web tool will be open from the publishing date of the 9th Call on 02 September 2024 until 31 January 2025, 12:00pm CEST (noon) / 05:00pm Bangkok / Jakarta time.
Each project consortium has to choose a Project Coordinator (PC) among the respective partners who are eligible for JFS funding (partners participating on their own funding cannot be coordinators). Only one proposal per project should be submitted to PT-Outline by the PC, who is responsible on behalf of his/her project consortium. Besides, the PC is responsible to keep updated the project partners on the submission process, to ensure the internal management and coordination of the project consortium, and to constitute the main contact to the Joint Call Secretariat, whenever information related to the projects are required and for monitoring purposes. All proposals must be written in English only.
Any proposal that is submitted after the above mentioned deadline cannot be accepted by the Secretariat and therefore will not be considered for evaluation.
After successful submission of the proposal, each PC receives an automatic confirmation e-mail. This e-mail can be used as proof that the proposal has been submitted on time and correctly. In case the PC is not sure whether the proposal was submitted correctly, he/she should contact the Call Secretariat immediately and/or resend the proposal via e-mail to the Call Secretariat prior to the deadline.
Please note: Some funding organisations require that applicants from their respective countries must submit a complementary proposal documents at the national level, in addition to the JFS submission. These additional requirements will be made clear in the National Regulations of the respective countries / funding organisations.

The applicant / Project Coordinator must fill in the electronic form for JFS proposals, following several steps:

1.    Register to PT-Outline.
2.    Fill the Electronic Proposal Forms: The Electronic Proposal Forms consists of four pages with the following headings: 
a.    General information
b.    Project coordinator
c.    Project Partners
d.    Project Description
3.    Download the Project Description template (Word format) from the last page of the Electronic Proposal Forms. 
4.    Beside download from PT-Outline, the Project Description template can be downloaded from here: https://www.sea-europe-jfs.eu/sites/default/files/2024-08/SeaEuropeJFS_Template_Call_2024_STI.docx 
5.    The Project Description template needs to be filled, and – once finished - converted into PDF format. The PDF Project Description is to be uploaded under page “d. Project Description” of the Electronic Proposal Forms in the PT-Outline. 
6.    Please watch our video tutorial about how to apply. The video is available in the Media section of the JFS Website or on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLCYFcKpARA

All information inserted into the PT-Outline web tool is saved after having clicked on the “SAVE” button at the bottom of each page.
During the phase of proposal submission, it is allowed to replace already registered and eligible project partners, or to add project partners to the consortium. However, please note that after the binding submission of a proposal (through clicking on the ‘SUBMIT NOW’ button in PT-Outline) no further changes can be made to your proposal.

The Project Description Document should contain the following information (max. number of 6,000 words excluding all Annexes):

1. Basic project data
1.1 Project title
1.2 Project Acronym
1.3 Name and institution of the Project Coordinator
1.4 Names and institutions of other project partners

2. Project description
2.1 Describe why your proposal suits the respective call thematic area.
2.2 Describe as precisely as possible the technological objectives of the project.
2.3 Explain the novel character of the activities proposed. Show how the objectives of the project aim at significant advances in the state-of-the-art through extending the current technologies and/or filling the gaps identified. 
2.4 Lay down the added-value of transnational cooperation which is implemented in your consortium.
2.5 Describe what makes up the excellence of your consortium. Describe how the teams complement each other and the added value resulting from the multilateral cooperation. Mention where there is a potential for synergy effects between different tasks of the project and how this is going to be exploited.
2.6 Describe the multi-disciplinarity / inter-disciplinarity of your proposal.
2.7 Lay down if (and how) the research project matches national priorities of the partners involved.
2.8 Self-assessment of targeted Technology Readiness Level (TRL) and explanation.

3. Work plan
3.1 Describe the research project with respect to the methodology; justify the methodology chosen to reach the objectives. Highlight the particular advantages of the methodology chosen.
3.2 Describe the type of activities that are implemented in your project.
3.3 Describe the distribution of tasks. What is the involvement of each partner in relation to the proposed activities? How are the resources distributed among the partners? (time plan).
3.4 Describe the management structure of your project.

4. Potential impact and exploitation of results
4.1 Describe the scientific and / or commercial expected impact for the participating countries of the project consortium and in general.
4.2 Describe whether the project has any beneficial impact on society, in particular regarding societal challenges for the participating countries of the project consortium and in general.
4.3 Describe the measures for the dissemination and./.or exploitation of trans-national projects results, and management of intellectual property. What are the next steps?
4.4 Prospects for establishing efficient and sustainable partnership.

5. Financial Plan
The financial plan overview must be in line with the national regulations of all consortia partners, and all costs must be stated in EURO. Type of financial plan at least consists for: personnel, equipment and consumables, travel, others.  

6. Annexes
6.1 If applicable: Letter of Commitment securing willingness to collaborate provided by partners from countries which are not on the funding list for the 2024 JFS STI (9th Call) or by partners that are from a participating country but that do not meet the eligibility criteria of the funder from their country and that would like to participate at their own costs.
6.2 CVs and lists of principal publications of participating researchers (only for PC and PIs (1 per partner), 3 pages max. per CV).
Aims and methods of the proposed collaborative project should clearly demonstrate the excellence and innovativeness of the project, product or service, including the added value for Southeast Asian - European research and innovation cooperation and describe expected outcomes / marketability. The applicants must identify the TRL of the work that the project proposal is based on / starting and the TRL which is targeted at the end of the project. This self-assessment / estimation will have to be justified in brief paragraphs.
The applicant is responsible for determining whether the execution of the proposed research requires an ethical statement or license, and complies with national and international sanction rules and legislations. The applicant must ensure that the ethical statement or license is acquired in a timely manner from the relevant ethics review committee.

EVALUATION PROCESS
The evaluation process includes the following steps.
Eligibility Check
Eligibility Check for all submitted proposals is evaluated first by the Call Secretariat to ensure that they meet the following general criteria of the JFS Call:
•    Date of submission
•    Composition of consortium (2+1 basic rule)
•    Duration of project
•    Inclusion of all necessary information in English
•    Appropriate length of the proposal
•    Eligibility of the Project Coordinator
•    Eligibility of the other project partners (in case the Project Coordinator or a project partner is rejected in the eligibility check, the whole proposal might be rejected)
•    Eligible of thematic focus
•    Reflection of national priorities (if applicable)
•    Eligibility of required funding
•    Complete appendixes required

The Call Secretariat then forwards the proposals to the National Focal Points (NFPs) who should perform a check and evaluation for compliance with their respective country’s / national regulations.
Please note if the proposal does not meet the general criteria of JFS OR the national regulations OR eligibility criteria and requirements, the proposal should be declined without further review.

Peer Review
The eligible proposals then are reviewed by independent scientific experts in the relevant thematic research fields, according to the evaluation criteria set previously in the Call. Each proposal ideally is evaluated by at least two online evaluators, one Southeast Asian and one European peer reviewer. The peer reviewers will be nominated by the National Focal Points in cooperation with the funding parties.

The evaluation uses the following criteria:
1.    Scientific / technological excellence and innovativeness of the project idea (scoring from 0 to 10)
•    Sound concept, quality of objectives.
•    Innovativeness of the project idea: capacity of project to contribute to the development of a new technology, service or product.
•    Quality and effectiveness of the methodology and associated work plan.
•    Good balance between technology / knowledge available at each participating team.
•    Complementarity of qualifications and relevant experience of the coordinator and the individual participant / participating teams.

2.    Potential impact and expected outcomes of the project (scoring from 0 to 10)
•    Social and / or market related impact.
•    Potential to meet market, economical and societal needs and significant exploitation potential.
•    Prospects for establishing efficient and sustainable partnership within the network, including transfer of know-how and experience.
•    Appropriateness of measures for the dissemination and / or exploitation of trans-national project results, and management of intellectual property.

3.    Management, Transnationality and Cooperation (scoring from 0 to 10)
•    Quality and effectiveness of the management structure and distribution of tasks.
•    Added value of transnational cooperation.
•    Appropriate allocation and justification of the resources to be committed (budget, staff, equipment).

The total score of the proposal is the weighted average of the individual scores given to each criterion, rated from 0 to 10. The table below summarizes the scores and weight coefficients per criterion:
 

After the peer reviewers submitted their results, applicants are contacted and informed about the online evaluation results. At this point the applicants get the opportunity to defend their application on specific points and to provide a written statement (Rebuttal, max. 2 pages of A44.000 characters). 
Once the peer review and rebuttal process is finalized, the Call Secretariat sends the proposals and pooled reviews to the Scientific Council (SC) members. The SC meeting is in charge to the final ranking based on the peer review results, the rebuttal and the results of the discussion of the proposals amongst the SC members themselves. The SC members consist of internationally recognized experts offering a high degree of technical, scientific and innovation expertise in the respective research field, as well as broad experiences in international collaboration.
The final ranking list as well as the written remarks by the SC then are forwarded to the Programme Steering Committee (PSC) for the funding decision.   

Funding Decision
Based on the ranking list established and the written minutes of the SC meeting, as well as the available funding, the PSC meeting takes a final funding decision. The JFS Secretariat communicates to all PCs the final decision of their proposals.  In the case of a positive funding decision, the national funding agencies then get in touch with the individual project partner to initiate the process of setting up the funding contract. The start of funded projects is expected to begin at the earliest of October 2025.

MONITORING OF IMPLEMENTATION OF JFS PROJECTS
Each project participant should submit financial and scientific reports to their national / regional funding organisations according to the requirements set by the respective national regulations / funding contract.
The JFS Call Secretariat may approach the project coordinators of funded JFS Projects to collect information about the content, progress and results of the funded projects. The project coordinator is responsible to provide the requested information in due time. In case the responsibilities within a project are changing, the JFS Call Secretariat is to be informed and updated on new contact details. 
In the case a partner decided to withdraw from a project before the completion date due to the reasons such as: discrepancies within the consortia, funding problems, changes in the strategy of organizations, technical or sudden market problems; the NFPs have to check whether the basic JFS eligibility criteria are still met and if the excellence of the project is still maintained. Therefore, all involved NFPs are to be informed as soon as possible about respective changes in the consortium. If NFPs are not informed in time or NFPs come to the conclusion that the excellence of the project cannot be maintained, the involved funding agencies may decide jointly to cease the funding for this specific project.
In addition, the following regulations will apply for all research projects funded through the JFS:
•    Publications or other form of output resulting from the research for which funding was awarded should be made available to the JFS Secretariat (publication of the results in open access journals is strongly encouraged).
•    In any publication of results of the research for which JFS funding was awarded, the writers must mention the support received.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Call Secretariat:

Mrs. Dr. Finarya Legoh
Senior Programme Officer
Indonesian Science Fund (Dana Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia / DIPI)
Finarya.legoh@dipi.id 
+62 852 11342556

Ms. Patchara Umprasert
Junior Programme Officer
National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA)
Callsec.JFS@nstda.or.th 
+66 2-564-7000 ext. 71488
 

National Focal Points:

Belgium, F.R.S.-FNRS
National Fund for Scientific Research

Mr. Joël, Groeneveld; joel.groeneveld@frs-fnrs.be ; +32 2 504 9270
Ms. Dr. Florence, Quist; florence.quist@frs-fnrs.be ; +32 2 504 9351

Brunei Darussalam, UBD
Universiti Brunei Darussalam

Professor Dr Basilios Tsikouras; basilios.tsikouras@ubd.edu.bn 

Czech Republic, CAS
Czech Academy of Sciences 

Ms. Julie, Smilnická; smilnicka@kav.cas.cz
 

Indonesia, BRIN
National Research and Innovation Agency

Ms. Evy Rusmanida Yanthi; dana-risnov@brin.go.id / evyr002@brin.go.id ; +62819-9000-1977

Myanmar, MoST
Ministry of Science and Technology

Ms. Dr. Thazin, Han; thazinhann@gmail.com ; +95 9 5143712

Spain, CDTI-E.P.E.
Centre for the Development of Technology and Innovation – E.P.E. (Ministry of Science and Innovation)

Mr. Ricardo, Rubianes; ricardo.rubianes@cdti.es ; +34 91 581 0489


Switzerland, SNSF
Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)

Ms. Andrea, Landolt; international@snf.ch ; +41 31 308 2319

Thailand, NRCT
National Research Council of Thailand

Ms. Chontida, Tangnara; chontida.t@nrct.go.th ; +66 (0) 2561 2445 ext. 206

Ms. Warinphak, Thananitchaiyakul; ariya.f@nrct.go.th 

The Philippines, (DOST - PCIEERD) 

Department of Science and Technology (DOST) – Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging
Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD)

Dr. Leah J. Buendia
Undersecretary for Research and Development
Department of Science and Technology (DOST)
ousec.rd@dost.gov.ph / itcu-mail@dost.gov.ph 

Dr. Enrico C. Paringit
Executive Director
oed_secretariat@pcieerd.dost.gov.ph / enrico.paringit@pcieerd.dost.gov.ph 

Türkiye, TÜBITAK
Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBITAK)

Ms. Nazli, Öz Yıldırım; nazli.oz@tubitak.gov.tr 

Mr. Alper, Mert; alper.mert@tubitak.gov.tr 

Viet Nam, MoST
Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST)

Ms. Thị Tú Quyên, Vũ; vtquyen@most.gov.vn ; +84 937966689

Ms. Quỳnh Trang, Trịnh; tqtrang@most.gov.vn ; +84 937966689

Mr. Viết Dũng, Đinh ; dungdv@most.gov.vn ; +84 913266851