ESF Research Networking Programmes - Proposal contents and submission procedure

Submission format

Proposals must be in English and should be submitted using the specific form provided below for that purpose, respecting headings and structure and providing the requested information in the order of listing. Proposals should not exceed 15 A4 single pages:

Please respect the formatting of the form, i.e.:

  • Paper size: A4
  • Body Font: Arial or Helvetica
  • Body Font size: 11
  • Margins: Left and right margins (at least) 3cm. Top and bottom (at least) 2cm  

Headings, structure and requested information are also listed below for convenience:

Contents of Proposal

A proposal should cover scientific, financial and administrative details.  

Section I: (1 A4 single page):

  • Programme title;
  • Programme acronym;
  • Name and full coordinates of principal applicant(s) (up to three including the contact person);
  • Indication of which of the principal applicants is the contact person;
  • Keywords relating to the topic of the proposal (up to five; one “keyword” can be a string of not more than three words);
  • An abstract (max. 300 words);
  • State previous or concurrent applications to the ESF for any of the ESF instruments (title, date and reference number where applicable).  

Section II (not more than 8 A4 single pages / max. length 3000 words):

  • Status of the relevant research field; scientific context, objectives and envisaged achievements of the proposed Programme;
  • Facilities and expertise which would be accessible by the Programme;
  • Expected benefit from European collaboration in this area;
  • European context: list of relevant R&D networking activities at the European level directly related to the proposal, and already existing or envisaged collaboration activities, in particular, networks or activities under the EC Framework Programme, COST or under any other international programmes or organisations. State how the Programme would complement these and any applications on this or a similar topic to these organisations;
  • Proposed activities, key targets and milestones;
  • Duration (48 or 60 months);
  • Budget estimate (in €) by type of activities and per year of the Programme (Please use the headings listed in the section “Level and use of a Programme budget” of the Call, as appropriate. Do not include the ESF administration fee in the annual budget. This is calculated and included by the ESF office before submission for funding to MOs).
    All costs for the Programme must be included and justified in the proposal; they will be revised and approved by the relevant Standing Committee during the assessment and selection procedure. 

Section III (not more than 3 A4 single pages+ 1 single page for global dimension if applicable):

  • List of names and full coordinates of the envisaged Steering Committee members listed by country in alphabetical order (One member per collaborating country; this can be a provisional list and names can be added to it later);
  • Programme Collaborations: names and affiliations (including department, institute, university) of the researchers/research groups that are foreseen to participate in the Programme’s activities listed by country;
  • Global dimension:
    Proposals with a global dimension should include one additional page outlining the key persons in the global network(s), the scientific benefits expected from the collaboration and the status of the non-ESF request for funds.  

Section IV (not more than 3 A4 single pages in total):

  • CVs:
    Full coordinates and short curriculum vitae of the applicant(s) including ’contact person’. The list of the five most recent relevant publications of each applicant.

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Submission procedure

Applicants using "Netscape/7.1" as a browser may encounter problems in completing the online application.  We recommend using the browsers "Internet Explorer" or "Mozilla/Firefox".

Proposals must be submitted on-line (see below) with the proposal text as one uploaded attachment.

Revisions will not be accepted after submission.

Before uploading the single file containing your proposal, you will be asked to provide the information listed below in an on-line form. Therefore, before starting, please ensure that you have all details available.

  • Acronym of the Standing Committee in whose domain the proposal falls, and which will therefore probably handle the assessment and selection process (see list under Introduction);
  • For a trans-committee proposal, acronym(s) of additional Standing Committee(s) in whose domain(s) the proposal falls, and which will therefore probably participate in the assessment and selection process;
  • Full coordinates of three international experts who could referee this proposal, including their:
        a) specific area(s) of expertise and related keywords;
        b) their email address, and personal web-page if available;
    The ESF may use one of these suggested experts. Proposed participants in the Programme as well as Standing Committee members should not be listed as potential referees;
  • Optional (and in strict confidence): Names and affiliations of persons not to be asked to referee the proposal, in particular due to a "conflict of interest*".
    * An interest may be defined as where a person may benefit either professionally or personally by the success, or failure, of a proposal.

The names of three referees and of persons not to be asked should figure in the on-line form but NOT within the uploaded proposal.

In addition, the following details - already included in the proposal file - will be requested again in the on-line form: 

  • Programme title;
  • Programme acronym;
  • Name and full coordinates of the contact person (one of the principal applicants);
  • Name and full coordinates of the principal applicant(s) (up to three including the contact person);
  • Keywords related to the topic of the proposal (up to five; one “keyword” can be a string of not more than three words);
  • Abstract (max. 300 words);
  • Duration (48 or 60 months);
  • Total estimated budget for the entire duration of the Programme;
  • Information on previous or concurrent applications to the ESF for any of the ESF instruments (title, date and reference number where applicable).


On-line Submission Form

      • Complete overview of the on-line submission form for information purposes: (PDF 1.7 MB)
        Note: The purpose of the on-line form is to permit automatic insertion in our database; the form is therefore not available in .doc format or on paper.

Deadline

The deadline is 22 October 2009; 16.00hrs CET

Proposals submitted after this date will not be taken into consideration.

 

ESF administrative contacts

  • Medical Sciences - EMRC
Ms.BlancheFacchini-SchallerE-Mail
Administrator
  • Life, Earth and Environmental Sciences - LESC
Ms.JaneSwiftE-Mail
Principal Officer – Governance relations / Senior Communications Officer
  • Physical and Engineering Sciences - PESC
Mrs.StéphaniePeryE-Mail
European Science FoundationPhysical and Engineering Sciences (PESC)StrasbourgFrance
  • Humanities - SCH
Ms.Marie-LaureSchneiderE-Mail
Administrator
  • Social Sciences - SCSS
Ms.CélineOttenwelterE-Mail
Administrator

European Science Foundation
1, Quai Lezay-Marnésia
BP 90015
67080 Strasbourg Cedex
France
+33 (0)3 88 37 05 32
+33 (0)3 88 76 71 00

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