India-Canada Joint Call for Proposals (CFP) 2022 On BUILDING RESILIENT AND CARBON-NEUTRAL COMMUNITIES POST COVID
The impact of COVID-19 has been felt disproportionally by remote and rural communities which prior to the pandemic had limited access to reliable infrastructure, secure food supplies, clean water and access to health facilities. As we enter the post COVID era, supply chains have become stressed, there is a back log of patients waiting for routine procedures and our food supplies have become less secure. Another serious problem the world faces today is Climate Change. Warmer temperatures over time are changing weather patterns and disrupting the usual balance of nature. This poses many risks to human beings and all other forms of life on Earth. Nearly all land areas are seeing more hot days and heat waves; 2021 was one of the hottest years on record. Higher temperatures increase heat-related illnesses and can make it more difficult to work and move around. Wildfires start more easily and spread more rapidly when conditions are hotter. Scientists have further predicted that long-term effects of climate change will include a decrease in sea ice and an increase in permafrost thawing, an increase in heat waves and heavy precipitation, and decreased water resources in semi-arid regions.
India and Canada have continuously worked in partnership with researchers of both the sides to develop and deploy low-cost solutions to support healthy communities. In this Joint Call for Proposals, DST, DBT from India and IC-IMPACTS from Canada are seeking joint applications aimed at addressing the issues faced by remote and rural communities in the post COVID world. The following 4 areas are proposed under this Joint Call:
1. Agritech and Food Security (DBT and IC-IMPACTS)
2. Carbon Reduction in Our Built Environment (DST and IC-IMPACTS)
3. Water (DST and IC-IMPACTS)
4. Health, Post COVID Health Issues and Long COVID (DBT and ICIMPACTS)
Implementing Agencies:
1. DST
2. DBT
3. IC-IMPACTS
Eligibility
1. Each application must list one Principal Investigator along with one Co-Principal Investigator in India and one in Canada with additional team members listed as collaborators. There is no limit to the number of collaborators. Industry cannot be the partner under this Call.
2. All Indian faculty normally eligible to apply for DST/DBT funding opportunities are eligible to apply as Principal Investigators with at least one eligible faculty from Canada listed as co-Principal Investigator.
3. Please follow DBT guidelines (Annexure I) for submitting the proposals under Agriculture and Health (for Point A and D of proposed areas under this Joint Call. The Projects should have industrial perspective and participation from both Indian and Canadian companies is strongly encouraged. However, no financial support would be given to the Industries by Indian/Canadian side. Only the Academic Institutions would receive funding under this call.
Please follow DST guidelines (Annexure II) and application format for submitting the proposals under Carbon Reduction and Water (for Point B and C) of proposed areas under this Joint Call. The guidelines and application format may be seen at www.dst.gov.in / www.onlinedst.gov.in.
4. All Canadian faculty eligible to receive funding from IC-IMPACTS and Tri-Council agencies (NSERC, CIHR, SSHRC) are eligible to apply as Principal Investigators with at least one eligible faculty from India listed as co-Principal Investigator.
5. The proposals should only be led by faculty members who are eligible to receive funding, as indicated above. NGOs, or Not-for-profit organizations may be listed as collaborators but are not considered as eligible Principal Investigators and will not receive funding.
6. Project utilizing a technology at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 2 or above will be prioritized for funding; the technology concept and/or application must be formulated and the potential application validated.
7. For higher TRL projects, for scaling of solutions and eventual commercialization, the Canadian agencies prefer to see industrial involvement in terms of cash and/or in-kind contributions. Such collaboration can be evidenced in the form of a support letter from the partner company/companies. Industrial involvement is not required from the Indian side.
Intellectual Property
DST/DBT and IC-IMPACTS funded participants to the projects shall agree upon the ownership, access rights and exploitation of the intellectual property generated during the cooperation. The agreements shall be made in writing. The guidelines of the funding organizations should be followed when making the agreements. At a minimum, a letter of intent between the collaborators should be included in the application stating the desire for cooperation and acknowledging that each participant has understood the general terms and conditions of the other project parties.
Project Timeline and Budget Parameters/Amount
We seek innovative proposals with a maximum duration of 24 months. The budget will cover:
1. Training of HQP, direct cost of research, reasonable equipment, laboratory consumables and travel costs for both dissemination and deployment of research results in partner communities.
2. Consumables, Accessories, Fellowships and Other Research Expenses: Expenditure by project team in their country would be borne by the respective country, i.e., DST/DBT would support expenditure on Indian side of the project whereas ICIMPACTS would meet the expenditure of Canadian side.
3. Support for Exchange Visit Component: The sending side would provide international airfare (to and from), visa fee, medical insurance etc. During exchange visits of both sides, hospitality of counterpart (such as accommodation, local travel, per diem, etc.) would be taken care by the host country.
4. Consumables: A maximum of 40% of the Indian side’s budget may be allowed for consumables.
5. Institutional Overhead: For Indian PI, as per DST/DBT norms. For Canadian faculty, there is no overhead charged to Tri-Council funding.
6. Canadian PIs may request a budget of up to approximately $100,000 CAD to fund projects for a maximum of 24 months.
7. For DBT submissions, please refer to DBT Guidelines (Annexure I). For DST submissions, please refer to DST Guidelines (Annexure II).
Contact Information
For any questions regarding this funding opportunity, please contact:
Department of Science and Technology (DST):
Dr. Charu Agarwal
Scientist ‘C’
International Cooperation Division
Department of Science and Technology
c.agarwal@gov.in
Department of Biotechnology (DBT):
Dr. Vinita Nitin Chaudhary
Scientist ‘E’
International Cooperation Division-Bilateral Programs
Department of Biotechnology
vinita.chaudhary@nic.in
IC-IMPACTS:
Ms. Ferya Moayedi
Manager of Operations IC-IMPACTS
info@ic-impacts.com
Call closing date: 31st August 2022.
Deadline for submission of concept note/expression of interest to R&D Department –August 15, 2022, EoD. The project proposal in prescribed format or the concept note as the case may be, should be sent to Dean R&D (dean.research@ddn.upes.ac.in), with CC to Associate Dean (R&D) (smtauseef@ddn.upes.ac.in) well in time.
For more information, visit https://dst.gov.in/callforproposals/india-canada-joint-call-proposal-2022