2022 Joint Call for Research Proposals
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2022 Joint Call for Research Proposals Strategies, technologies and novel systems to reduce and account for greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture ruminant production systems Endorsement text to go here. If not needed, double click and delete.
2022 Joint Research Call
Between
The Funding Parties of the 2022 Joint Research Call
Country Funding Organisation/Party Short name
New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries MPI
Department of Agriculture, Food and the
Ireland DAFM
Marine
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22022 Joint Research Call
Table of Contents
About the Call 5
National Contacts 5
Call Timeline 6
1. Scope 7
Topic 1: Rumen Microbiology to Support the Development of Ruminant GHG
Mitigation Technologies 8
Topic 2: Identification and development of technologies for the selection of
low emitting ruminant livestock 8
Topic 3: Refinement of agricultural GHG emissions inventories through the
development of emission factors for Nitrous Oxide and Carbon 9
2. Funding 10
3. Who Can Apply 11
Industry and Third-Party Participation 11
4. Application procedure 11
5. Eligibility 12
5.1 General Eligibility Requirements of Proposals 12
5.2 National Eligibility Requirements 13
6. Expert Evaluation of Proposals 13
7. Proposal Selection 16
8. Contract Negotiation and Award of Grant 16
9. Post-Award Monitoring and Reporting 16
10. Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation of Results 17
11. Ethics 17
11.1 Health and Safety 17
11.2 Genetic Resources and Benefit-Sharing 17
12. Confidentiality, Information and Publicity 18
Annex A: Guidelines for New Zealand Applicants 19
1. Introduction 19
2. National Eligibility Criteria 19
4. Funding Rules 19
5. Dissemination of Information 20
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32022 Joint Research Call
6. Intellectual Property 20
7. Engagement 21
8. Open Access 21
9. After the Joint Call Approval for Funding 22
Annex B: Guidelines for Irish Applicants 23
1. Introduction 23
2. Maximum Funding Available 23
3. National Eligibility Criteria 23
4. Eligible Research Performing Organisations 24
5. Funding Rules 24
6. DAFM Funding 24
Staff Costs 25
Equipment 25
Travel and Subsistence 26
Consumables 27
Overheads 27
Other agreed costs 27
7. Intellectual Property 28
8. Industry Participation 29
9. Stakeholder Participation 29
10. Gender Equality 30
11. Research Integrity and Open Access 30
12. Ethical and Health and Safety Issues 30
Ethics 30
Health and Safety 31
13. After the Joint Call Approval for Funding 31
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42022 Joint Research Call
About the Call
Ireland and New Zealand face significant and common climate-related challenges
in their agriculture sectors. In parallel, there is an opportunity to improve the
cooperation and coordination of research activities in this area between the two
countries for mutual benefit. In recognition of this, the Department of Agriculture,
Food and the Marine (DAFM) Ireland and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI)
New Zealand have agreed to launch a joint funded transnational research initiative
for a pilot period of 3 years to enable Joint Calls for research on climate mitigation
from agriculture ruminant, pasture-based production systems.
The purpose of the Joint Calls is to build on the established research links between
Ireland and New Zealand and aim to strengthen existing cooperation and
collaborations between funders and researchers on a bi-lateral basis. Applications
to the Joint Calls MUST involve research entities from both Ireland and New
Zealand. In particular, the Joint Call will address high-/medium-intensity grassland
livestock systems, the impact of such systems on the climate and the environment
and the necessity to identify and implement research outputs and outcomes to
enable the sector’s transition to a climate neutral and environmentally sensitive
basis.
National Contacts
Table 1: National contact points for the 2022 Joint Call
Funding
Contact Person(s) Contact Details
Party
William
AITKENHEAD William.Aitkenhead@mpi.govt.nz
MPI
Nilusha Nilusha.Ubeynarayana@mpi.govt.nz
UBEYNARAYANA
Aidan HOLOHAN Aidan.Holohan@agriculture.gov.ie
DAFM
John HARRISON John.Harrison@ agriculture.gov.ie
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52022 Joint Research Call
Call Timeline
The Joint Research Call follows a one-stage submission procedure with a deadline
for the submission of full proposals on 15th July 2022. Indicative Research Call
timelines are outlined below in Table 2.
Table 2: Indicative Timeline of the 2022 Joint Call
Date Step
12th May, 2022 Launch of 2022 Joint Research Call
18th May, 2022 @ 10:00 NZT Webinar for applicants (New Zealand)
25th May, 2022 @ 10:00 IST Webinar for applicants (Ireland)
1st July,2022 Deadline for technical queries
15th July, 2022 @ 17:00 IST Submission Deadline for proposals
July, 2022 Eligibility Assessment
July/August, 2022 Evaluation of Proposals
September, 2022 Selection Meeting
Communication of Funding Decision
September, 2022
and start of Contract Negotiations
Funding awarded and announcement of
November/December, 2022
successful projects
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62022 Joint Research Call
Date Step
December, 2022 to March Estimated Starting Date for Funded
2023 Projects
1. Scope
Strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ruminant livestock production
will be fundamental to realising targets and objectives that will contribute to
climate action by 2030 and climate neutrality by 2050. New Zealand and Ireland
are globally recognised for efficient pasture-based livestock grazing systems that
have been developed over many years. One of the challenges for both countries is
finding technologies and practices for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from
already advanced pasture-based systems. There is no low-hanging fruit. Substantial
emission reductions in these advanced pasture-based systems will require
breakthrough research. The research topics covered in this Call aim to advance the
body of knowledge into large scale applicable practices and technologies. Key
areas of research for this Call include: rumen microbiology, low emission ruminants,
and inventory improvement, which taken together offer significant reduction
potential in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and atmospheric carbon
sequestration.
Underpinning these strategies is the need to incorporate measures into inventories.
This requires research to specify new emission factors and/or new ways of
collating activity data, as well as ensuring that measures contribute towards greater
climate resilience in the agriculture and land use sector.
While proposals should be impactful in terms of their mitigation potential,
applicants must consider the combined effects of processes in terms of whole-farm
profitability, potential effectiveness on farms (vs. experimental results), and the
likely adoption rate.
Proposals under each of the three topics below MUST lead to a better
understanding of data, knowledge and tools that enable break throughs to scalable
solutions, accelerated technology development and advance knowledge in these
topic areas, with potential to significantly impact greenhouse gas reductions within
defined time periods for climate action and emissions neutrality. In particular,
proposals should address the policy and research implications relevant to the
topics, as well as identifying/recommending, where appropriate, actions that will
deliver the best possible solutions under predicted future scenarios. Proposals
must remain mindful of wider environmental impacts.
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72022 Joint Research Call
Topic 1: Rumen Microbiology to Support the Development of
Ruminant GHG Mitigation Technologies
A comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of rumen microbiota
establishment and development and how they mediate the fermentation process
throughout the life cycle of the animal is vital in maximising host nutrient utilisation,
health, and productivity, via dietary intervention strategies (e.g., nutrition models,
probiotics, prebiotics and enzymes). This is particularly important in `pasture-based
dairy and beef systems’.
Applications under Topic 1 should address rumen mechanics of dietary
intervention and/or existing knowledge gaps in rumen micro-biological function
leading to the development of ruminant GHG mitigation solutions (including feed
additives, feed/forage composition and vaccine development). Examples of types
of proposals sought under topic 1 include:
1. Development of a detailed mechanistic understanding of key steps in the
electron flow process and the identification of factors that select between
different primary fermentation pathways, for example hydrogen
production/utilisation, role of formate, and the role of biofilms and different
mechanisms of hydrogen and electron transfer among rumen microbial
communities. Proposals should present intervention strategies based on
identified pathways that give the most desired outcomes for production and
reduced CH4 emissions.
2. Research in rumen microbiology that supports development of novel
ruminant methane mitigation technologies. An extensive array of enteric
methane mitigation strategies has already been explored by the global
scientific community. If novel mitigations are to be discovered, then they
will need to emerge from a non-obvious basis.
Topic 2: Identification and development of technologies for
the selection of low emitting ruminant livestock
There is an urgent need to develop and test new and existing mitigation
technologies to directly reduce agricultural GHG emissions to meet the needs of
climate action and reduce emissions from ruminants. The development of new
technologies should aim to accelerate action in animal breeding. Ruminants with a
higher Economic Breeding Index are more efficient producers and will continue to
improve the carbon footprint of our animal protein products. The generation and
assimilation of data should facilitate the breeding of animals that are lower emitters
of methane.
Applications under Topic 2 should lead to the development of accurate and
scalable technologies sufficient to inform genomic predictions of methane
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82022 Joint Research Call
emissions in ruminants and/or models for inclusion of low emission breeding in
GHG inventories. Technologies should be low cost and applicable to large scale
population-based analyses. Applications may also address the development of
profiling techniques, sequencing technologies, rapid testing and statistical
algorithms that increase accuracy across species and systems. Examples of types
of proposals sought under topic 2 include:
1. Development of profiling techniques that are high throughput for the
identification and quantification of metabolites in milk and meat associated
with lowered methane emissions.
2. Exploration of impact of selection for low emission animals against other
breeding selection criteria, to understand interactions of selection
pressure/value.
3. Generation of emission factors and inventory accounting methods that are
linked to the selection of ruminants for low methane emitting genetics while
retaining production and profitability.
Topic 3: Refinement of agricultural GHG emissions
inventories through the development of emission factors for
Nitrous Oxide and Carbon
IPCC guidance allows countries to report GHG emissions and removals according
to different tiers. Tier 1 and Tier 2 currently account for the bulk of agricultural
emissions and removals reporting which does not accurately capture the effects of
all mitigation measures and as a result, GHG emission estimates for the agricultural
sector continue to have a comparatively high level of uncertainty.
Advancing analysis of GHG emissions from agriculture, including agricultural soils,
is a priority issue and research is needed for the development of emissions factors
which integrate with higher tier inventories.
Research proposals under topic 3 should focus on Nitrous oxide (N2O) (including
ammonia emissions) and Carbon and align with shared climate mitigation policies
in Ireland and New Zealand, common targets for the development of emissions
factors and higher tier methodologies leading to the refinement inventories and
GHG projection estimates.
1. Refinement of N2O emission factor for grass-clover, multispecies swards
including plantain and other forage species with potential biological
nitrification inhibition properties.
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92022 Joint Research Call
2. Development of a set of Tier 2 or 3 N2O emission factors that could be
disaggregated by soil type, fertiliser, manure and excreta, topography,
season, temperature and rainfall, or incorporates the development of low-
emission fertilisers or bio-based fertilisers.
3. Development of a N2O emission methodology that links to carbon
sequestration Tier 3 models.
4. Development of soil carbon models for Tier 3 IPCC inventory compilation
and link with the N2O Tier 3 models.
2. Funding
A maximum total funding amount of €6m has been allocated to this Call, which is
intended to be allocated in full, subject to the final joint selection list of research
projects following evaluation. Funding awards will be provided directly by the
respective national funding organisation to successful national applicants. Eligibility
of project costs is subject to national rules (Annex A and B). Where necessary
contact the respective National Contact point for clarification on project costs.
The maximum funding budgets allocated to the Joint Call are outlined in Table 3.
Table 3: Funding commitment to the 2022 Joint Call.
National Call Contribution
Funding Max. Funding Request (per
Country Total
Party project)
New
MPI €3m €1,000,000
Zealand
Ireland DAFM €3m €1,000,000
The maximum budget that can be requested per proposal is €2M. Applicants
cannot request more funds than allocated for each country by respective funding
parties on a specific topic.
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102022 Joint Research Call
3. Who Can Apply
The scope of MPI and DAFM funding is limited to eligible Research Bodies situated
within their respective jurisdictions. To be considered eligible for funding,
applicants must meet the basic criteria of their respective funding authorities as set
out in Annex A and B below.
Industry and Third-Party Participation
Applicants who are not eligible for funding by their national funding body or
applicants from countries not participating in the Call are welcome to join research
consortia, but this is on a self-funding basis or through in-kind contributions. They
will not receive any funding (associated partners) and will not be included in the
required minimum number of partners in the consortium and they cannot be the
coordinator of the project. Such partners should state in advance the source of
funding for their participation in the project. A letter of commitment must be
included in the proposal application confirming the source of funding.
Where industry is included as third party funded partners in a research consortium,
any generated IP must be managed in a way that reflects the Funding Parties’ rules,
as set out in Annex A and B. However, industry propriety of background IP, in
respect of knowledge, technology and solutions, shall remain with the background
IP owner.
4. Application procedure
The application procedure will be carried out online via the Department of
Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s (DAFM) submission tool, Flexi®Grant. No other
methods or means of submissions will be accepted.
The link to the DAFM online submission tool: Portal homepage - Department of
Agriculture, Food and the Marine (flexigrant.com)
Instructions on registration and completing the online application can be found in
the corresponding guideline document “Online research portal registration and
submission of proposals”
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112022 Joint Research Call
For application and reporting purposes, a project coordinator must be nominated
to submit the joint proposal. The project coordinator may be nominated from either
New Zealand or Ireland but must be one of the lead collaborating researchers in
those jurisdictions. The same person cannot act as a coordinator for more than one
proposal. Once nominated, the project coordinator will act as the primary contact
for the project as a whole and will have responsibility for ensuring the coordination
and timely submission of all relevant scientific and financial reports.
Please note that in addition to central reporting both DAFM and the Ministry for
Primary Industries (MPI) will require separate periodic reports, details of which
are outlined in Annex A and B (National Funding Regulations).
The closing date for submission of proposals is 15th July 2022 – 17:00 IST.
It will be possible to update and save the proposal as many times as required before
the submission deadline, but not after the deadline has expired. All parts can be
saved, and revisions can be re-submitted until the deadline. After the closing date,
information given in the proposal, including each partner’s budget, is binding.
5. Eligibility
5.1 General Eligibility Requirements of Proposals
After the closing date for submission all proposals will be checked against the
mandatory eligibility of the Call and respective National Funding Regulations.
Criteria:
• The application must be written in English.
• All currency values must be in euro (€)
• Eligible consortia will consist of a minimum of 2 independent entities
seeking funding from both Funding Participants in the Joint Call; there is no
upper limit of eligible consortium size - consortia can involve as many
partners as necessary to achieve the project goals.
• Consortia must appoint a project lead in each jurisdiction, Ireland and New
Zealand. National project leads will have responsibility for ensuring
proposals meet national funding regulations and will be responsible for
periodic reporting to their respective funding bodies.
• Applicants who are not eligible for funding by their national funding body or
applicants from countries not participating in the Call are welcome to be
partners in a research consortium on a self-financing basis, they cannot be
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122022 Joint Research Call
coordinators and are not counted for in terms of the required minimum
number of partners.
• The maximum duration of a project is 48 months.
• The requested total funding cannot exceed €2M per proposal,
• Total eligible budget per country/region must not exceed the maximum
available to applicants under respective National Funding Regulations
(Annex A and B).
• Proposals should seek, in so far as is practical, for an equal distribution of
the total requested funding (50:50) between Ireland and New Zealand
applicants. However, in situations where this is not entirely feasible,
applicants should note that the maximum proportion of the overall budget
claimed by either Ireland or New Zealand may not exceed 70% of the total
eligible project budget in order to achieve balanced partnerships and ensure
that responsibility and risks are shared.
• The scope of the research in the application must address one of the Call
Topics detailed in section 1 and is limited to experimental research.
Proposals are limited to a single topic only and must focus on the specific
criteria described under that topic.
5.2 National Eligibility Requirements
In addition to the general eligibility requirements, the funding bodies DAFM and
MPI, will check the proposals against the national eligibility criteria as described in
the National Regulations (Annex A and B).
Please note that in the case where a proposal is deemed to be ineligible with regard
to either DAFM or MPI national eligibility criteria, the Call Management Team
(CMT), which consists of both funding bodies, will reject the entire proposal.
Proposals which are eligible in terms of general and national eligibility criteria will
progress to expert evaluation.
6. Expert Evaluation of Proposals
The evaluation of eligible proposals will be performed by an Expert Evaluation
Committee (EEC). The EEC is composed of international experts with
acknowledged scientific excellence and high expertise of the underlying sectors.
The members of the panel are proposed and selected by the Call Steering
Committee (CSC).
Each proposal will be evaluated by independent experts against the following
criteria:
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132022 Joint Research Call
Overall score
Quality and Efficiency
Relevance and
Scientific Excellence of Implementation
Potential Impact
including Costs
(40 marks)
(35 marks)
(25 marks)
Relevance to the scope
Extent to which the Quality and
of the Call
outputs of the project effectiveness of the
Clarity and pertinence would contribute to the work plan, including
of the objectives; mitigation of GHGs extent to which the
and/or improved resources assigned to
Soundness of the knowledge on GHG work packages are in
concept, and credibility emission factors; line with their
of the proposed
objectives and
methodology; Any substantial impacts
deliverables;
not mentioned in the
Extent to which the Call for Proposals, that Appropriateness of the
proposed work is would enhance management structures
beyond the state of the innovation capacity, and procedures,
art, and demonstrates create new market including risk,
innovation potential opportunities, innovation and data
(e.g. ground-breaking strengthen management;
objectives, novel competitiveness and
concepts and growth of companies, Complementarity of the
approaches, new address issues related applicants and extent to
products, services or to climate change or the which the consortium
business and environment, or bring as a whole brings
organisational models); other important together the necessary
benefits for society; expertise;
Appropriate application
of systems thinking, Quality of the proposed Appropriateness of the
interdisciplinary measures to: allocation of tasks,
approaches and, where ensuring that all
relevant, use of Exploit and disseminate applicants have a valid
stakeholder knowledge the project results role and adequate
and gender dimension (including management resources in the project
in research and of intellectual property to fulfil that role;
innovation content; rights), and to manage
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142022 Joint Research Call
Overall score
Transnational added research data where Involvement of self-
value; relevant funded participants
beyond those eligible
Communicate the
for funding under this
project activities to
Call, to access greater
different target
expertise;
audiences;
Degree to which this
Involvement and
project supports the
connections with
development of
industry bodies,
complementary
farmers and extension
capability in both
groups to support
funders’ national
engagement and
science systems and in
uptake of outcomes in
developing countries.
the sector.
Evaluation scores will be awarded for each of the three criteria, but not at the level
of the bullet-pointed sub-criteria above. The sub-criteria are issues which the
expert reviewer should consider in the assessment of that criterion. They are not
exclusive but act as reminders of issues to raise during the EEC discussions on the
merits of the proposal. A consensus mark will be awarded by the EEC under each
of the three criteria with a total score available on a scale of 0-100 marks. Each
criterion is weighted with a maximum score of 40, 35 and 25 marks for the
Scientific Excellence, Relevance and Impact, and Quality and Efficiency of
Implementation, respectively.
The total score will be converted into a percentage (%) mark. To be considered
eligible for funding, proposals must achieve:
• At least 24/40 (or at least 60%) for Scientific Excellence, and;
• An overall score of (60/100) - at least 60%.
In addition, the EEC must agree on “Yes” answers to the three eligibility questions,
specified below, for a proposal to be considered for funding.
1. Does the proposed research project fit within the thematic/topic scope of
the Call?
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152022 Joint Research Call
2. Does the proposed project address the relevant themes/topics listed in the
Call document?
3. Is the project a transnational scientific research project, i.e. does the scope
or scale of the proposed research exceed a single country?
7. Proposal Selection
The ranking list of proposals provided by the EEC, following evaluation, will be sent
to the CSC. The CSC will assess the list of projects recommended for funding and
take the final decision on selecting transnational projects, based on the ranking list
and the overall available budget.
The outcome of the evaluation process and funding recommendation will be
communicated to the project coordinators.
8. Contract Negotiation and Award of Grant
Each Funding Party will fund applicable national applicant(s) within the research
project. Formal funding decisions are made by the participating Funding Parties and
funding will be provided according to applicable national funding rules.
Contracts with awardees as well as funding procedures and regulations remain the
full responsibility of the national funding parties according to applicable national
funding rules.
If successful, the lead coordinators in each country will be contacted by their
national contact points in order to start the grant negotiation.
Applicants must adhere to and comply with the stated DAFM and MPI terms and
conditions that will be applied to the grant award.
9. Post-Award Monitoring and Reporting
In addition to national reporting requirements, consolidated/combined reporting
will be required at the start, mid-term and within two months of the end of the
project. This will consist of information on the project scientific status and
progress, interim results and outputs from the project, and the contribution to the
overall aims and outcomes of the Joint Call. A mid-term project seminar may also
be organised for the projects funded under the Call for the scientific partners,
funders and policymakers.
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162022 Joint Research Call All project partners will have to deliver input for these reports. A Final Report and presentation will also be required once the last project report has been evaluated and deemed acceptable. The final report should provide a non-scientific summary of all aspects of the research project and be suitable for publication on DAFM/MPI websites. All reporting templates will be supplied to the lead coordinator in advance of their respective submission deadlines. 10. Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation of Results Communication, dissemination and exploitation of project outputs is obligatory and in the responsibility of the funded project partners. Proposals must provide a proportionate dissemination and exploitation plan in line with the scale of the proposal that will show how the proposed measures will help to achieve the expected impact of the proposal. This plan should be instrumental to maximizing the anticipated impacts. It should be concrete and comprehensive in describing the area to be impacted, the full range of potential users and the path proposed to outreach to such users. The plan should also describe what appropriate channels are proposed to be used for dissemination and interaction and should be synergistic with already available channels and resources. The dissemination plan should also give consideration to possible follow-on steps post completion of the project including an incremental business plan where relevant from the outset. Additionally, information on how research data generated will be collected, made accessible for verification or re-use and what standards will be applied. 11. Ethics All investigators and research bodies must ensure that, before the research commences and during the full award period, all the necessary ethical, legal, data protection and regulatory requirements in order to conduct the research are met, and all the necessary licenses and approvals have been obtained and remain valid for the duration when the research is undertaken. 11.1 Health and Safety Research bodies are responsible for ensuring that a healthy and safe working environment is provided for all individuals undertaking work associated with DAFM/MPI funded research. 11.2 Genetic Resources and Benefit-Sharing Funded projects must adhere to the national regulations on access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing. All work must be carried out must in line with the —— 17
2022 Joint Research Call legislative requirements of BOTH Ireland and New Zealand. Where applicable, evidence to demonstrate compliance with these obligations will be sought and project teams must ensure that all information relating to such genetic resources and/or associated knowledge is kept in order to demonstrate that the necessary due diligence has been exercised. 12. Confidentiality, Information and Publicity All responses to this Call for submission of proposals will be treated in confidence. Personal data collected from Call proposals will be processed in accordance with national regulations. The purpose of the collection and processing of this data is for the management of the central Call application process. Data will be shared amongst DAFM and MPI and externally with our software provider, Fluent Technology. Information will be shared during the monitoring and evaluation stages of the projects and as may be required under national law. Publishing Project Information and Metrics DAFM and MPI will publicise details of awards made under this Call, which will incorporate the Coordinator’s name and email address, summary details of the proposal, including abstract, consortium details and grant award. The results of the funded project will be made publicly available on completion of the project, or the date on which any information concerning those results is given to members of any particular organisation, whichever comes first. Research project and participant details may be collated for the generation of programme statistics and metrics with regard to measurement of impact/value for money for broad evaluation purposes. —— 18
2022 Joint Research Call
Annex A: Guidelines for New Zealand
Applicants
1. Introduction
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) invites applicants from New Zealand to
submit joint transnational research proposals under the Ireland-New Zealand Joint
Research Initiative on “Strategies, technologies and novel systems to reduce and
account for greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture ruminant production systems”.
These Guidelines for New Zealand Applicants contain detailed guidance for
submitting applications to the 2022 Joint Call and should be read in conjunction
with the central Joint Call Announcement document above.
2. National Eligibility Criteria
In addition to the Joint Call criteria in the Call documentation, proposals must also
meet the following criteria:
1. Avoid duplication of recent research work already undertaken or ongoing
that incorporates the scope of the scientific topic areas in the Joint Call.
2. Closely aligns with research priorities of New Zealand’s support for the
Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA).
3. Aligns with relevant domestic priority and foresight documents including
but not restricted to Fit For a Better World, NZAGRC 2019-2025 Strategic
Plan, and the upcoming New Zealand Emissions Reduction Plan and
Biological Emissions Reduction Science Accelerator R&D plan.
Applications that do not adhere to these criteria will be deemed ineligible and in
such cases the application will not proceed for expert review.
5. Funding Rules
The Joint Action funding follows the nationality principle, meaning MPI will fund
New Zealand research partners of the trans-national project consortia. Funding is
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192022 Joint Research Call
available for Universities, Research Institutes, Industry Partners and other
stakeholders.
New Zealand financial support for the Joint Call is being provided through New
Zealand’s support of the GRA, provided through MPI. Contracting will take place
through the New Zealand Greenhouse Gas Research Centre (NZAGRC) and will
follow standard practices.
6. Dissemination of Information
Prospective applicants should note that:
a) The research team will be required to disseminate results/outputs of the
project. However, dissemination activities should take account of the need
to generate and/or protect any Intellectual Property (IP) arising from the
research.
b) In disseminating research achievements, acknowledgement must be
provided of funding sources.
c) MPI may publicise details of successful applications and awards made under
this Call.
d) Information supplied to MPI may be disclosed as required by law or
Parliamentary rules or convention.
Successful projects will be expected to follow normal reporting processes, including:
• Quarterly progress updates
• Annual reporting
• Final reporting; and
• Contributions to annual science presentations as required.
7. Intellectual Property
IP will be managed through the contracting process. The general New Zealand
principles for the treatment of IP developed in support of the GRA are:
• IP should be dealt with in a manner that ensures maximum benefit for
both New Zealand and the GRA.
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202022 Joint Research Call
• Where a project includes an overseas provider and/or co-funding party,
appropriate regard must be had to demonstrating benefit to the country
or countries involved.
• Unless there are strong reasons to withhold, protect, or commercialise
IP developed in the course of carrying out a project, then it should be
made publicly and freely available without undue delay or restriction.
• Achieving maximum benefit to both New Zealand and the GRA has a
greater priority for MPI than achieving commercial returns on its
research investment.
• MPI will advise if there are international obligations and national
security matters that require the Contractor and/or other parties to
maintain confidentiality.
Successful applicants are required to take necessary steps to:
a) Preserve and protect such intellectual property rights including, where
appropriate, applying for patent registration; and
b) Actively exploit any discoveries, inventions or processes resulting from the
research, by means of commercial licensing arrangements and otherwise.
8. Engagement
MPI encourages appropriate engagement and knowledge transfer with other
stakeholders and industry throughout the research programmes. Programmes
should be designed to promote an open knowledge economy that fosters beneficial
research outputs and impacts for industry, policy, the environment and society. In
order to maximise the impact and relevance of publicly funded research it is
fundamental to consider and include the views of relevant stakeholders and their
expectations in order to ensure that strategies/policies are developed with a full
understanding of stakeholder needs, and, in turn, encourage increased public
understanding of their scope to influence those policies. An aspect of
communication of outcomes with stakeholders will also be expected as part of any
strong proposal.
9. Open Access
New Zealand participants should promote actions around transparency and open
access. They should aim to enhance the free circulation of knowledge, ultimately
expediting innovation, whilst noting that protection of Intellectual Property must,
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212022 Joint Research Call in the first instance, take precedence over any form of publication and indeed open access deposition. 10. After the Joint Call Approval for Funding Where New Zealand partnered projects receive a positive funding recommendation at the end of the Joint Call evaluation process, the project partners will be contacted by the New Zealand contact point. Contractual negotiations will be conducted by NZAGRC on behalf of MPI. —— 22
2022 Joint Research Call
Annex B: Guidelines for Irish Applicants
1. Introduction
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) invite applicants
from eligible Irish Research Performing Organisations (RPOs) to submit joint
transnational research proposals under the Ireland-New Zealand Joint Research
Initiative on “Strategies, technologies and novel systems to reduce and account for
greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture ruminant production systems”. The Joint
Action funding will follow the nationality principle meaning DAFM will fund Irish
research partners in a particular trans-national project consortium.
These Guidelines for Irish Applicants contain detailed guidance for submitting
applications to the 2022 Joint Call and should be read in conjunction with the
central Joint Call Announcement document above.
2. Maximum Funding Available
The total DAFM funding provided for Irish applicants in respect of this Call shall
not exceed €3M and the maximum grant funding per project is €1,000,000.
3. National Eligibility Criteria
In addition to the Joint Call criteria in the Call documentation, proposals must also
meet the following criteria:
1. Grant applications will only be accepted from DAFM approved Irish RPOs
(see section 4 of this Annex below).
2. The grant request by Irish RPOs must not exceed the maximum funding per
project as set out in the ‘Max Funding Available’ in section 2 above.
3. Address at least one of the scientific topic areas related to the Call scope (as
set out in section 1 of the central Call document).
4. Avoid duplication of recent research work already undertaken or ongoing
that incorporates the scope of the scientific topic areas in the Joint Call.
5. Closely aligns with relevant national policy and foresight documents
including but not restricted to Food Vision 2030, Climate Action and Low
Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021, Climate Action Plan, Ag
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232022 Joint Research Call
Climatise - A Roadmap towards Climate Neutrality and Teagasc Technology
Foresight 2035, or any successor strategy that may emerge prior to the
application deadline date
Applications that do not adhere to these criteria will be deemed ineligible and in
such cases the application will not proceed for expert review.
4. Eligible Research Performing Organisations
Only RPOs eligible for grant-aid under DAFM’s Competitive Research Funding
Programme can make applications and submit funding requests, either as partners
or coordinators, under the Joint Call.
RPOs eligible for grant-aid from DAFM are those institutions which fall within the
meaning of Section One of the HEA Act, 1971 (Universities and Institutes of
Technologies, etc.), plus Teagasc, the Marine Institute, Irish Cattle Breeding
Federation, the National Botanic Gardens and Birdwatch Ireland. Public RPOs
based in Northern Ireland are not eligible for national funding.
5. Funding Rules
Irish financial support for the Joint Call is being provided through the International
Outreach Strand of the DAFM Competitive Research Funding Programme.
6. DAFM Funding
The grant rate may be up to 100% funding for eligible costs. Eligible costs are the
costs necessarily incurred in carrying out the research project as described in the
project proposal. Costs must fulfil the following conditions:
• Must be specific to the project work undertaken for the delivery of the tasks
and milestones of the approved project.
• Be incurred during the approved timeframe of the project.
• Be recorded in separate financial accounts that will be maintained
throughout the duration of the project and reported on as required.
• Evidence of all incurred costs must be maintained and available on request
for verification and audit trail purposes.
Eligible costs will be allowed in the following categories
a) Staff Costs
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242022 Joint Research Call
b) Equipment
c) Travel & Subsistence
d) Consumables
e) Overheads
f) Other agreed costs
STAFF COSTS
Costs will be allowed for additional staff specifically hired to carry out work on the
project including postgraduate students, postdoctoral researchers/contract
researchers, research assistants and research technicians. It excludes permanent
staff employed by the institutions concerned.
DAFM’s research funding programmes are focused on early-stage researchers.
DAFM will fund contributions to salaries of staff contracted to work on the project,
commencing at the minimum point of the appropriate IUA/relevant pay scale. If
there is no scale available, then the minimum point of the appropriate IUA scale
should be used. Staffing must be commensurate with the scope and nature of the
research involved and therefore in exceptional circumstances where it is well
justified in the proposal, a more senior researcher can be considered at the
minimum point of the appropriate scale and will be taken into account as part of
the evaluation process.
DAFM will contribute a maximum of €6,000 towards the annual cost of
postgraduate fees for up to three years (this is reduced accordingly where
institutions charge reduced fees in final years). In addition, DAFM will fund
postgraduate student stipends at a flat rate of €18,500 per annum for up to three
years. The grant for both the fees and stipend is payable directly to the Higher
Education Institutions (HEI) at which a postgraduate student is registered. Please
note that fees and stipends are two separate contributions from DAFM. The
stipend must not be used to contribute to student fees under any circumstances.
Ordinarily DAFM funded students are registered in HEIs that are within the scope
of the 1971 Higher Education Authority (HEA) Act. In exceptional circumstances
and only where there is no appropriate supervisory expertise in a specific discipline
available in a HEI that is within the scope of the HEA Act, a student may be
registered in a HEI in another jurisdiction provided it is well justified in the proposal.
In this scenario the fees and stipend must be classified as an ‘Other’ cost item on
the relevant Budget spread sheet of the Irish-based RPO which is involved.
EQUIPMENT
Major items of equipment are not eligible for funding; however, a computer/laptop
may be included in the budget if it can be shown to be necessary to the desk studies
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252022 Joint Research Call
and otherwise unavailable. The estimated cost, including a breakdown of costs for
individual items is required, however a possible supplier should not be named at
this stage as all equipment must be acquired, in compliance with all National and
EU procurement guidelines should the proposal be successful. The need for the
proposed equipment and the associated cost will be assessed as part of the
evaluation and contract negotiation processes and must be commensurate to the
nature, size and scale of the project. It should be clear exactly what the equipment
is, thus the use of brand names is discouraged. The location of the equipment
should be clearly indicated. VAT should be applicable in accordance with the
institution’s accounting procedures.
The costs of durable equipment to be charged to the project shall be calculated
according to the following formula: [(A/B) x C x D]
A. Period in months during which the durable equipment is used for the project
after invoicing
B. Depreciation period for the durable equipment: 36 months for computer
equipment and 60 months for all other items of equipment
C. Actual cost of the durable equipment
D. Percentage of usage of the durable equipment for the project
Leased equipment from external sources is not subject to depreciated calculations
and thus full costs should be included directly.
TRAVEL AND SUBSISTENCE
Travel and related subsistence costs for all approved personnel engaged in
undertaking the project may be claimed. These costs must be specifically related
to a specific identifiable project task and must be included on the RPO’s budget
sheet. Rates paid cannot exceed those for the Public Sector and airfares should be
economy class. Travel and subsistence costs may also be claimed for Advisory
Group members (including Stakeholder and Steering Groups) should such a group
be deemed necessary/appropriate for a project. Conference fees, where relevant,
should be included under this heading. Eligibility of expenses for any international
guest speaker (not already identified in the approved project/budget) participating
in a formal project dissemination event will be strictly subject to prior approval from
DAFM. The majority of the T&S should be targeted at the contract researchers and
post graduate students working on the project. In this context, the cost of travel to
international conference, seminars etc. should be undertaken primarily by contract
researchers and post graduate students specifically working on this proposal for
which DAFM funding is being requested. Where more than one project member
attends an international conference/seminar appropriate justification for any
additional T&S claims shall be required by DAFM in the relevant Progress Report.
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262022 Joint Research Call The Travel and Subsistence (T&S) required for the project should be divided into home and foreign travel. The costs must be specifically related to a specific identifiable project task. The major conferences to be attended, the reasons for attending them and their location should be identified in the proposal. Other travel – to meetings, to collect samples etc, should be described. The information should be sufficiently detailed. The majority of the T&S should be targeted at the contract researchers and postgraduate students working on the project. The foreign travel costs of non DAFM-funded staff named in the project will only be considered if they are giving a presentation on the outputs of funded projects at an international conference. CONSUMABLES Items of consumables acquired for and used on the project may be allowed. All consumables should be necessary and directly related to the carrying out the work of the project and must be separately identifiable. A consumable is defined as an item which is used up/expires /is exhausted over the duration of the project. It does not include items such as laboratory coats, Personal Protective Equipment, general safety equipment, detergents, etc. – these should be met through the project’s overheads. Consumables may be identified specifically (i.e. Petri dishes) or by category (i.e. microbiological culture consumables). Either way, an indication of the amount needed – which should relate to the information provided in the Task List – their use and justification for their cost is required. OVERHEADS DAFM will fund up to a maximum of 30% of the direct costs of scientific-type research not including equipment, sub-contracting and other agreed costs (maximum 25% for desk-based socio-economic/policy type analysis). OTHER AGREED COSTS DAFM Research Funding Programmes may agree to fund costs, which are relevant to approved projects and are not covered by the categories cited above. A description of what the ‘Other’ budget costs cover (e.g. software licences, warranties, specialised training course fees, external assistance etc.); the justification for those costs and their necessity to the project should be supplied. Examples of ineligible costs include, but are not necessarily limited to: • Permanent staff costs • Permanent staff networking activities, training and informal meetings • Sick pay, redundancy payments, termination costs —— 27
2022 Joint Research Call
• Legal fees
• Hospitality or other entertainment expenses, except such reasonable
expenses accepted as wholly and exclusively required for the delivery of the
tasks and milestones on the approved project
• Training of Temporary/Contract staff, that is not wholly and exclusively
required for the delivery of the tasks and milestones on the approved
project
• Office equipment and supplies (to include stationery, toner, printing and
binding etc.)
• Technology Transfer or Patent costs
• Open access, Journal subscriptions and payments to journals for articles on
research
• Membership to societies, institutes
• Repairs and maintenance to equipment
• Advertising and recruitment costs
• Contingency or miscellaneous expenses
• Car Tax / Insurance
• Safety Clothing (including gloves, laboratory coats, PPE, general safety
equipment, detergents etc.)
Prospective applicants should note that:
a) The research team will be required to disseminate results / outputs of the
project. However, dissemination activities should take account of the need
to generate and/or protect any Intellectual Property (IP) arising from the
research.
b) In disseminating research achievements, public RPOs should acknowledge
that funding was provided by DAFM.
c) DAFM will publicise details of applications and awards made under this Call.
d) Information supplied to DAFM may be disclosed in response to a request
under the Freedom of Information Act 2014 and in accordance with the
conditions of that Act.
7. Intellectual Property
Proposal partners are requested to carefully consider the information published on
the management of Intellectual Property (IP) by Knowledge Transfer Ireland and
note that they must adhere to the current National IP Protocol.
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282022 Joint Research Call
Successful applicants are required to take necessary steps to:
a) Preserve and protect such intellectual property rights including, where
appropriate, applying for patent registration; and
b) Actively exploit any discoveries, inventions or processes resulting from the
research, by means of commercial licensing arrangements and otherwise.
Whenever possible, IP shall be managed for the benefit of enterprise development.
Where relevant, researchers are required to discuss research outputs and potential
IP with their Technology Transfer Office.
8. Industry Participation
The involvement of industry is encouraged on a self-financing basis subject to the
need to respect the ‘public good’ nature of DAFM Research Funding Programmes
and compliance with the National IP Protocol. Evidence of such industry
engagement in a real and meaningful manner can help demonstrate the relevance
and likely impact of the research work.
In cases where Industry are providing a funding contribution to research which
involves IP issues, the National IP Protocol is particularly relevant. Further to these
requirements where a project is approved for funding in these circumstances
DAFM will permit the commencement of a Collaborative Research Programme on
the basis that:
• A signed non-binding term sheet is submitted in advance of the grant of an
award
• The participating parties convert all terms agreed between them into a fully
executed binding Collaborative Research Agreement within 90 working
days following the date on which the first part of the funding is awarded by
DAFM.
9. Stakeholder Participation
DAFM encourages appropriate stakeholder engagement and knowledge transfer
throughout its research programmes which are designed to promote an open
knowledge economy that fosters beneficial research outputs and impacts for
industry, policy, the environment and society. In order to maximise the impact and
relevance of publicly funded research it is fundamental to consider and include the
views of relevant stakeholders and their expectations in order to ensure that
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292022 Joint Research Call DAFM strategies/policies are developed with a full understanding of stakeholder needs, and, in turn, encourage increased public understanding of their scope to influence those policies. 10. Gender Equality The principles of the EU gender mainstreaming policy apply to DAFM’s Research Programmes and therefore participants will be required to report the ratio of males to females working on funded projects. Applicants are asked to be cognisant of the relevant recommendations of the HEA National Review of Gender Equality in Irish Higher Education Institutions (pdf 2,888 kb) in framing proposals and in undertaking any funded research. Applicants may be asked to give evidence of action taken to promote and increase the numbers of females working in DAFM funded projects. 11. Research Integrity and Open Access DAFM places high importance on ensuring research integrity and endorses the National Policy Statement on Ensuring Research Integrity in Ireland (pdf 1,546 kb) which provides a robust framework to help achieve the highest standards of research integrity. Research funded in this Call should be compatible with the norms and best practices regarding research integrity set out in both this document and the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (pdf 3,001 kb). Irish participants should adhere to DAFM’s Policy on Open Access which aims to enhance the free circulation of knowledge, ultimately expediting innovation, whilst noting that protection of Intellectual Property must, in the first instance, take precedence over any form of publication and indeed open access deposition. 12. Ethical and Health and Safety Issues Ethics All investigators and research bodies must ensure that, before the research commences and during the full award period, all the necessary ethical, legal, data protection and regulatory requirements in order to conduct the research are met, and all the necessary licences and approvals have been obtained and remain valid —— 30
2022 Joint Research Call for the duration when the research is undertaken. Any research to be undertaken should be compliant with Health Products Regulatory Authority’s (HPRA) requirements for researchers that are in place to protect and enhance public and animal health. Health and Safety Research bodies are responsible for ensuring that a healthy and safe working environment is provided for all individuals undertaking work associated with DAFM funded research. 13. After the Joint Call Approval for Funding Where Irish partnered projects receive a positive funding recommendation at the end of the Joint Call evaluation process, the project partners must contact, directly, the Irish National Contact Point. DAFM will require a national application form to be completed via the DAFM online research portal system for any successful Irish based partners. This is a precursor to start the grant negotiation process leading to the issuing of contracts and the awarding of funding. Annual scientific and financial reporting of the Irish lead work programme will be required via the online research portal system. —— 31
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