Research Collaboration Program
between
The University of Sao Paulo (USP)
andThe Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Research Opportunity
Scientific Areas
The CNRS and the USP are launching a joint call for proposals between the two institutions inorder to further develop collaborations. This call is open to all disciplines and academic researchareas. Priority will be given to projects that build upon the thematic axes of the IRC CNRS-USP:
human and social sciences; ecology and environmental sciences; earth and oceans sciences;computer sciences; biological sciences; quantum technologies; and agriculture anddecarbonization.
The joint call is intended to fund up to 3 years of a PhD fellowship and travel starting in
September 2024 for all awardees.
Eligibility
Principle Investigators:

USP: Faculty with graduate faculty member status
CNRS: Researchers working in a CNRS unit holding an accreditation to supervise PhDstudents (HDR)
A PI cannot submit more than one application in the framework of this call.

Students:


USP: any PhD student
France: first-year PhD students

Collaborative Research
Each proposal must have at least one applicant PI from USP and one from CNRS leading eachproposal.

PIs who do not already have a collaborator may consult the CNRS website or the relevant USP
faculty/departmental websites to find information on the research groups and projects being
carried out in either institution.
AmountIn accordance with respective institutional policies, PhD students are expected to be financially
supported by their home institution, at the equivalent level of a PhD fellowship in keeping withthese policies, including when the student is visiting the host institution.
A three-year fellowship will be funded by CNRS and USP for the doctoral student, starting in Fall
2024.
Additional funds will cover mobility costs for visits to France & to USP for the PhD student overthree years (CNRS provides up to €5,000 per year for PhD students from France to travel to USP,
and USP provides, from its own budget or using external resources from funding agencies, up tothe equivalent of 5,000 euros in Brazilian reais per year for USP students to travel to France).
Support period
Up to 3 years
Number of awards
Up to 5 awards will be distributed per call. Each award will support 1 PhD student at USP and 1
PhD student at CNRS per selected proposal.
Call date
October 3rd, 2023
Submission dateNovember 27th, 2023
Notification date
January 30th, 2024
Evaluation
Proposals will be evaluated and ranked by a joint USP - CNRS committee according to thefollowing criteria:Research quality & originality of the project
Research merit of the teams
Training environment for the PhD students involved
Synergy, including interdisciplinary collaboration, between the teamsCapacity for future collaboration & plans for raising external competitive funding (EUcollaborative grants, national research agency grants, etc)

Successful recipients will be formally notified via email of the award and informed of fundingconditions.
Reporting
At the end of each year (12 months from the approval of the award), awardees must submit abrief, plain language report (1-page) to CNRS and USP.
This report should detail the outcomes of the collaboration to date and the ways in which thegrant has enhanced, or will enhance their research activities and/or leverage larger opportunities– including funding.
Funding for the subsequent year will be remitted after review of the report and confirmation oftravel plans for the PhD students for that year.
As part of this report, PIs will be required to provide information on how the funds awarded for
PhD mobility were expended and how much was expended.

Mode of application
Only one proposal is required and should be submitted by the CNRS applicant in electronic format
and in English via the dedicated CNRS Website: https://noa.cnrs.fr/#/accueil
The proposal must consist of the following parts, in one single file of up to 6 pages (not includingreferences and the CVs of the CNRS and USP participants).
PART A: Title Page
Title of the proposal, names of the principal investigators and their laboratories, their addresses,telephone, and e-mail. The names of the PhD students can be provided if they are already known.
Please specify on the Title Page of the application "This application is submitted for consideration
within the USP - CNRS Collaboration Program".
PART B: Description of the scientific project (2 pages)
The current state of the research landscape and how the project contributes to it, description of
the scientific project and domains of interest, historical context of application (if applicable),quality and originality of the project, objectives, scientific methodology, expected results andtheir relevance, future perspectives. Explain how the PhD fellow will be supervised and mentored,
and how the collaboration will enable and enhance the project. Explain the relation between theproject and the research themes of the laboratory.
PART C: Added-value of the international cooperation

Describe the added-value of the international cooperation in fulfilling the aims of the project(explain why the project cannot be carried out at a national level only). Describe the expected
benefits for the French and USP teams. Describe the balance between the contributions of theFrench and USP teams. If any additional industrial, or governmental collaboration are involved in
the project, please describe their role.
PART D: Planned activities
Describe the planned activities in the framework of the project and provide a timetable. Explain
how these activities will help achieve the aims of the project.
PART E: Budget
Proposed budget including a breakdown of the division of funds, separated into distinct budgetsfor USP and CNRS. The budget section regarding travel should contain explicit line items for travelof the PhD student.
PART F: Perspectives & external funding
Outline any proposed plans for raising external competitive funding (e.g. EU collaborative grants,
Canada federal/provincial grants, etc.)
PART G: Scientific quality of the teams
Please attach in the Annex a list of up to ten detailed (complete) citations for publications related
to the project for each team. This list does not count against the page limit. Authors from therespective laboratories must be clearly indicated in the author lists, with superscript orparenthesized letters corresponding to the respective countries, for example Dupont JP (FR),Menezes F (BR).
PART H: Short (maximum two-page) curriculum vitae of all PIs
PART I: Ethics
Does the project raise ethical questions? If yes, please describe them and how they will beaddressed.

Enquiries
USP enquiries should be directed to prpg@usp.br
CNRS enquiries should be directed to Antonia.alcaraz@cnrs.fr