2021 National Natural Science Foundation of China and the German Research Association Cooperative Research Project Guide

According to the bilateral cooperation agreement between the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the German Research Federation (DFG), in 2021, the two sides will jointly fund Sino-German cooperative research projects to promote cooperation and exchanges between scientists from the two countries.

　　1. Project Description

　　(1) Funding areas

　　Applicants can independently select topics and carry out innovative scientific research cooperation in the following four fields:

　　1. Chemistry (application code 1 must choose the application code under B, it is recommended to choose the last level).

　　2. Life sciences (application code 1 must select C subordinate application code, it is recommended to select the last level).

　　3. Management science (application code 1 must select the application code of the subordinate G, it is recommended to select the last level).

　　4. Medicine (application code 1 must select H subordinate application code, it is recommended to select the last level).

　　Applications without application code 1 as required will not be accepted.

　　(2) Funding intensity

　　The intensity of Chinese funding is no more than 3 million yuan per project (direct costs), including research funding and international cooperation and exchange costs.

　　(3) Project implementation period

　　The funding period of this project is 3 years (January 2022 to December 2024). Applicants should submit a project progress report in accordance with the requirements of the management measures, and a final report should be submitted after the project implementation period ends.

　　2. Eligibility

　　According to the "Administrative Measures for International (Regional) Cooperative Research Projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China", applicants for this project must meet the following conditions:

　　1. The Chinese applicant should have a senior professional and technical position (title), and should be undertaking or undertaking a project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China for a period of more than 3 years as the person in charge.

　　2. Both parties have a good foundation for cooperation, and the project application should reflect strong cooperation and complementary advantages.

　　3. German collaborators should meet DFG's eligibility requirements for domestic applicants and submit applications to DFG as required. Unilaterally submitted applications will not be accepted. Link to DFG Call for Projects Guidelines: https://www.dfg.de/foerderung/info_wissenschaft/info_wissenschaft_20_88/index.html.

　　4. For more information on application qualifications, please refer to the 2021 National Natural Science Foundation of China Project Guide.

　　3. Restrictions

　　International (regional) cooperative research projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China include inter-organizational international (regional) cooperative research projects (hereinafter referred to as inter-organizational cooperative research projects) and key international (regional) cooperative research projects. "Sino-German (NSFC-DFG) Cooperative Research Project" is an inter-organizational cooperative research project, and applicants must comply with the following restrictions when applying:

　　1. Applicants can only apply for one international (regional) collaborative research project in the same year.

　　2. The person in charge of the international (regional) cooperative research project shall not apply for this project as an applicant.

　　3. Applying for this project as an applicant shall be included in the scope of the total number of 2 projects applied and undertaken by persons with senior professional and technical positions (titles).

　　4. Other restrictions on the number of applications in the 2021 National Natural Science Foundation of China Project Guidelines.

　　4. Reporting requirements

　　(1) Path of filling in online

　　Chinese applicants must log in to the ISIS Science Foundation Network System (https://isisn.nsfc.gov.cn/egrantweb/), and fill in the "National Natural Science Foundation of China International (Regional) Cooperative Research Project Application Form" (hereinafter referred to as "Chinese Application") online. Book"). Specific steps are as follows:

　　1. Select the "Project Leader" user group to log in to the system, and then click "Online Application" to enter the application interface; click the "Add Project Application" button to enter the project category selection interface.

　　2. Click the "+" sign on the left side of "International (Regional) Cooperative Research Projects" or the "Expand" button on the right side to expand the drop-down menu.

　　3. Click "Fill Application" on the right side of "Inter-Organization Cooperative Research Project", enter the interface for selecting "Cooperation Agreement", select "NSFC-DFG Project (Sino-German)" in the drop-down menu, and then enter the supporting fund project according to the system requirements Approval number (approval number for 3-year and above science fund projects undertaken by the person in charge), enter the specific Chinese application form filling interface.

　　(2) Submit attachments online

　　In addition to filling in and submitting the Chinese application form online, the Chinese applicant must upload the following materials to the "Attachment" column of the Chinese application form and submit it together:

　　1. Application in English, i.e. a copy of the full text of the application in English submitted by the German partner to DFG.

　　2. Cooperation agreement (see the attachment for the reference template of the agreement). Both parties must reach an agreement on issues of mutual concern such as cooperation content and intellectual property rights, and sign a cooperation agreement.

　　3. Chinese applicants and supporting units must abide by relevant national regulations on "pathogenic microorganisms", "ethics and biosafety", and "management of human genetic resources". laws and regulations. For project applications involving highly pathogenic pathogenic microorganisms, the biosafety guarantee commitment of the sponsoring unit (scanned copy) should be submitted along with the application. Research involving humans and animals must strictly abide by the relevant regulations and requirements of patients' informed consent and related ethical issues, and must provide the review certificate (scanned copy) of the ethics committee of the institution or the superior supervisory unit.

　　Applications that do not submit the above attachments as required will not be accepted.

　　(3) Submitting materials

　　The relying unit shall review the authenticity, completeness and compliance of the application materials submitted by the applicant of the unit, and the target relevance, policy compliance and economic rationality of the declared budget. This project is included in the scope of paperless application. After the project is approved, the applicant will bind the paper signature and seal page of the application form at the end of the "Project Funding Plan" and submit it together. The signed and stamped information should be strictly consistent with the electronic application. For matters such as the unit's scientific research integrity commitment letter and project list submission, please refer to the "Notice on the 2021 National Natural Science Foundation of China Project Application and Finalization".

　　The online reporting period for the ISIS system is from 16:00 on January 20, 2021 to 16:00 on March 3, 2021.

　　Note: Applicants are requested to fill in the application strictly in accordance with the requirements of this project guide. Project applications that do not meet the above requirements will not be accepted. If you have any questions, please call the project contact person.

　　5. Announcement of results

　　At the end of 2021, the approval results will be announced in the International Cooperation column of the National Natural Science Foundation of China Portal.

　　6. Project Contacts

　　(1) Chinese contact person:

　　Shen Jie

　　Email: shenjie@nsfc.gov.cn

　　Tel: 010-6232 7017

　　(2) German contact person:

　　Wolfgang Wachter

　　Email: wolfgang.wachter@dfg.de

　　Tel: +49 (228) 885-2454

　　Claudia Bordach

　　Email: Claudia.Bordach@dfg.de

　　Tel: +49 (228) 885-2542

　　Note: If Chinese applicants encounter technical problems during the online application form , they can contact the technical support of our project application system, Tel: 010-6231 7474

　　Attachment: Reference Template of Cooperation Agreement

National Natural Science Foundation of China

International Cooperation Bureau

December 1, 2020