CFAs: FAPESP/NRF Regular Research Grant Program 2025 (South Africa and Brazil)

This call is aimed at Experienced Researchers and Early Career Researchers to develop joint solutions to the challenges faced by both countries, not only by consolidating existing, notable and established research partnerships, but also by fostering new links and collaborations with small groups of young and emerging researchers, creating new connections between South Africa and the state of São Paulo.

Objectives

• The general objectives of the Program are:
  • Contribute to scientific advancement in both countries by financing joint research projects in specific areas;
  • Contribute significantly to the development of research capabilities;
  • Build and connect knowledge to increase the scientific and social impact of research;
  • Explore new development trajectories; and
  • Finding new ways to accelerate transitions towards sustainable development.

Thematic Areas

• Proposals submitted under the Research Grant must be submitted in one or a combination of the following priority research areas:
  • Emerging perspectives on the state of democracy and citizenship in South Africa and Brazil;
  • Race, gender and social inequalities;
  • Social violence;
  • Crime, policing and public safety;
  • Space, place, built environment and identity in peripheral neighborhoods, informal settlements and favelas;
  • Indigenous knowledge systems and environmental sustainability;
  • Arts and culture and human ethics;
  • Digital archiving/digital curation and heritage.

Funding Information

• The maximum amount to be requested from FAPESP is R$600,000.00 per project for 3 years, being R$200,000.00 per year.
• Projects in Regular Research Grants may have a maximum duration of up to 36 months (3 years), starting in 2025.

Eligibility Criteria

• Each proposal under the CORE Program must have a Principal Investigator based in South Africa and a Principal Investigator based in the state of São Paulo, who have primary responsibility for the project, including its technical and administrative coordination, as well as the timely delivery of scientific and financial reports.
• At FAPESP, the eligibility requirements for candidates for Regular Research Grants apply to this call:
  • Principal Investigators or Principal Investigators who already have the following current grants from FAPESP will be considered eligible for this call, provided that they are not in international collaboration:
    • Regular Research Grants (excluding mobility projects, Young Doctors’ Retention and TWAS);
    • Thematic Projects;
    • Young Researchers 1 with link and Young Researchers 2;
    • Initial Projects (Pi);
    • Generation Project with link;
    • Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers (CEPIDs);
    • Engineering Research Centers/Applied Research Centers (CPEs/CPAs);
    • Science Centers for Development (CCDs);
    • Public Education Research Program (PPPP);
    • Research in Public Policies and Partnership for Technological Innovation (PITE).

Evaluation Criteria

• Proposals submitted under this Call will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
  • Scientific relevance and innovation (e.g., scientific importance and innovation of the research questions and approach; degree of adequacy of the proposal within the thematic focus of the call, etc.);
  • Methodology (e.g. rigor of research design: adequacy, feasibility and coherence of the research approach and methodology in view of the problem addressed; interdisciplinarity or transdisciplinarity; the proposal incorporates the scientific disciplines necessary to address the problem, as well as knowledge from outside the scientific community; complementarity with other research programs or (inter)national research agendas);
  • Qualification of research teams (e.g. suitability of research partners’ expertise in relation to the project; experience in supervising postgraduate students, etc.);
  • Added value of bilateral cooperation and its potential for long-term relationships (e.g. potential for long-term knowledge relationships; quality of collaboration between South Africa and the State of São Paulo, including – for the assessment in South Africa only – fair and equitable partnership and genuine involvement of researchers from historically disadvantaged South African institutions);
  • Active involvement of next generation/early career researchers (e.g. involvement of postgraduate students for capacity building);
  • Potential for social impact (e.g. relevance to society and potential for social advances; adequate involvement of target groups, responding convincingly to their demands; quality of the research plan with plausible routes to social impact);
  • Plans for the use and dissemination of results;
  • Adequacy of the budget in relation to the methods and expected results.

For more information, visit FAPESP.