CFPs: German-Israeli Water Technology Cooperation Program

The research shall focus on solutions to the water problems in Israel and its surrounding area and/or Germany.

The research should be multidisciplinary and be applicable to the needs of the water sector. In addition to scientific partners, projects should preferably include industrial partners as well as related stakeholders.

Qualifying scientific applicants in this framework may receive R&D grants, respectively, from BMBF and MOST according to the applicable national funding procedures and regulations.

The overall goals of the cooperation are:

• To improve the water situation in Israel and the surrounding area and/or Germany. Transferability of results to similar regions should be ensured.
• To facilitate access to new markets for Israeli and German enterprises in the water and environmental sector.
• To support and strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the water sector as well as cooperation between science and industry.

Research Areas

• Biotechnology for water treatment
• Water reuse in agriculture

Funding Information

• The overall BMBF/MOST budget for the Israeli participation in this call for proposals is up to EURO 1,000,000 of which MOST will contribute up to EURO 250,000 (equivalent to 1,000,000 NIS based on the conversion rate of 4 NIS/ 1 Euro), subject to the approval of the State budget and the availability of funds. Within each call of the German-Israeli water technology research cooperation, typically 3-5 projects are funded.
• In Israel:
  • Proposals submitted to MOST must include a detailed project budget for the Israeli team. The maximum budget size for the Israeli team for each project proposal is limited to 250,000 Euro (equivalent to 1,000,000 NIS based on the conversion rate of 4 NIS/ 1 Euro) for a duration of 3 years.
• In Germany:
  • Funds for German partners will be awarded as non-repayable project grants. The grants can be spent to cover the cost of staff, materials, and equipment. No funding can be provided for building investments.
  • Grants for universities, research and science institutions and similar institutions are calculated on the basis of the eligible project-related expenditure.
  • German research institutes which are already part of a government based funding scheme may receive project related funds only under specific circumstances and are advised to contact the Project Management Agency Karlsruhe in advance of submission.
  • Grants for German commercial companies are calculated on the basis of the project-related costs eligible for funding, up to 50% of which can as a rule be covered by grants, depending on the project’s nearness to application. In the case of collaborative research projects, the European Union’s Community Framework allows differentiated rules on extra percentage points for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which may result in a higher rate of funding.

Eligibility Criteria

• Proposals that do not meet the following preconditions will be automatically rejected and will not be passed on to the scientific committee for review and evaluation.
  • The proposed project must be submitted by Israeli researchers and German researchers to be carried out in close cooperation.
  • Each joint research team must be led by a Principal Investigator (PI) from each country.
• Israel:
  • The PI must be affiliated with an academic institution or a research institute (“Affiliated Institution”), or be a professor emeritus who continues working on research in affiliation with the Affiliated Institution. An Affiliated Institution is determined as follows:
    • An accredited institution of higher education in Israel, according to the Council for Higher Education Act, 1958.
    • A Research Institute which is a non-profit organization.
    • A Research Institute which is a government company or a governmental unit.
  • For the purposes of this call, a “Research Institute” means a research institute which a significant portion of its activity is the advancement of cutting-edge scientific knowledge, which possesses appropriate infrastructure and equipment, and which employs researchers who, inter alia, publish articles related to their research in leading scientific journals in the world, and who present their research at international symposia.
  • A researcher who intends a sabbatical leave in the first year of the project cannot be approved as a principal investigator (PI) of the research proposal. A PI who intends a vacation or absence of more than three months should request permission from MOST in advance (through the relevant R&D Authority). A substitute to the PI will not be approved in the course of the first year.
  • Special eligibility provisions for Israeli Researchers:
    • In compliance with MOST’s Procedures Regarding Scientific Projects Funded by MOST (“MOST Regulations”), an Israeli PI that has or will have an active grant from any of MOST’s international cooperation programs, whose funding will be concurrent to the funding of this program, is not eligible to apply. No parallel funding is allowed in the international cooperation program. A researcher who is not eligible to submit a proposal as PI due to an active grant may submit one additional proposal in the international cooperation program as Associated PI, if he does not have an active grant in the international program in which he acts as Associated PI.
    • A researcher who has submitted a proposal for any MOST international cooperation call for proposals to be funded in the 2024 calendar year, may not submit another proposal for any other MOST international cooperation call for proposals in 2024.
    • Researchers should be advised that after a proposal has been submitted, the status of the members of the research team as PI and/ or Associated PI may not be changed for the purpose of compliance with the eligibility requirements listed above, It will be clarified that, the aforementioned limitations regarding changing the status of the members of the research team include the addition of a PI and/ or Associated PI who, at the time of submission, was defined as an external consultant or were not listed in the proposal and/or research group.
• Germany:
  • Research proposals may be submitted by German-based commercial companies, institutions of higher education, non-university research establishments as well as public institutions at municipal, state or federal level. The participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is expressly welcome.
• For Both German and Israeli Applicants:
  • The application must include a research plan in one of the areas of research specified in this call, which will be carried out in Israel by at least one senior researcher who is a permanent employee of the applying institution or on track for tenure in the applying institution.
  • The project proposals must include a detailed description of the joint work-plan as well as a calculation and justification of the budget, for both the Israeli and German teams.

Deadlines

• The current announcement is open until March 13, 2024 (pre-submission date in Israel: March 6, 2024).
• Please note that the submission process for Israeli applicants includes two phases: Pre-proposals must be submitted through an online system by March 6, 2024, (15:00 local time in Israel). The affiliated institution must then submit the final application no later than March 13, 2024.
• For German applicants, only the deadline March 13, 2024 applies.

For more information, visit BMBF.