Collaborative research applications may be submitted in any disciplinary or interdisciplinary subject where the majority falls within the remit of both agencies, NERC and FAPESP.

We will fund 80% of the full economic cost for:

• directly incurred costs such as staff payroll, travel and subsistence, and consumables
• directly allocated costs such as investigators’ salaries, estates costs and shared resources
• indirect costs such as research organisation administration.

Equipment is funded at 100% full economic cost.

Full funding rules are included under the relevant funding opportunities.

This does not represent a separate research funding scheme. Applications need to be submitted under existing programmes, namely NERC’s pushing the frontiers and large grants schemes.

There may also be the opportunity to apply for a joint NERC FAPESP grant under specific research programme or international opportunities. These opportunities will be highlighted in the announcement of opportunity for the specific funding opportunity.

Applications have to be submitted in parallel by the UK-based principal investigator through the UKRI Funding Service for the specific NERC funding opportunity and by the São Paulo-based principal investigator to SAGe.

A submission of the application by the São Paulo-based principal investigator to FAPESP needs to be made through SAGe before the application to NERC is made. The applications will be treated as a single application for the purposes of assessment by NERC.

The application should be identified clearly as a collaborative application to be considered under the UKRI-FAPESP memorandum of understanding by prefixing the project title with ‘NERC-FAPESP:’ (as well as having the same title).

Applications are required to adhere to the remit, funding limits and grant durations of the NERC scheme from which funding is sought and must represent an integrated collaborative effort.

Combined budgets for the UK and São Paulo researchers must be within the funding limit of the relevant funding opportunity to which it’s submitted. You do not have to request equal amounts from NERC and FAPESP. The difference should reflect the variations in costs and local prices.

All costs being requested from NERC must be eligible under normal research funding rules for the appropriate funding opportunity. The funding requested from FAPESP must follow the relevant FAPESP funding rules.

The costs of the UK and São Paulo organisations must be clearly differentiated and justified in the application. In the NERC application, FAPESP costs should be converted to GBP at the current HMRC exchange rate at time of application. We will reject any applications that request duplicate funding.

The UK applicant must name the Brazilian collaborators as a ‘project partner’ and add the value of the FAPESP contribution in the project partner in-kind support section in the Funding Service. You must not include the Brazil-based collaborators as part of your core team in your application to NERC.

You must attach a copy of the FAPESP application form (SAGe´s ‘Visualize’ option) as submitted through SAGe in the ‘NERC international partnership joint funding’ section of your application in the Funding Service.

The principal investigator from the UK must be registered in the SAGe system. This can be done by accessing SAGe in the English language and choosing the option ‘Not registered?’.

The applicant based in the UK must be included as a ‘Partner PI’ on SAGe. An active SAGe registration demands the attachment of a photo ID and all information requested that is marked as mandatory (*).

Both the São Paulo and the UK researcher must have an active SAGe registration, and ‘confirm participation’ in the application before finalising the submission.

NERC will assess applications on behalf of both organisations. A decision will be made by NERC within its normal review process, but FAPESP-nominated experts will be involved throughout.

The assessment process usually takes around six months but can be longer.

NERC will inform colleagues in FAPESP if the application is successful. Once FAPESP has confirmed its funds, the UK principal investigator will be informed of the outcome.

It is up to the UK principal investigator to communicate the outcome of the application to their São Paulo based partner(s).

NERC will issue an award for the UK component to the UK applicant’s institution according to normal processes and procedures.

FAPESP will issue an award to the São Paulo applicant’s institution according to normal processes and procedures.

Get help with developing your application

For help and advice on costings and writing your application, please contact your research office in the first instance, allowing sufficient time for your organisation’s submission process.

Ask about this funding opportunity

UK enquiries

Email: leadagency@nerc.ukri.org

Brazil enquiries

Email: ukri-agreement@fapesp.br

Any queries regarding the system or the submission of applications through the UKRI Funding Service should be directed to the helpdesk.

Email: support@funding-service.ukri.org

Phone: 01793 547490

Our phone lines are open:

• Monday to Thursday 8:30am to 5:00pm
• Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm

To help us process queries quicker, we request that users highlight the council and funding opportunity name in the subject title of their email query, include the application reference number, and refrain from contacting more than one mailbox at a time.

You can also find information on submitting an application.

Grant holder considerations

Grant holders will be expected to comply with the grant conditions and reporting requirements of the agencies they receive funding from.

Grant holders will be required to acknowledge both FAPESP and NERC in any reports or publications arising from the grant.

When extensions are granted, each funding agency will directly advise the relevant principal investigator of the proper procedure for processing these. Due to UKRI constraints, extensions over 12 months will only be considered in exceptional circumstances.

Requests for changes to awards pertaining to the scope of research or significant changes or delays to the research will be communicated to counterpart funding agencies.

In accordance with FAPESP and NERC standard procedures, awards are announced publicly.

Post-award management

Award holders should contact both FAPESP and NERC concerning any changes to any of the award holders’ institutional affiliations or other aspects of the grant during its lifetime.

If necessary, NERC and FAPESP may consult with each other before agreeing any changes to the grant’s status. This will normally be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

Progress and reporting

Where reporting is required by NERC or FAPESP, it will be submitted according to the normal procedures of those organisations. The required reporting will:

• cover the development of the whole project (and not only of the national party)
• specifically describe and comment on the effectiveness of the international cooperation
• be detailed in each of the research councils and FAPESP’s guidelines for applicants.

Intellectual property

It is the responsibility of the research organisation, and all engaged in the research, to make every reasonable effort to ensure that the outcomes obtained in the course of the research, whether patentable or not, are used to the advantage of society and the economy.

Research outcomes should be disseminated to both research and more widespread audiences, for example, to inform potential users and beneficiaries of the research.

Unless stated otherwise, the ownership of intellectual property, and responsibility for its exploitation, rests with the organisation that generates it. Where the grant is associated with more than one research organisation or other project partners, the basis of collaboration between the organisations, including ownership of intellectual property and rights to exploitation, is expected to be set out in a formal collaboration agreement.

It is the responsibility of the research organisation to put such an agreement in place before the research begins. The terms of collaboration agreements must not conflict with FAPESP’s and UKRI’s terms and conditions.

Arrangements for collaboration or exploitation must not prevent the future progression of research and the dissemination of research results in accordance with academic custom and practice. A temporary delay in publication is acceptable in order to allow commercial and collaborative arrangements to be established.

UKRI and FAPESP may, in individual cases, reserve the right to retain ownership of intellectual property (or assign it to a third party under an exploitation agreement) and to arrange for it to be exploited for the national benefit and that of the research organisation involved. This right, if exercised, will be set out in an additional grant condition.

Where the exploitation of research generates revenue, there should be suitable recognition and return to the research organisation, individuals and funding agency. The grant holder should, subject to the procedures laid down by the research organisation, publish the results of the research in accordance with normal academic practice.

Publications and other forms of media communication, including media appearances, press releases and conferences, must acknowledge the support received from NERC and FAPESP, quoting the grant reference number if appropriate.

The research organisation must ensure that all those associated with the research are aware of, and accept, these arrangements.

What we will do with your information

Data is shared between UKRI and FAPESP to enable the secure and efficient processing of applications. Data shared may include application attachments, anonymised peer reviews and panel comments. Data will be shared by email and a secure extranet where appropriate.

UKRI and FAPESP are committed to maintaining data confidentiality and privacy and intend to fully abide by applicable laws and policies concerning the sharing of data in our collaborative activities. All personal data provided will be processed by both parties in accordance with current data protection legislation.

Further information on how UKRI processes personal data can be found in the UKRI privacy notice.