Indo-Uzbek Joint Research Programme – Call For Proposals

ation: underline;">CLOSING DATE – February 14, 2020

The Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India and the Ministry of
Innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan invites proposals for Joint Research
projects in bilateral mode involving scientists & technologists from India and Uzbekistan.

The Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India and the Ministry of
Innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan (hereinafter referred to as the
“Implementing Agencies”) hereby invite Uzbek and Indian scientists/researchers to submit
proposals for Joint Research Projects in following scientific areas:

i. Agriculture and Food Science and Technology;
ii. Engineering Sciences;
iii. Information and Communication Technology, Applied Mathematics and Data
Science and Technology;
iv. Health and Medical Technology;
v. Materials Sciences;
vi. Life Sciences and Biotechnology;
vii. Physics and Astrophysics;
viii. Energy, water, climate and natural resources;

[A] APPLICATIONS

(1) An Application shall –
a) be for a Joint Research Project or as herein provided.
b) be made simultaneously by a counterpart Team in each country as hereinafter
provided.
c) be made by the Leader of a team of scientists in each country (Team Leader), to
the respective Implementing Agency of his/her country, simultaneously. Both
Applications shall be identical. Since all projects are joint projects, it is expected
that consultations would have been held between relevant counterpart Institutions
in the other country prior to the submission of an Application.
d) be in English and shall be in the form prescribed by the relevant Implementing
Agency.
e) be required to be submitted by the dates set out below.
f) Both Implementing Agencies will conduct a parallel review of the applications
respectively based on the agreed criteria. Implementing Agencies will make joint
decisions based on the review results.
g) List of selected projects will be posted on website www.mininnovation.uz and
www.dst.gov.in / www.stic-dst.org sometime in May 2020
h) Successful Indian team leaders would be expected to complete various
governmental requirements before commencement of the project.
i) Expected Starting of Project: July 2020
j) Project leaders are required to submit Statement of Expenditure / Utilisation
Certificate along with Project Technical report immediately after completion 1st and
2nd financial year.
k) The funding for the selected projects will be provided in annual instalments. The
second instalment for each project will be provided after receipt of financial
documents, mentioned above, and on the evaluation of intermediate technical reports,
submitted by Indian and Uzbek researchers respectively to DST and the Ministry
of Innovative Development and only if both reports are evaluated positively.

The Indian scientists who are in any way involved in the implementation of two or more projects that were previously supported by the DST (International Group) and that are not expected to be completed by the Ministry of Innovative Development are also not eligible to be a member of the research team.

(2) Applications are required to be submitted as follows –

On Indian side

• The Indian researchers can download the proposal formats from websites
  www.dst.gov.in / www.onlinedst.gov.in and should submit the completed application form and all relevant information through the e-PMS portal of the DST. Proposals must be submitted to DST through the e-application system provided at www.onlinedst.gov.in.
  Indian Applicants also requested to send three hard copy to DST (Dr. Rajiv Kumar,
  Scientist É„), DST) by February 20, 2020, through proper channel. It should be ensured
  that application with an identical title has been submitted by his / her Uzbek counterpart to Uzbek Implementing Agency by the due date. Proposal not submitted through either ePMS portal or hard copy by the due date will not be considered. DST will not be liable for any postal delay.

On Uzbek side

• The Uzbek researchers can download the proposal format from the website
  www.mininnovation.uz/competitions and form must be filled in English and hard copy
  delivered to the Ministry of Innovative development before February 14, 2020. It should
  be ensured that application with the identical title has been submitted by his / her Indian
  the counterpart to Indian Implementing Agency by the due date.

(B) JOINT RESEARCH PROJECTS

(1) Requirements of Research Projects

a) Research Projects should be carried out jointly by research teams from both countries.
b) Each country should have a team with a Team leader. The Team Leader should be one
who holds a full-time position at a University or Research Institution in the respective
Country.
c) The duration of each project should be three years.
(Scientists are advised to submit only one project against this Call. Those Uzbek
scientists who are presently implementing two projects for international collaboration
are not eligible to apply)

(2) Financial support available

The funding will cover the following expenses in connection with a project up to a limit agreed upon by each Implementing Agency –

(a) Research expenses/contingency: Limited Expenditure by the project team in their
the country in respect of consumables, contingency and exchange visits will be borne by the respective country. On the Indian side maximum Rs. 1 lakh towards consumables and
Rs. 50,000 towards contingency can be considered.

(b) Support for Exchange visit component: The sending side would provide return
International airfare, accommodation, per diem, etc. Presently for the approved visit of
Indian scientists to Uzbekistan, following expenditure, are agreed:
– international fare (from nearest airport to destination city by economy excursion
class),
– cash allowance @ US $ 50 per day for visit less than a week and US $ 40 per day
for longer visit;
– accommodation upto US $ 100 per night,
– local transport upto US $ 25 (subject to receipt) and
– overseas medical insurance by silver class for visit duration

(c) No financial support towards equipment or manpower will be considered. Application
will be rejected, in case above guidelines not followed by the applicant.

[C] ASSESSMENT OF APPLICATIONS

(1) The following procedure will be followed in assessing valid Applications –

(a) All valid applications will be submitted for peer review process and shall be referred
to Scientific and Technical council thereafter for rating in terms of the criteria set out
in paragraph (e) below.

(b) Applications that attain a positive rating will be eligible to be considered for funding.

(c) A Joint Committee comprising representatives of the Implementing Agencies (the
“Joint Committee”) will, upon a consideration of the rating, determine which
proposals will receive funding. Such a decision will also take into account the funding
available.

(d) Decisions made by the Joint Committee shall be final.

(e) The criteria that will be taken into consideration for rating are the following –
(i) conformity of the project objectives with national policy
(ii) state of scientific research capacity
(iii) novelty of scientific research and engineering
(iv) added value of the bilateral cooperation
(v) benefits of project including :
(a) industrial development
(b) technology capacity building
(c) science and technology human resources development
(d) possible commercialization of research results
(vi) intellectual property : usage and ownership
(vii) budget requested
(viii) approval and support by host Institutions
(ix) feasibility of project; and
(x) profile of Principal Investigators. Ability of the teams to successfully
complete the project

(2) Where an Application is selected for funding support, the respective Implementing Agencies will notify the Team Leader of the project, accordingly.

The following may be contacted for further details and clarifications, if any –

For India
Rajiv Kumar, Scientist E
Department of Science and Technology
Government of India
[email protected]
011-26862503

For Uzbekistan
Nabijon Holov, Chief Expert of the
Ministry of Innovative Development
Republic of Uzbekistan
n.xolov@mininnovationuz
71 203 32 23 (260)

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