UChicago-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Collaboration Funds
This RFP is currently closed and will reopen in Autumn 2023.
Objective of the call
Within the overall objective of establishing an International Research Center between the University of Chicago (UChicago) and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), this joint call is intended to:
- identify and support joint research teams between UChicago and CNRS-affiliated labs, via the creation of pairs of Principal Investigators and their PhD students;
- fund up to 3 years of a PhD fellowship on CNRS side, starting in Autumn 2023;
- involve UChicago-funded PhD-students interested in international collaboration;
- fund mobility expenses for each team over a period of three years (starting July 1, 2023 for UChicago PIs and January 1, 2024 for CNRS-affiliate PIs); and
- A three-year fellowship will be funded by CNRS for the CNRS-affiliated doctoral student, starting in Fall 2023.
Academic Areas
CNRS and UChicago are launching the 4th Joint Call for Proposals to develop cooperation in promising areas of inquiry. This call is open to all disciplines and academic research areas.
Eligibility
Primary Investigators:
- UChicago side: Assistant, Associate or Full Professors
- CNRS side: Researchers and professors (PU, MCF) working in a CNRS-affiliated lab, holding an accreditation to supervise PhD students (HDR)
- A PI cannot submit more than one application in the framework of this call.
Students:
- France: candidates to a PhD
- UChicago: second-year or third-year PhD students
Collaborative Research
There must be at least one PI from UChicago and one PI from CNRS-affiliated lab. Those who do not already have a collaborator may consult the CNRS website (CNRS directory) or the UChicago website (research areas) to find information on the research groups and projects being carried out in either institution.
Amount
Students are expected to be financially supported by their home institution, at the equivalent level of a PhD fellowship in a specific program at their home institution. Additional funds will cover mobility costs for visits to France & to UChicago for the PI and the PhD student (up to 5 000 € for France-based awardees and $5,000 USD for UChicago awardees - per institution, per year).
Support period
Up to 3 years
Number of awards
Up to five students are expected to be funded by UChicago Principal Investigators and up to five students enrolled in a French university are expected to be funded by the CNRS.
Key dates
November 2, 2022 - Close of application submission period
January 30, 2023 - Notification
Evaluation
Proposals will be evaluated and ranked by a UChicago-CNRS selection committee, according to the following criteria:
- Academic quality & originality of the project
- Academic merit of the teams
- Synergism between the teams
The proposals must also include an outlined plan for raising external competitive funding (e.g. EU collaborative grants, national research agency grants, etc.).
Mode of application
UChicago applicants should submit their proposal via InfoReady.
CNRS applicants should submit the same content via the dedicated website: https://www.cooperation.cnrs.fr.
The proposal must consist of the following parts, in one single file (up to 5 pages + the Title Page, the references and the CVs of the CNRS and UChicago participants).
PART A: Title Page
Title of the proposal, names of the principal investigators and their laboratories/name of thesis director in social sciences, their addresses, telephone, and e-mail. The names of the PhD students can be provided if they are already known. Please specify on the Title Page of the application "This application is submitted for consideration within the UChicago - CNRS Collaboration Program".
PART B: Description of the project
(2 pages or 1000 words maximum)
State of the art for the research area, description of the project and domains of interest, historical context of application (if applicable), quality and originality of the project, objectives, methodology, expected results and their relevance, future perspectives. Explain how the PhD fellow will be supervised and mentored, and how the collaboration will enable and enhance the project. Explain the relation between the project and the research themes of the laboratory (if applicable).
PART C: Added value of international cooperation
Describe the added value of international cooperation in fulfilling the aims of the project (explain why the project cannot be carried out at a national level only). Describe the expected benefits for the French and UChicago teams. Describe the balance between the contributions of the French and UChicago teams. If any additional industrial or governmental collaborations are involved in the project, please describe their role.
PART D: Planned activities
Describe the planned activities in the framework of the project and provide a timetable. Explain how these activities will help achieve the aims of the project.
PART E: Budget
Proposed budget including a breakdown of the division of funds, separated into distinct budgets for UChicago and CNRS. The budget section regarding travel should contain explicit line items for travel of the PhD student.
PART F: Perspectives & external funding
Outline any proposed plans for raising external competitive funding (e.g. EU collaborative grants, US collaborative grants, national research agency grants, etc.)
PART G: Ethics
Does the project raise ethical questions? If yes, please describe them and how they will be addressed.
PART H: Academic quality of the teams
Please list of up to ten detailed (complete) citations for publications related to the project for each team. This list does not count against the page limit. PI applicants must be clearly indicated in the author lists, with superscript or parenthesized letters corresponding to the respective countries, for example Dupont JP (FR), or Smith FD (US).
PART I: Short (maximum two-page) curriculum vitae of all PIs/faculty
This does not count against the page number limit of the application.
Mode of submission and selection process
PIs/thesis directors from France and the UChicago are expected to collaborate on a joint proposal for each project.
UChicago applicants will submit the joint proposal as a single PDF in English via InfoReady.
This proposal needs to be submitted by the CNRS applicant in electronic format and in English via the dedicated CNRS Website: https://www.cooperation.cnrs.fr
NB: please follow the mode of application section’s guidelines and only put “see PDF” in CoopIntEER mandatory sections.
Proposals will be evaluated and ranked by a UChicago-CNRS selection committee based on the academic quality & originality of the project, academic merit of the teams, and synergy between the teams. Successful recipients will be formally notified of the award and informed of funding conditions.
Reporting
During or at the conclusion of the project, grant recipients may be asked to report on progress or outcomes achieved to relevant stakeholder groups.
Awardees must submit a brief, plain language report (1-page) within eighteen months of the conclusion of the award cycle. This report should detail the outcomes of the collaboration and the ways in which the grant has enhanced, or will enhance, their research activities and/or leverage larger opportunities.
Inquiries
UChicago inquiries should be directed to katemoore@uchicago.edu. Technical questions about using InfoReady can be directed to syandell1@uchicago.edu.
CNRS inquiries (including about the submission platform CoopIntEER functioning) should be directed to jean.theves@cnrs.fr and Mathilde.cambournac@cnrs.fr.