General information

The call will support research and innovation projects that establish integrated and cross-sectoral approaches for risk-management combining the research areas of contaminants of emerging concerns (CECs), pathogens and antimicrobial resistance. The whole water cycle, from the source through the river basins and eventually to the estuaries and oceans, has to be considered. This Joint Transnational Call (JTC) aims to make the research communities in the freshwater, marine and the health sectors work together and create synergies for joint approaches.

Call themes:

1) Measuring – Environmental behaviour of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), pathogens and antimicrobial resistant bacteria in aquatic ecosystems

2) Evaluating – Risk assessment and management of CECs, pathogens and antimicrobial resistant bacteria from aquatic ecosystems (inland and marine) to human health and environment

3) Taking Actions – Strategies to reduce CECs, pathogens and antimicrobial resistant bacteria fromn aquatic ecosystems (inland coastal and marine)

LINK: http://jpi-oceans.eu/calls/proposals/aquaticpollutants-joint-transnational-call-2020

Deadline

·           Call opening: 17 February 2020

·           Deadline pre-proposals: May 18th 2020:

·           Invitation to submit full proposals: June 2020

·           Deadline full proposals: 14 August 2020

·           Funding decision announced: October 2020

Project duration

Project duration must be a maximum of 36 months. Funded consortia will be asked to agree on a common starting date. The last possible end date for the projects is the 30th of June 2024.

Financial allocation

Partnership

Belgium: BELSPO / FNRS / FWO; Brazil: CONFAP; Cyprus: RIF; Czech Republic: TAČR; Denmark : IFD;

Egypt: ASRT; Estonia: ETAg; Finland: AKA; France: ANR; Germany: BMBF; Greece: GSRT; Ireland: EPA; Israel: CSO-MOH; Italy: A.R.P.A. Sicilia / MIUR; Moldova: NARD; Norway: RCN; Poland: NCBR; Portugal: FCT; Romania: UEFISCDI; South Africa: WRC; Spain: AEI; Sweden: FORMAS / SRC; Taiwan: MoST; Tunesia / MHESR; Turkey: TUBITAK; Scotland (United Kingdom) : Scottish Enterprise

Further information:

The main research and innovation objectives of the AquaticPollutants 2020 Joint Transnational Call are:

• to establish integrated and cross-sectoral approaches for risk management combining the research areas of emerging pollutants, pathogens and antimicrobial resistance under the overall topic “from the source to the mouth“;

• to analyse the spread of CECs and pathogens related to antimicrobial resistance from the different sources (e.g. urban areas) that leads to impacts and risks on the aquatic ecosystem, environment and human health;

• to describe the transformation of such CECs and pathogens and their effects when entering the different aquatic systems and accumulating in the food chain;

• to improve strategies and develop/ evaluate technologies (incl. digital technologies) for reducing CECs and pathogens at the sources, on their pathways and end-of-pipe; and

• to develop/ integrate innovative methodologies and tools to allow policy-makers to develop more effective policies and efficient regulations.

Ø Emerging pollutants, pathogens and materials linked to antimicrobial resistance, their risks for human health and aquatic ecosystems, and the transfer between inland and marine environments will be the main topic of the call.

Ø It is not mandatory to address emerging pollutants, pathogens and antimicrobial resistant bacteria simultaneously in one proposal.

Ø Micro-plastics will not be subject to the call.

Applicants should note that, in some countries, several funding organisations participate in the call with different organisational rules and priorities. Applicants must pay attention to the national regulations and if questions arise, it is highly recommended to contact the NCPs before submitting a pre-proposal and full proposal.

Eligibility:

Ø    Each consortium must be composed of eligible independent entities requesting funding to FPOs from a minimum of three different EU Member States or H2020 Associated countries (listed in Table 1 in grey). FPOs listed in the categoy of ”third countries and other countries” are not included in the minimum requirements for consortia composition.

Ø    In each proposal, one of the entities must act as the Consortium Coordinator who has the responsibility for submitting the proposal. The Consortium Coordinator must be eligible to be funded by one of the EU member States or H2020 Associated countries (listed in Table 1 in grey).

Ø    A Consortium Coordinator can only participate in one proposal (i.e. if the principal investigator is the Consortium Coordinator of a proposal, he/she cannot participate in any other proposal, neither as a Consortium Coordinator nor as a partner).

Ø    The workload distribution within a consortium must be balanced, and no partner should have more than 50% of person months.

Ø    There is the upper limit of 8 eligible project partners per consortium (including self funded partners). The maximum number of partners from the same country within the consortium must comply with national/regional regulations.

Ø    No more than one self-funded project partner per consortium is allowed.

Ø    Project partners who are not eligible for funding may participate at their own expense or if they have their own separate source of funding. The applicants have to prove (letter of intent/commitment) the willingness to self-fund their own activities or the willingness of other partners to fund their own activities. They have to follow the rules given in this Call Announcement and have to be part of the consortium agreement. However, they cannot coordinate a project. They are not considered in the minimum requirement of eligible partners and countries in the AquaticPollutants eligibility criteria

Scope

Ø    Proposals should go beyond the state of the art by providing high quality R&I and, when appropriate, make use of innovative technologies, approaches and concepts to do so;

Ø    Proposals should consider on-going research activities funded by other instruments, programmes or projects. Cooperation with these activities is of high importance;

Ø    Proposals should consider and incorporate as approporiate cross-cutting issues, such as socio-economic and/or capacity development.

Ø    Collaboration with the parallel running Transfer Project during execution is encouraged, but not compulsory.