Science

Call for proposals Cooperation China (NSFC) Joint Research Projects Supramolecular Chemistry and Catalysis 2017

The Hague, April 2017 Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research

2 Chapter1Introduction / Cooperation China (NSFC) Joint Research Projects

Contents

1 Introduction 3 1.1 Background 3 1.2 Available budget 3 1.3 Validity of the call for proposals 3

2 Aim 4 2.1 General 4

3 Guidelines for applicants 6 3.1 Who can apply 6 3.2 What can be applied for 6 3.3 When can applications be submitted 7 3.4 Preparing an application 7 3.5 Conditions on granting 8 3.6 Submitting an application 9

4 Assessment procedure 10 4.1 Procedure 10 4.2 Criteria 11

5 Contact details and otherinformation 12 5.1 Contact 12

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Chapter 1: Introduction / Cooperation China (NSFC) Joint Research Projects

1 Introduction

1.1 Background

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) are long-term partners in international research co-operation. In 2009, NWO and NSFC decided to expand their existing agreement focusing on exchange of researchers with an additional component focusing on funding joint research projects. This funding instrument offers funding opportunities for bilateral research co-operation between Dutch and Chinese research groups.

The programme is jointly facilitated by NWO and NSFC. A call for proposals is published annually, calling for Sino-Dutch research proposals in thematic areas. The call features a different thematic priority every year. The thematic priorities are selected jointly by NWO and NSFC, and further developed in a Sino-Dutch expert workshop prior to opening the call for proposals. The thematic priority of the 2017 Sino-Dutch call is set on the topic of Supramolecular Chemistry and Catalysis.

This call for proposals sets out information about the possibilities for submitting applications, the conditions that the applications must meet, and the procedure for assessing the applications. It also includes a brief description of the programme. Apart from the co-operation between NWO and NSFC, there are several other funding programmes aimed at scientific co-operation between The Netherlands and China. Adjacent to this programme with NSFC, NWO has programmes for science industry cooperation.

1.2 Available budget

A budget of up to M€ 1,47 is available for the 2017 call on the Dutch side. This budget covers funding for five joint projects. NSFC will provide a fund for each approved project as well, based on a maximum of 3 million RMB direct cost per project. The budget request must follow the norms of both NSFC and NWO and their respective funding regulations. The budget to be approved for each selected proposal will be subject to the rules and restrictions of each funding agency, as specified in this call for proposals.

1.3 Validity of the call for proposals

This call for proposals is valid until the closing date July 14, 2017, 14:00 hours CE(S)T.

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Chapter 2: Aim / Cooperation China (NSFC) Joint Research Projects

2 Aim

2.1 General

The NWO-NSFC Programme aims at stimulating sustainable Sino-Dutch research collaboration by funding Joint Research Projects. The thematic priority of the 2017 Sino-Dutch call is set on the topic of Supramolecular Chemistry and Catalysis

2.2 Thematic focus for Joint Research Projects

The NWO-NSFC Programme aims at bilateral research proposals relevant to key areas identified in The Netherlands and China, as confirmed during a workshop in The Hague, The Netherlands, on March 30 and 31, 2017:

Supramolecular Chemistry and Catalysis

Because of its interdisciplinary nature, supramolecular chemistry is now prevalent in many scientific areas including chemistry, physics, materials and life science. Supramolecular chemistry was linked to biology at its initial invention, for the reason that both sciences are dominated by weak interaction and molecular recognition. Typical processes such as enzymatic catalysis featuring high catalytic activity and selectivity take place under mild conditions. These attractive properties have been a source of inspiration and longstanding proposed application of supramolecular chemistry. The joint Sino-Dutch bilateral research project will focus on the establishment of novel supramolecular systems that are constructed and fabricated based on new principles and ingenious macrocyclic compounds or other small molecular building blocks. The program aims at the development of conceptually new supramolecular and bio-inspired systems which have applications in catalysis and energy conversion. To achieve this, experts from the following fields are expected to provide important contributions. 1. Supramolecular catalysis and self-assembled catalysis Construction of self-assembled catalytic systems featuring simplicity and reversibility of preparation of catalysts, and reusability and sustainability of supramolecular catalytic processes. Fabrication of well-defined supramolecular catalysts enabling chemical transformations that are difficult or even not feasible by means of conventional catalysis. 2. Bio-inspired catalysis Catalyst systems that function based on principles found in nature, functional biomolecule-based small, macromolecular systems and self-assembled systems with well-defined structures, which mediate and catalyze highly efficient and stereoselective and enantioselective chemical transformations. 3. Chemical / biological self-assembly & controllable assembly processes Development of new physical and chemical methods to regulate chemical and biological self-assembly and disassembly processes while controlling and modulating the (multiple) physical and biological functions of assembled materials.

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Chapter 2: Aim / Cooperation China (NSFC) Joint Research Projects

4. Novel host-guest systems and artificial receptors Design and synthesis of ingenious macrocyclic, small molecular and polymeric hosts based on new concepts and synergistic non-covalent and dynamic covalent bond interactions. Design and production of function (catalysis and guest transportation) targeted host systems are highly encouraged. 5. Molecular recognition Pursuing efficient and highly selective molecular recognition systems for advanced functional materials. Exploration and understanding of novel non-covalent bond interactions such as anion recognition and transportation, which may be relevant for understanding the novel supramolecular concepts in catalysis. Project partners are invited to explicitly seek complementary expertise, where fundamental knowledge of chemical/biological self-assembly, host-guest systems, artificial receptors and molecular recognition are enablers for the development of new concepts in supramolecular catalysis or energy conversion processes.

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Chapter 3: Guidelines for applicants / Cooperation China (NSFC) Joint Research Projects

3 Guidelines for applicants

3.1 Who can apply

Eligible research teams are composed of Netherlands-based and China-based researchers, with active involvement in the project of a senior Principal Investigator (PI) on both the Dutch and the Chinese side. Each combined Dutch/Chinese research team jointly submits one common application to NWO. For scientists based in the Netherlands the NWO / KNAW eligibility criteria apply, i.e., the Dutch Principal Investigator should be affiliated to: − Dutch universities; − NWO and KNAW institutes; − the Netherlands Cancer Institute; − the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen; − researchers from the DUBBLE Beamline at the ESRF in Grenoble; − NCB Naturalis; − Advanced Research Centre for NanoLithography (ARCNL).

AND have an employment contract for at least the duration of the application procedure and the duration of the research the grant is applied for; AND have at least a PhD or an equivalent qualification. A complete list of application criteria for scientists from the Netherlands can be found in the NWO Regulation on Granting: www.nwo.nl/en/subscription-documents/nwo/legal/nwo-regulation-on-granting-may-2011 To match the conditions imposed by NSFC on Chinese scientists, any Dutch scientist may be involved in one application / project only. To ascertain if they are eligible to apply, Chinese applicants should refer to the Chinese call for this programme on the website of NSFC.

3.2 What can be applied for

Funding can be applied for: Dutch Principal Investigator: The maximum budget that can be applied for on the Dutch side for an individual project will comprise up to k€ 294, covering funding of at least one Postdoc or PhD position (fixed rates, according to VSNU tariffs) and a maximum of k€ 80 for research costs (including travel, material, laboratory, equipment). Funding can be applied for:

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Chapter 3: Guidelines for applicants / Cooperation China (NSFC) Joint Research Projects

− employment costs of at least one Postdoc researcher (for a maximum of 36

man-months) or one PhD researcher (for 48 man-months). An individual bench fee (€ 5000) will also be allocated to each PhD or postdoc to partly cover e.g. costs for national conference meetings and the costs of printing a thesis

− travel expenses and accommodation costs for researchers involved in the project;

− contribution to material costs; − equipment specifically intended for the project described in the proposal; the

relationship with the project and the need for the equipment should be clearly justified.

Funding may not be requested for tenured staff, student assistants, overheads, general laboratory equipment (this also includes general software and hardware such as computers and laptops for which it may be expected that these belong to the standard equipment for a scientific position), maintenance and insurance costs and publication costs. Participants of other countries must demonstrate adequate funding. Personnel costs for PhDs and postdocs in the Netherlands are fundable in accordance with the most recent version of the “Agreement for Funding Scientific Research”, which has been signed by NWO, VSNU, NFU, ZonMw, KNAW and VFI. The agreement and the maximum payments for personnel costs can be found at: www.nwo.nl/financiering/hoe-werkt-dat/salaristabellen

Chinese Principal Investigator: On the Chinese side the funding for direct cost will be 3 million RMB per project for the entire duration of the project. Funding can be applied for: − travel expenses and accommodation costs for researchers involved in the

project; − contribution to material costs; − contribution to laboratory and/or equipment costs; − some other necessary research costs. Remunerations for “Bursaal” PhD students/PhD scholarship students at a Dutch university are not eligible for funding from NWO.

3.3 When can applications be submitted

The deadline for the submission of proposals is July 14, 2017, 14:00 hours CE(S)T. When you submit your application to ISAAC you will also need to enter additional details online. You should therefore start submitting your application at least one day before the deadline of this call for proposals. Applications submitted after the deadline will not be taken into consideration.

3.4 Preparing an application

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Chapter 3: Guidelines for applicants / Cooperation China (NSFC) Joint Research Projects

Sino-Dutch research teams must prepare a joint proposal, that will be submitted to NWO by the Dutch partner. Additional to the application submitted to NWO, Chinese scientists shall submit relevant material to NSFC according to the requirements listed in the Chinese call for this programme on the NSFC website. A full application consists of completing the required information in ISAAC, the electronic application and reporting system of NWO (www.isaac.nwo.nl), and uploading a research proposal in pdf format. Please take the following steps to prepare an application for a joint research project: Download the research application form from the electronic application system ISAAC or from NWO’s website (on the grant page for this programme). Complete the application form. Save the application form as a pdf file and upload it in ISAAC

3.5 Conditions on granting

The NWO Regulation on Granting and the Agreement on the Payment of Costs for Scientific Research apply to all applications. For Chinese researchers, this call for proposals is subject to NSFC’s general grant conditions and other specific requirements. The selected Joint Research Projects will run for a maximum of four years. The earliest starting date is January 1, 2018, and not before the joint decision of the NSFC and NWO board. Furthermore for Dutch researchers the following additional conditions apply:

Open Access All scientific publications resulting from research that is funded by grants derived from this call for proposals are to be immediately (at the time of publication) freely accessible worldwide (Open Access). There are several ways for researchers to publish Open Access. A detailed explanation regarding Open Access can be found on www.nwo.nl/openscience-en.

Data management

Responsible data management is part of good research. NWO wants research data that emerge from publicly funded research to become freely and sustainably available, as much as possible, for reuse by other researchers. Furthermore NWO wants to raise awareness among researchers about the importance of responsible data management. Proposals should therefore satisfy the data management protocol of NWO. This protocol consists of two steps:

1. Data management section The data management section is part of the research proposal. Researchers should answer four questions about data management within their intended research project. Therefore before the research starts the researcher will be asked to think about how the data collected must be ordered and categorised so that it can be made freely available. Measures will often need to be taken during the production and analysis of the data to make their later storage and dissemination possible. Researchers can state which research data they consider to be relevant for storage and reuse. 2. Data management plan After a proposal has been awarded funding the researcher should elaborate the data management section into a data management plan. The data management plan is a

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Chapter 3: Guidelines for applicants / Cooperation China (NSFC) Joint Research Projects

concrete elaboration of the data management section. In the plan the researcher describes whether use will be made of existing data or a new data collection and how the data collection will be made FAIR: Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable. The plan should be submitted to NWO via ISAAC within a maximum of four months after the proposal has been awarded funding. NWO will approve the plan as quickly as possible. Approval of the data management plan by NWO is a condition for disbursement of the funding. The plan can be adjusted during the research. Further information about the data management protocol of NWO can be found at www.nwo.nl/datamanagement.

Nagoya Protocol The Nagoya Protocol became effective on 12 October 2014 and ensures an honest and reasonable distribution of benefits emerging from the use of genetic resources (Access and Benefit Sharing; ABS). Researchers who make use of genetic sources from the Netherlands or abroad for their research should familiarise themselves with the Nagoya Protocol (www.absfocalpoint.nl). NWO assumes that researchers will take all necessary actions with respect to the Nagoya Protocol.

3.6 Submitting an application

An application can only be submitted to NWO via the online application system ISAAC. Applications not submitted via ISAAC will not be taken into consideration. A principal applicant must submit his/her application via his/her own ISAAC account. If the principal applicant does not have an ISAAC account yet, then this should be created at least one day before the application is submitted to ensure that any registration problems can be resolved on time. If the principal applicant already has an NWO-account, then he/she does not need to create a new account to submit an application. When you submit your application to ISAAC you will also need to enter additional details online. You should therefore start submitting your application at least one day before the deadline of this call for proposals. Applications submitted after the deadline will not be taken into consideration. For technical questions please contact the ISAAC helpdesk, see Section 5.1.2.

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Chapter 4: Assessment procedure / Cooperation China (NSFC) Joint Research Projects

4 Assessment procedure

4.1 Procedure

Selection of the proposals is performed according to a joint Sino-Dutch assessment and selection procedure.

1. After the deadline of the call, the technical admissibility of the proposals is

checked using the conditions as mentioned in Chapter 3. The eligibility is checked in the Netherlands and in China by NWO and NSFC respectively.

2. The quality of the proposals will be assessed by (international) referees assigned by jointly NSFC and NWO, according to the criteria specified in § 4.2. Each proposal is sent to five scientific experts, who will review the proposal.

3. The anonymous written reviews are bundled and sent to the Dutch applicants. The applicants are given the opportunity to write a single joint rebuttal to the referees’ comments, with input from both the Dutch and the Chinese partners. This reply should not exceed two pages, and should be returned within two weeks after receiving the referee reviews.

4. An Assessment Committee, comprising independent scientific experts -assigned by jointly NSFC and NWO-will assess the proposals. The Assessment Committee convenes once to moderate, rank and recommend proposals for funding on the basis of the criteria specified in § 4.2. The ranking of the Assessment Committee is sent as an advice to NSFC and NWO.

5. NSFC and NWO jointly decide on the projects to be funded. On the NWO side this decision lies with the board of the NWO Science Domain, or its authorized representative.

The NWO Code of Conduct on Conflicts of Interest applies to all persons and NWO staff involved in the assessment and/or decision-making process. The data management section in the application is not evaluated and hence not included in the decision about whether or not to award funding. However both the referees and the committee can issue advice with respect to the data management section. After a proposal has been awarded funding the applicant should elaborate the data management section into a data management plan. Applicants can make use of the advice from the referees and committee when they write the data management plan. The project can start as soon as the data management plan has been approved by NWO. NWO gives all full proposals a qualification. The applicant is informed of this qualification when the decision about whether or not to award funding is announced. Only proposals that receive at least the qualification excellent/very good/good will be eligible for funding. For further information about the qualifications see www.nwo.nl/kwalificaties.

April 2017 Publishing of call for Proposals July 13,2017 Deadline for submitting Sino-Dutch research

project proposals End of July 2017 Eligibility check July – September 2017 Consult with referees (written peer review) October 2017 Possibility for rebuttal by applicants November 2017 Assessment Committee meeting End of November 2017 Decision on proposals by NSFC and NWO

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Chapter 4: Assessment procedure / Cooperation China (NSFC) Joint Research Projects

December 2017 Informing the applicants January 1, 2018 Earliest starting date joint research projects

4.2 Criteria

In assessing and ranking the joint research proposals, the Assessment Committee will consider the following criteria (of equal weight): Relevance to the theme of the call

− projects should align with the theme as stated in § 2.2 of this call.

Scientific quality of the research proposal − challenging content; − originality of the topic; − innovative elements; − potential to make an important contribution to the advancement of science

or technology in advanced materials; − suitability of the approach (incl. pitfalls & solutions) /plan incl. time

scheme/milestones.

Knowledge utilisation − potential use and relevance of the knowledge generated beyond the

applicants’ field(s) of research or beyond the academic world (economical, technical, societal or cultural).

Quality of the research groups − research groups should be top in the field; track records of the

institutes/research groups/applicants should be excellent.

Sino-Dutch co-operation − added value of Sino-Dutch co-operation to the research project, including

the complementarity of the Dutch and Chinese research teams; − the degree of inter-institutional co-operation between the project partners,

and the prospects for scientific collaboration lasting beyond the duration of the research project.

Examples of knowledge utilisation can be found at www.nwo.nl/en/policies/knowledge+utilisation.

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Chapter 5: Contact details and other information / Cooperation China (NSFC) Joint Research Projects

5 Contact details and other information

5.1 Contact

5.1.1 Specific questions

For specific questions about Cooperation China (NSFC) Joint Research Projects and this call for proposals please contact: The Netherlands

NWO Mr. Dr Marijn Goes +31 (0)70 3440982 advancedmaterials@nwo.nl Mr. drs. Berry Bonenkamp +31 (0)70 3494416 b.bonenkamp@nwo.nl

China

NSFC Mr. Xu Jin +86 (10) 6232 5351 xujin@nsfc.gov.cn

5.1.2 Technical questions about the electronic application system ISAAC

For technical questions about the use of ISAAC please contact the ISAAC helpdesk. Please read the manual first before consulting the helpdesk. The ISAAC helpdesk can be contacted from Monday to Friday between 10:00 and 17:00 hours CE(S)T on +31 (0)20 346 71 79. However, you can also submit your question by e-mail to isaac.helpdesk@nwo.nl. You will then receive an answer within two working days.

Published by:

Netherlands Organisation

for Scientific Research

Version: April 2017

Visiting address:

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April 2017