The New Zealand-EU International Research Staff Exchange Scheme (IRSES) Counterpart Fund is a scheme which provides mobility funding to eligible New Zealand research institutions exchanging staff with European partners in official IRSES collaborations. Its objectives are to:
- raise the level of research collaboration between New Zealand and European Union-based research institutions; and
- strengthen New Zealand research institutions’ capability in areas of mutual importance for New Zealand and the European Community, as prescribed by the Joint Science and Technology Cooperation Committee that meets under the auspices of the Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation between the European Community and the Government of New Zealand (STC Agreement).
Those involved in the development of IRSES proposals for the recent round will be aware that there has been some discussion about the formal process of obtaining funds for NZ-Europe exchange.
Requirements: European Commission Proposal Stage
The IRSES funding and investment process is managed by the Royal Society of New Zealand (RSNZ) and all NZ participants in IRSES proposals should be aware that they are required to submit, though their Research Office or similar agency, an electronic copy of the EC proposal to the RSNZ within 4 weeks of the EC deadline (i.e. Wednesday 18 January 2012) to irses@royalsociety.org.nz).
Eligibility
- Research institutions eligible to apply for funding from the Counterpart Fund are those New Zealand institutions that have been included in an official IRSES proposal. An official IRSES proposal is one that has been submitted for consideration under the IRSES scheme by the project’s Proposal Coordinator to the European Commission (the Commission) through its Research Executive Agency (the REA). The Proposal Coordinator is defined in the Commission’s annual IRSES Guide for Applicants (Guide for Applicants).
- New Zealand institutions will only be eligible for Counterpart Fund support for IRSES projects which are actually funded by the Commission.
- Following the EC evaluation, those NZ institutions involved in proposals ranked A (main-list for funding) or B (reserve list) MUST submit, to the RSNZ, the following additional information, as an illustration of the ‘benefit to NZ’ of their participation in the IRSES project:
- a brief description (not exceeding two pages) of the benefits for New Zealand;
- a description of how their proposal fits within priority areas for the NZ-EU STC relationship;
- a copy of the proposal documents submitted to the EC through the research Executive Agency (REA);
- a copy of the REA’s “Individual Evaluation Summary Report” provided to the project coordinator which contains both the overall score the project received and a detailed evaluation of the project;
- details about the duration of planned exchanges and costs; and
- any other application documentation deemed necessary by the Royal Society.
Funding
New Zealand institutions will not necessarily receive the full sum sought through the Counterpart Fund and, where the demand for funding exceeds the amount of funding available from the IRSES Counterpart Fund, the RSNZ will prioritise funding for (a) those projects that provide the most significant benefit for New Zealand and (b) those projects that scored highest in the Commission’s assessment process. However, the RSNZ will ensure that the level of financial support awarded to each successful project is sufficient to achieve the expected outcomes.
Further information
The Marie Curie International Research Staff Exchange Scheme (IRSES) is now calling for proposals to the FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IRSES scheme. For further information visit http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/page/people?callIdentifier=FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IRSES.
Eddie Davis
Contracts Manager (International)
