CALL FOR PROPOSALS
FOR JOINT RESEARCH PROJECTS AS PART OF SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY COOPERATION BETWEEN ITALY AND THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA
FOR THE YEARS 2014 - 2015
Within the framework of the Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation
between the Government of the Italian Republic and Government of the United States of
America, signed in Rome on April 1st, 1988 as emended and extended on October 4th, 1993 and
ratified on April 15th, 1994, the procedures for the drafting of the Joint Declaration on Scientific
and Technological Cooperation for the years 2014 – 2015 are hereby initiated.
BILATERAL PROJECTS: PROCEDURES FOR THE SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS.
(“Progetti di Grande Rilevanza” ai sensi della L. 401/90)
In the validity period of the Joint Declaration on Scientific and Technological Cooperation between
Italy and the United States of America for the years 2014-2015 (hereafter referred as to the “Joint
Declaration”), the Italian Party may consider granting an annual special financial contribution,
within the limits of the available financial resources, to significant bilateral research projects
(“Progetti di Grande Rilevanza”), which will be part of the Joint Declaration.
The contribution granted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is intended as a co-funding of
the Project and therefore a significant funding participation by the coordinating Italian
Institution and/or other public/private Italian or United States of America Institutions is
mandatory. The contribution will be awarded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs solely to
the selected Italian institutions engaging in joint research with USA institutions; the counterpart
USA institutions will be expected to obtain support for the joint project from their usual U.S.
Government funding sources.
Application of proposals follows a two stage procedure.
FIRST STAGE: PROPOSALS
SUBMISSION EVALUATION AND SELECTION
1.1 SUBMISSION
Submission of proposal occurs ONLY through the online platform http://web.esteri.it/pgr/sviluppo.
Coordinators must register to the website first and then fill the project description forms fund
online. Proposals shall be drafted in English.
The deadline for submission of proposals is October 15th, 2013, at 17.00 (CET), when the online
submission system will be deactivated.
Proposals, covering up to two years activity (2014-2015), shall address topics within the
following priority research areas:

Energy and Environment (including Smart Cities and Communities)

Technologies Applied to Cultural and Natural Heritage (inlcuding Chemistry
for restoration)

Marine and Earth Sciences (including Space applications related to Earth science)

Physics (including Electromagnetics, and in details: radiation physics,
quantum information systems, single photon sources and detectors)

Life Sciences (including Science and Technology for the ageing society,
Biotechnologies, Food safety and Food security)

ICT, Applied Mathematics, Big Data, Robotics, Advanced Manufacturing
(including Body Area Networks, implantable sensors and related IT)

Nanosciences, Advanced Materials (including study of cement chemistry and structurallyresilient buildings).
1.2 ELIGIBILITY, EVALUATION AND SELECTION
Eligibility requirements:
a. The project coordinator shall be Italian citizen or European citizen resident in Italy, and
working for an Italian public/private Research Institution.
b. The proposal shall address one of the research priority areas as listed in Section 1.1.
Proposals dealing with other areas will not be considered for evaluation.
c. Coordinator may submit only one proposal. Failure to comply will result in exclusion from
the evaluation.
Evaluation criteria:
The eligible proposals will be then evaluated at national level, according to the following criteria:
a. Scientific and technological relevance
b. Methodology and documentation
c. Qualification of the applicants
d. Added value of the bilateral cooperation
e. Added value in addressing societal challenges
f. Dissemination of results
g. Technology transfer
h. Budget adequacy, including clear evidence of financial availability of the US partner (i.e.
Grant Number)
Preference will be given to proposals that involve industrial counterparts, benefit from third
parties’ funding (such as public or private research institutes and organizations) and/or take part
in multilateral and/or European research programmes, with particular regard to the Seventh
Framework Programme and to the Horizon 2020 Programme of the European Union.
Selection:
Finally, consensus on a list of proposals eligible for funding and to be inserted in the Joint
Declaration, will be reached in a meeting between the Parties, as stated in Article 6 of the
aforementioned Bilateral Agreement.
1.3 PUBLICATION OF RESULTS.
The list of the selected projects and funding procedures will be posted exclusively on the website of
the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the address:
http://www.esteri.it/MAE/IT/Politica_Estera/CooperScientificaTecnologica/ProgrammiEsecutivi/A
ccordi_programmi_culturali_tecnologici.htm
SECOND STAGE: FINANCING OF PROJECTS
The significant joint research projects selected and listed in the Joint Declaration will constitute a
short-list of projects entitled to apply for funding in accordance with the specific call for proposals
issued by the Unit for Scientific and Technological Cooperation of the Directorate General for
Country Promotion (Economy, Culture and Science) of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
published on the web every year. The call for proposals is usually released in Fall, for the following
funding year.
Details on such projects (in compliance with Law 401/90) are available on the website of the Italian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the following link:
http://www.esteri.it/MAE/IT/Politica_Estera/CooperScientificaTecnologica/ProgrammiEsecutivi/Pr
ogettiGrandeRilevanza/
Any inquire about the present call can be sent to: DGSP.UST1@esteri.it.