2018 Call for proposal For Towards a Sustainable Earth (TaSE) -Human-Environment Interactions and the Sustainable Development Goals-

Change log

Updated Jul 17, 2018 : How to Apply revised
Updated Jul 23, 2018 : e-Rad Manual add to

(June 25, 2018)

The Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), in the interest to promote international research interaction and exchange among researchers in Japan and also as part of its involvement in the Towards a Sustainable Earth initiative, will participate in this call and support its collaborative research.

Summary

In September 2015 all the nations of the UN General Assembly agreed to a new agenda for sustainable development. This agenda set out a series of goals for achieving an end to poverty, hunger and inequality, and improving health and well-being for all, whilst protecting the planet and maintaining the resources that support human life. These objectives were set out within 17 integrated Global Goals for Sustainable Development2 (SDGs or Global Goals), with 169 associated targets. Agreement of to this transformational agenda by the 193 members of the UN General Assembly has further driven sustainable development as a key principle of global and national economic and social development. Inherent in this agreement was the understanding that these goals require action in and by all nations and are not simply a further step for the Millennium Development Goals, whose exclusive focus was on development progress that benefitted poor people in developing countries. The SDGs describe an agenda for realizing sustainable human development on Earth. Therefore, a Sustainable Earth is a requisite underpinning the SDGs; the future of human civilisation is dependent upon it - 'linking the prosperity of people and the planet'. The challenge now is how to think beyond and outside current limitations to understand how to use and manage planetary resources, not just for the short term but with a view to future need. TaSE emerged from the belief that use of research and innovation will be instrumental in achieving progress in this challenging agenda. The core of the initiative is the opportunity presented by considering the whole system and its interactions when addressing current and future challenges to both the Earth system and human development in the context of the SDGs. The SDGs are an integrated set of targets; integrating the three dimensions of sustainable development - economic, social and environmental. As such each goal is more or less related to other goals, and actions to achieve one goal impact on achieving others. Understanding the relationship and strength of synergies and conflicts between the different goals is vital to achieving the SDGs collectively.

For more information on the TaSE initiative, please visit their website:
https://nerc.ukri.org/research/partnerships/international/overseas/tase//

As part of its activities, the TaSE initiative is launching a joint call for research proposals in the field of "Human-Environment Interactions and the Sustainable Development Goals", in which it will accept proposals for multi-lateral (involving contributions from 3 or more participating countries) collaborative research projects. Through joint evaluation of proposals by experts from call participating countries, selected projects will be jointly funded by the participating agencies.

Call Scope

The SDG agenda is broad, far-reaching and its interactions are complex. Whilst recognizing that it is not possible to address all goals fully within this call, funding partners in TaSE are keen to keep the scope of the call correspondingly broad and not narrow down the research areas. Applicants are invited to identify and make the case for the most pressing challenges for environment-human interactions in addressing more than two SDGs collectively.
The scope of the programme is defined within two pillars and projects are expected to address both pillars in an integrated way:
1. Understanding systems (social, economic, cultural and natural) within different local and global contexts: boundaries, vulnerabilities and critical thresholds and the potential implications for humanity of breaching these boundaries; and
2. Research to inform policy and practice interventions to address these issues and deliver sustainable development; and the implementation research that informs the intervention approach.
The first area is around knowledge creation; focusing on the functioning of human-environment systems and the gaps in knowledge that would need to be filled in order to meet the SDGs.

The first area is around knowledge creation; focusing on the functioning of human-environment systems and the gaps in knowledge that would need to be filled in order to meet the SDGs. The second area is on use of research, both new and existing, including in combinations across disciplines, in order to generate innovative policy and practice; how to achieve the SDGs, what can be done, where and by whom.

Call Announcement Web Page For full call details including participating countries, please visit the call web-site, and the Japanese translation of the main call text below (for Japanese potential applicants):

Towards a Sustainable Earth (TaSE) - Human-Environment Interactions and the Sustainable Development Goals -
https://nerc.ukri.org/research/partnerships/international/overseas/tase/ao-tase-he/

Call Text:
https://nerc.ukri.org/research/partnerships/international/overseas/tase/ao-tase-he/ao/

Period of the Call for Proposals

Intention to Submit: 16:00 BST (UTC+1) on 31 July 2018
Full Proposal Deadline: 16:00 BST (UTC+1) on 14 August 2018

NOTE: Applicants should note that the submission of a Notification of Intent is a requirement of this call and full proposals will only be accepted from those coalitions who submit a completed notification of intent to submit online form prior to the deadline. The lead PIs should not change for the final bid, nor should the remit of the research.

How to Apply revised July 17, 2018

[Notification of Intention to Submit]

A lead principal investigator (consortium leader) is first asked to submit a project summary through the online registration system on the UK's Environment Research Council (NERC) website as a notification of intention.

Registration System on the NERC website: https://reg.nerc.ac.uk/tase/

Please read carefully the eligibility criteria of consortium countries prior to your submission. For details of each country's eligibility criteria, please see the national annex documents on the NERC's website below : https://nerc.ukri.org/research/partnerships/international/overseas/tase/ao-tase-he/

For details of Japan's national eligibility, please see the annex document below : https://nerc.ukri.org/research/partnerships/international/overseas/tase/ao-tase-he/japan/

After the submission, principal and co-investigators from Japan need to register on the Cross Ministerial R&D Management System (e-Rad : https://www.e-rad.go.jp/en/).

[Full Proposal] Proposals should be jointly drafted by your team and jointly submitted electronically to the Je-S electronic submission system. All call documents, proposal forms and instructions can be downloaded from the following website:
Je-S system
https://je-s.rcuk.ac.uk/JeS2WebLoginSite/Login.aspx

NOTE on e-Rad Registration: Applicants from Japan need to register their proposals on the Cross Ministerial R&D Management System (e-Rad) for the "Notification of intention". Proposals not registered on e-Rad would not meet Japan's eligibility criteria. If there are two or more researchers from Japan to join the call, please select one principal investigator and let him/her register a proposal on e-Rad for the "Notification of intention". If a researcher from Japan is a lead principal investigator, he/she needs to register a proposal both on the NERC system and on the e-Rad for the "Notification of intention", and subsequently on the Je-S system for the "Full proposal". In any case, there is no need of e-Rad registration for the "Full proposal".

** Deadline for e-Rad registration: 17:00 on 3 August 2018 (Japan Standard Time UTC+9) (Notification of Intention)
For further Japanese application instructions and guidance, please refer to the following information:

「日本側応募者への応募にあたっての注意事項」

書類リンク
日本側応募者への応募にあたっての注意事項 (in Japanese) PDF (780KB)
日本語申請様式_TaSE (in Japanese) doc (36KB)
チェックリスト (in Japanese) doc (61KB)
e-Radマニュアル (in Japanese) 7/23 NEW! PDF (2.6MB)

Details of Support

A research project selected for funding in this call will receive support for a period of 2 years totaling no more than approximately 4,900,000 JPY/year (incl. 10% indirect cost). Full details of support can be found in the Japanese guidance information above.

Enquiries

Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) Department of International Affairs
Mr. Soichi Kubota, Mr. Clement Ng, Ms. Chiko Tsukazaki
TEL: +81-3-5214-7375 FAX:+81-3-5214-7379
E-mail:belmont(at)jst.go.jp