*In response to COVID-19 disruption, the new deadline is Tuesday 14 April, 2020*

Purpose of Call 

This SYNTHESYS+ activity aims to support cooperative activities with collections and stakeholders in regions that are disproportionately under-represented in current activities: With this call, SYNTHESYS+ offers co-funding for projects jointly realized by one or more SYNTHESYS+ partners and one or more partners from such priority regions. The focus is on further developing the digitization of and access to natural history collections in priority regions as well as on data linkage. 

This call should not be confused with Transnational Access (TA) and Virtual Access (VA)

Priority Regions

This call will support projects in the following countries of South-East Asia and Eastern Europe: 

South-East Asia 

• Indonesia
• Malaysia
• Philippines
• Vietnam

Eastern European & Balkan nations

• Albania
• Armenia
• Azerbaijan
• Belarus
• Bosnia & Herzegovina
• Georgia
• Kosovo
• Montegro 
• North Macedonia
• Serbia 
• Ukraine

Relevant Topics and Aims of Projects

This call will support collaborative projects that: 

• Further develop digitization of and access to natural history collections in priority regions
• Enable global linkage of and access to collection data from institutions in priority regions (e.g. via GBIF) 

For example, the awarded funds could be used within the framework of networking or training activities. Also, examples for data mobilization projects could be developing plans for digitization of collection specimens, connecting available structured digital data to open networks (e.g. GBIF), and preparatory tasks. 

Budget

• Typically, successful projects will be awarded up to 5,000 EUR each.
• Co-funding of the proposed project by the involved SYNTHESYS+ partner(s) is required (At least 25% of the project budget)
• Eligible uses of the awarded funds are for travel and subsistence costs only. If no other, contradicting regulations apply, costs for uses other than T&S may be covered by the funds contributed by the involved SYNTHESYS+ partner(s).
• The awarded budget will be administrated by the Museum fur Naturkunde (MfN). The budget provided by the involved SYNTHESYS+ partner(s) will be administrated by the latter.

Eligibility

• The proposed project is a joint activity of one or more SYNTHESYS+ partners and one or more partners based in a priority region.
• The proposed project has a relevant topic and aim. 
• The proposed budget and timeline are adequate and feasible (see also above: Budget).
• The co-funding of the proposed project pledged by the involved SYNTHESYS+ partner(s) covers at least 25 % of its total budget. 

Application & Scoring Process

• The formal project proposals have to be submitted by the participating SYNTHESYS+ partner(s).
• The project proposal template can be obtained upon request by email (see below: Contact). 
• Project proposals have to be submitted by email before the deadline (see below: Contact, Timeline). 
• Scoring and ranking of the proposals will be carried out by a selection panel. The panel will consist of SYNTHESYS+ representatives as well as of external experts. 

Criteria for scoring and ranking of the proposals are:

• Strategic relevance of the project partner(s) within the priority region 
• The proposed project is feasible and has a clearly defined, verifiable outcome  (deliverable) 
• The proposed project allows for and has a potential for further follow-up activities and cooperation between SYNTHESYS+ partners and the involved institutions/countries 

Outputs and Reporting

• A report for each project must be submitted after completing the project and before the deadline (see below: Timeline). 
• The report form template can be obtained upon request by email (see below: Contact).
• The reports must be submitted by email (see below: Contact).

Timeline

• 31 January - 14 April 2020: Call open, submission of project proposals
• 15 April - 15 May 2020: Review process and scoring of proposals
• 16 May - 31 May 2020: Feedback to project leaders and NA5 participants
• 01 June 2020 - 31 January 2022: Implementation of successful project proposals, completion of projects, submission of reports

Contact

Stefanie Krause ( stefanie.krause@mfn.berlin ) 

Task Lead: Thomas von Rintelen

Task Deputy: Christoph Hauser