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2010 CALL FOR PROPOSALS for Minerva Centers (First Stage) in the following research fields: Interdisciplinary research in all fields in particular in the lifesciences, which intersect with the natural sciences, social sciences or the humanities Call closed!
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The Information of this page is available as PDF-file or RTF-file.
 Call For Proposals (PDF, 28 KB)
 Call For Proposals (RTF, 229 KB)
The Minerva Foundation is collecting proposals for new Minerva Centers. Minerva will establish 2 to 4 Minerva Centers during the years 2010/11. I. What is a Minerva Center Minerva Centers are research groups located in universities in Israel. They are under the directorship of a Principal Investigator, who has a permanent position in a university in Israel. Minerva Centers deal with topics that are innovative and of special interest to the science community in Israel. The centers carry out research in cooperation with German partners. The money for Minerva Centers is aimed at bridging gaps, training young scientists and building networks in the field of research with partners in Israel. Centers will involve excellent researchers regardless of their institutional affiliation. Requirements apply to the director of a center with regard to his/her scientific track record and experience in leading projects. The director will be an outstanding, experienced research figure and is responsible for bringing together the critical mass for the subject. www.minerva.mpg.de/minerva_centers/ II. Funding Objectives Minerva is seeking exciting topics for new centers which are truly interdisciplinary in their approach. In addition to the call for proposals which cross the borders of scientific fields, Minerva requests a focus on life sciences. One reason for choosing this field is a growing trend towards underrepresentation of biology and medical sciences in the centers' program. The 5 existing Minerva Centers in the fields of life sciences come to the end of their lifetime during the next few years. Interdisciplinary aspects of the proposals can be oriented towards the humanities and the social sciences as well as the "hard" sciences. III. Two-stage Proposal Procedure This call for proposals is the first part of a two-stage procedure for collecting applications for new Minerva Centers. 1st stage: Invitation of thematic proposals. In the first stage of the proposal procedure, researchers submit outlines of exciting/promising new topics that are suitable for being best elaborated by a center. The first stage is intended to be a collection of promising ideas. A proposal can be submitted by a scientist who applies to lead a Minerva Center; a proposal can also be submitted by a scientist who proposes another scientist as a director of the center. The proposals must include the names, the CV and five publications of one or more potential PIs. Thematic proposals are to be sent to Minerva. The host university will receive information on the proposals. The universities are invited to comment on these proposals, however, in this first stage, submission by a university is not a pre-requirement. The Minerva Centers Committee will carry out a pre-selection of the proposals. 2nd stage: The selected PIs/leading scientists named in the thematic proposals are invited, together with their university, to present a more elaborated and detailed application. The application must have the support of the host university, which it states in a letter of commitment. The decision on the applications to be selected will be made on the basis of a personal presentation of the PI and a discussion with the evaluation panel (the Centers Committee and additional scientists). IV. Funding Duration of the Center The lifetime of a center will be limited. The initial period will last six years. After an evaluation (during the 6th year), the lifetime of a center can be extended for another period depending on the recommendation of the evaluation committee and this will not exceed another six years. V. Budget of the Center The center will be funded by the return (or revenue) of capital funds by Minerva. The return will be matched with the same amount by the host institution, partially contributed in kind. Both amounts will make up the budget of the center. The budget will comprise a sum of roughly €150,000 per year. Minerva aims to guarantee a stable budget for the centers in the future. This mode of procedure is still under discussion with the universities. VI. Eligibility Requirements Principal Investigators, who are in a permanent position in one of the universities, are invited to submit proposals. VII. Submission and Deadlines Proposals for the 1st stage must reach the MINERVA office by May 10, 2010. Proposals must be submitted electronically and as one print copy by the Principle Investigator to: MINERVA Stiftung Gesellschaft für die Forschung mbH Postbox 101062 D-80084 München Federal Republic of Germany e-mail: michael.nagel@gv.mpg.de Intended further procedures are:
VIII. Documents to be Submitted The following information are obligatory parts of the thematic proposal in the 1st stage:
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