Bilateral cooperation

(Co)financing of research projects according to the Lead Agency principle

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Presentation

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

ARIS promotes international cooperation as a key element for achieving excellence in research and creates an environment for cutting-edge scientific achievements. With the aim of strengthening transnational research links, ARIS offers researchers in the Republic of Slovenia the opportunity to submit applications for excellent European joint research projects and provides financial resources for the (co)financing of the Slovenian part of joint research projects.

The scheme of (co)financing research projects according to the principle of the lead agency enables the submission of a joint application for a research project by researchers from two or three different countries/regions. The co-applicants shall freely choose the agency to act as the lead agency, with all co-applicants expected to contribute significantly and in a complementary manner to the joint research project. The basic principle of (co)financing according to the lead agency principle is that the agency, acting in the role of the lead agency, carries out the evaluation procedure, and the partner agency, without an additional evaluation procedure, recognizes the results of the evaluation procedure of the lead agency. When a joint application of a research project is assessed as successful in the evaluation procedure and is proposed for (co)funding by the lead agency, the participating partner agencies usually recognise the results of the evaluation procedure and take over the (co)financing of their national/regional part of the research project without an additional evaluation procedure. Only applications that are accepted for (co)funding by all participating partner agencies can be included in (co)financing.

The scheme aims to reduce the administrative burden by simplifying the submission and selection process for joint research project applications. However, it is important to note that in addition to the joint research project application submitted to the lead agency, applicants must also submit a copy of the joint research project application and the (administrative) application to their national or regional agency (partner agency) under the conditions set by the partner agency.

ARIS has currently established cooperation according to the principle of the lead agency:

  • on the basis of an individual bilateral cooperation agreement on the principle of the lead agency with the Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office – NKFIH;
  • on the basis of the Agreement on the Multilateral Lead Agency Scheme (Weave), which has been signed by 11 other European agencies in addition to ARIS.
     

Participation of ARIS within the scheme of (co)financing of research projects according to the principle of the lead agency:

  • ARIS in the role of lead agency (carries out the evaluation process), and
  • ARIS in the role of a partner agency (the evaluation procedure is carried out by a foreign lead agency).

ARIS has been included in the CEUS agency partnership, but it is currently on temporary hold. In addition to ARIS, the CEUS partnership includes FWF (Austria), GA ČR (Czech Republic) and NCN (Poland). Memorandum of Recognition: Memorandum of Understanding on the Unilateral administration and mutual recognition of evaluation procedures.

 

2. ARIS AS A PARTNER AGENCY

2.1. WEAVE

ARIS is one of the twelve European agencies that are part of the 2020 Lead Agency Agreement. In addition to ARIS, the agreement was signed by: DFG (Germany), FNR (Luxembourg), FNRS (Belgium), FORMAS (Sweden), FWF (Austria), FWO (Belgium/Flanders), GA CR (Czech Republic), HRZZ (Croatia), NCN (Poland), RCN (Norway) and SNSF (Switzerland).

Direct cooperation is currently possible with the following eight agencies: Austria (FWF), Belgium/Flanders (FWO), Czech Republic (GA CR), Croatia (HRZZ), Luxembourg (FNR), Poland (NCN) and Switzerland (SNSF).

NEW: From the beginning of November 2024 onwards, direct cooperation is also established with the DFG (Germany).

Cooperation with the three agencies FNRS (Belgium), FORMAS (Sweden) and RCN (Norway) has not yet been established. However, during the five-year transitional period defined in the Agreement, cooperation under this instrument is expected to be established with all signatories to the Agreement. Coordination is underway with the FNRS, FORMAS and RCN agencies to establish the envisaged cooperation in one of the future calls when ARIS will be the lead agency.

"Weave" is the common name for this instrument for all 12 agencies. Weave builds on existing funding schemes that are open to national or regional research projects and to Weave project applications. Agencies involved in the (co)funding of Weave research projects provide (co)funding only within their national or regional borders.

Since 2023, ARIS has discontinued public calls for (co)financing the Slovenian part of Weave joint research projects, where ARIS acts as a partner agency. Instead, (co)financing is now provided through direct contracts. Applicants can find further information at the following link:

Weave – information for applicants (English version in preparation)

Contacts:

 

2.2. NKFIH

International Lead Agency Agreement with the Hungarian Agency NKFIH (Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office) is based on the Lead Agency principle and enables researchers to apply for a joint Hungarian-Slovenian research project with the Lead Agency, which carries out the evaluation process.

Each national part of a Hungarian-Slovenian research project is separately (co)financed by each national agency in accordance with its own rules.

Since 2023, ARIS has discontinued public calls for (co)financing the Slovenian part of joint Hungarian-Slovenian research project, where ARIS acts as a partner agency. Instead, (co)financing is now provided through direct contracts. Applicants can find further information at the following link:

NKFIH – information for applicants (English version in preparation)

Contacts:

 

2.3. UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION – ARIS AS A PARTNER AGENCY
 

FWF
(Austria)

Deadline: permanent call

 

  FWO
(Flanders)

Deadline: closed (2024)

 

 
GA ČR
(Czech Republic)

Deadline: closed (2024)

 

         

HRZZ
(Croatia)

Deadline: closed (2024)

 

  FNR
(Luxemburg)

Deadline: 10.04.2025

  NCN
(Poland)

Deadline: closed (2024)
         
SNSF
(
Switzerland)

Deadline: closed (2024)

  DFG
(
Germany)

Deadline: permanent call

 
NKFIH

(
Hungary)

Deadline: closed (2024)

 

 

2.4. ANALYTICAL DATA ON (CO)FINANCING – ARIS AS A PARTNER AGENCY

In the period from 2022 to 2024, ARIS (co)financed 152 Slovenian parts of joint research projects according to the lead agency principle, where ARIS acts as a partner agency. Throughout the mentioned period, the Slovenian part of joint research projects was (co)financed in research projects where the FWF, FWO, GA ČR, NCN, SNSF and NKFIH acted as the lead agency. The (co)financing of the Slovenian part of joint research projects, where the HRZZ and FNR operate as the lead agency, will only take place from 2024 onwards. The distribution of research projects (co)financed according to the principle of the lead agency according to ARIS research sciences and according to foreign (leading) agencies can be found here.
 

3. ARIS AS LEAD AGENCY

Applicants can submit a joint application for a research project with partners with whom ARIS has established direct cooperation. Currently, these are: Austria (FWF), Belgium / Flanders (FWO), Czech Republic (GA CR), Croatia (HRZZ), Luxembourg (FNR), Poland (NCN), Switzerland (SNSF) and Hungary (NKFIH).

NEW: Since the publication of the Public call for (co)financing of research projects for 2025, direct cooperation is also established with DFG (Germany).

The applicant may submit an application for a joint research project in cooperation with a partner agency within the framework of the regular annual national call ARIS for the (co)financing of research projects. The applicant must send an application for a joint research project to ARIS under the conditions defined by ARIS in the call for proposals. The foreign co-applicant is usually required to submit a copy of the joint application and the (administrative) application to the foreign partner agency within one week of filing the joint application with the lead ARIS agency. If a copy of the joint application or (administrative) application is not submitted to the foreign partner agency, such application is not included in the further assessment procedure.

ARIS, in its role as the lead agency, carries out the evaluation procedure for the submitted joint research projects, informs the foreign partner agencies of the results of the evaluation and proposes to the foreign partner agencies the (co)financing of their part of the joint research project that has exceeded the agreed threshold for (co)funding in the evaluation process. As a rule, partner agencies or their decision-making bodies, without additional assessment on their part, recognise the results of the ARIS assessment and, as a rule, accept their part of the positively evaluated joint research project for (co)financing. The Slovenian part of the approved joint research project is (co)financed by ARIS, and the partner agencies each pay their own part of the joint research project. The decision on the (co)financing of a joint research project must be made by all participating agencies for the implementation of (co)financing.

Public call for (co)financing of research projects for 2025

Contact e-mail address: razpis-projekti@aris-rs.si