The thematic priorities of the Call are the following three topics:

• 'Sustainable agriculture',
• 'Resource efficiency in relation to water / water management' and
• 'Applied chemistry & smart materials'.

Maximum funding per grant is 1000 EUR.

The Black Sea Horizon project has developed a grant scheme to financially support the participation of local researchers from Black Sea countries in large-scale brokerage events and other similar activities in EU Member States or Associated Countries, which are related to Horizon 2020. Such events provide an excellent arena for researchers to liaise and develop synergies, therefore the participation of researchers from the targeted countries will increase their opportunities to get involved and be taken on board in consortia set up in EU MS/AC countries. It will also allow the researchers to make their institutions and/or their research networks better known to the scientific community.

The thematic priorities of the call are the three topics identified as a result of the previous task T3.1, namely 'Sustainable agriculture', 'Resource efficiency in relation to water / water management' and 'Applied chemistry & smart materials'. The proposed list of events will be: Networking events, Brokerage events organised by the European Commission, large international events organised by other European networks (e.g Enterprise Europe Network). Partners based in BS region are also free to identify events of high importance which will be also considered eligible.

Please find attached:

• Guidelines for Applicants
• Application form 
• Follow-up report form
• Invoice template

Eligibility criteria

These criteria have to be met in order to be eligible for participation:

• Be a member or an employee of a research institution/organization and/or of a network of organizations and/or of a higher education institution and/or of an SME-enterprise working on research. The aim is that the participation will have a multiplier effect in the country and/or region.
• Conduct research at the above mentioned organisation in one of the partner countries(AR, AZ, BY, GE, MO, TR, UA)
• Submit a completely filled in application form along with all the required documentation.
• Have a PhD degree and/or at least three years’ full time experience in research.
• Carry out research in one of the three targeted thematic focuses: sustainable agriculture, resource efficiency in relation to water / water management or applied chemistry & smart materials.
• Speaking fluent English.
• Specify at least one call anticipated in H2020 Work Programme for 2016-17, which is in the focus of their scientific research and fit for consortium-building
• Some international experience (already existing contacts in other countries, participation in previous international conferences and collaborations, etc.).
• Commitment to participate in Horizon2020 calls.

Evaluation criteria

• Scientific excellence/Research performance (publications, patents, project, etc.) (50% of the score)
• Previous international cooperation activities (projects and/or structured cooperation with other countries; trainings abroad; participation in international conferences, etc.) (15% of the score)
• Commitment to take full advantage of the participation in the event: expected outcome, concrete plans for cooperation, participation in Horizon2020 calls should be described in more detail  including also the expected number of contacts established directly in brokerage/matching sessions, planned signed letters of agreement.  (35% of the score)

Additional evaluation criteria

• Gender: Encouragement of female researchers to participate
• Encouragement of young researchers (under 40)

Deadlines

Deadline for submission:                              7th December 2016 
Latest date of the selected event:              30th April 2017

Selection Process

Formality and eligibility check:

The Local Black Sea Partner will be responsible for the formality and eligibility check. Applications which do not comply with the eligibility criteria will not be considered within the evaluation process.

Evaluation:

The evaluation, based on a specified scoring matrix (see below) will be carried out by the Local Partners, the Task Leader and the Coordinator.

Scoring Matrix

Evaluation Criteria	Scoring
Have a postgraduate degree and/or at least three years’ full time experience in research	Yes or No
Be a member or an employee of a research institution and or of a higher education institution or of a research department of an SME in one of the partner countries	Yes or No
Sufficient knowledge of English (having at least intermediate language exam or at least two English publications in journals or edited books)	Yes or No
Upcoming call(s) from Horizon2020 Work Programme for 2016-17 is specified	Yes or No
Research performance/scientific excellence: 5 most important publications, relevant to the event total number of publications in refereed journals (or in journals from Thomson Reuters database) total number of citations (according to the database cited by the applicant) patents, if any participation in projects related to the topic of the Brokerage Event	max: 10 points min: 7 points
International cooperation experiences: projects and/or structured cooperation with colleagues from other countries; trainings abroad; participation in international conferences, symposia, workshops, etc.	max: 3 points
Commitment to take full advantage of the participation in the event: expected outcome, concrete plans for cooperation (become a member of a consortium,deepen already existing international contacts etc.) other activities planned (poster, presentation etc.)	max: 7 points min: 5 points

Funding Requirements

The Grants will be paid by the Regional Centre for Information and Scientific Development (RCISD) in the form of reimbursement of travel, visa and accommodation costs (flight ticket, visa and accommodation only, registration fee and other costs are not covered by project budget) following the events. The Grant cannot exceed 1,000 Euros.  If the cost of participation exceeds this amount, the additional cost must be covered by the Grant recipient. The reimbursement of costs will be effected by bank transfer, upon receipt of the invoice issued by the grantee’s organization.

Recommended Events

Please find recomended events below (related entries) and for a better overview also attached as a event list. Further events are available here:

• http://een.ec.europa.eu/tools/services/eve/event/listevents
• https://events.b2match.com/
• http://ec.europa.eu/research/index.cfm?pg=events&lg=en

Contact

Please get in touch with the Local Partner in your country for any questions regarding the eligibility criteria and the application process:

• Armenia: Tigran Arzumanyan ([email protected])
• Azerbaijan: Babayev Elchin ([email protected])
• Georgia: Nikoloz Bakradze ();  Oleg Shatberashvili ([email protected])
• Moldova: Diana Grozav ([email protected])
• Russian Federation: Yaroslav Sorokotyaga (; Elena Nasybulina  ([email protected])
• Turkey: Asli Akcayoz ([email protected])
• Ukraine: Igor Yegorov ([email protected])

For general enquiries you can also contact:

Zita Buday
Senior International Expert
Regional Centre for Information and Scientific Development, RCISD
H-1021 Budapest, Hűvösvölgyi út 54. V./1
E-mail:

Attachments:

• 0_APPLICATION_FORM_B... (DOCX)
• 0_FOLLOW_UP_REP_BSH_... (DOCX)
• 0_INVOICE_TEMPL_GSH_... (DOCX)
• Announcement_BSH_GS_... (DOCX)
• BLACKSEA-HORIZON_Gra... (DOCX)
• Brokerage_events_lis... (DOCX)
• List_of_calls_BS_GS_... (DOCX)