Programmes and projects

Research projects

Calls

      

The Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency, Bleiweisova cesta 30, 1000 Ljubljana, based on Article 32 in connection with Article 12 of the Scientific Research and Innovation Activities Act (ZZrID) (Official Gazette of the RS, Nos. 186/21 and 40/23), Articles 10 and 13 of the General Act on Procedures for Financing, Co-financing, Evaluating and Monitoring the Implementation of Scientific Research Activities (Official Gazette of the RS, No. 166/22) and based on the Methodology for the assessment of applications in the procedures for the (co-)financing of scientific research activities No. 6319-5/2022-5 of 9 January 2023, No. 6319-5/2022-6 of 17 January 2023 – corr., No. 6319-5/2022-7 of 19 June 2023, and 6319-5/2022-8 of 13 November 2023, hereby publishes the

Public Call for the (co-)financing of research projects in 2024

1. Name and registered office of the ARIS

Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency, Bleiweisova cesta 30, 1000 Ljubljana (hereinafter: ARIS).
 

2. Subject of the Call

The subject of the Public Call for the (co-)financing of research projects in 2024 (hereinafter: the Call) is the (co-)financing of research projects;

  1. post-doctoral basic research projects (hereinafter: post-doctoral basic projects) and post-doctoral applied research projects (hereinafter: post-doctoral applied projects);
  2. small basic research projects (hereinafter: basic projects) for young doctors (maximum 7 years after defending doctoral dissertation);
  3. small basic research projects (hereinafter: basic projects) for the middle generation of researchers (maximum 15 years after the year of defending doctoral dissertation);
  4. small basic research projects (hereinafter: basic projects) for other researchers (more than 15 years after defending doctoral dissertation);
  5. small applied research projects (hereinafter: applied projects);
  6. small basic research projects – Dr. Aleš Debeljak Programme (hereinafter: basic projects - AD Programme);
  7. large basic research project (hereinafter: large projects).
     

3. Amount of funds for the Call

The estimated annual amount of funding for the realisation of items 2.a, 2.b, 2.c, 2.d and 2.e is €15,000,000.

The estimated annual amount of funding for the realisation of item 2.a of this Call is €1,500,000.

The estimated annual amount of funding for the realisation of item 2.b of this Call is €3,500,000.

The estimated annual amount of funding for the realisation of item 2.c of this Call is €3,500,000.

The estimated annual amount of funding for the realisation of item 2.d of this Call is €3,500,000.

The estimated annual amount of funding for the realisation of item 2.e of this Call is €3,000,000.

The estimated annual amount of funding for the realisation of item 2.f of this Call is €1,000,000.

The estimated annual amount of funding for the realisation of item 2.g of this Call is €2,000,000.

The Call will be realised in view of the funding resources available in the budget of the Republic of Slovenia and the ARIS financial plan.

The distribution of funds in the Call is defined by scientific research disciplines or field panels, as defined by the Classification of research domains and fields of ERC panels (hereinafter: ERC classification; ERC research domains, ERC fields).

3.1. Distribution of approximate annual funds in terms of items 2.a, 2.b, 2.c, 2.d and 2.e in the amount of €15,000,000 per ERC research domains
 

ERC research domains Ratio of funds in the Call (in %)
Physical Sciences and Engineering (PE) 46.95
Life Sciences (LS) 28.94
Social Sciences and Humanities 24.11
TOTAL 100.00

Information about the capacity of ERC research domains for the realisation of item 2.a is published on the ARIS website. Approximate amount of funding for clinical studies is determined specifically for item 2.a.

Information about the capacity of ERC fields for the realisation of items 2.b, 2.c and 2.d are published on the ARIS website. The approximate amount of funding for clinical studies and minimum funding for interdisciplinary studies is determined specifically for items 2.b, 2.c and 2.d.

When applying for interdisciplinary projects, applicants must state which strategic objective of the Republic of Slovenia and the European Union their research project proposal is following:

1. Green transition;
2. Digital transition.

The strategic objectives, defined by the ministry responsible for science, are presented in the proposal Council Recommendation on a Pact for Research and Innovation in Europe (COM/2021/407), in the presentation of the European green transition at the European Commission website and in the report of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) "The twin green & digital transition:How sustainable digital technologies could enable a carbon-neutral EU by 2050". The research represents the scientific basis for technological solutions for the green transition and digitalisation, the impact of the green transition and digitalisation on the functioning of society and social activities, human health, and the protection of natural and cultural heritage.

Information about the capacity of ERC research domains for the realisation of item 2.e is published on the ARIS website. Approximate amount of funding for clinical studies is determined specifically for item 2.e.

3.2. Amount of (co-)financing

Basic and applied projects will be (co-)financed in the approximate annual amount of €100,000. At the proposal of the international panel, the project may be (co-)financed at the reduced amount of approximately €50,000 annually.

Calculated in terms of effective project research hours, this equates with approximately 2571 hours annually in Price Class A (1286 for projects valued at €50,000), 2294 hours annually in Price Class B (1147 for projects valued at €50,000), 2017 hours annually in Price Class C (1008 for projects valued at €50,000), 1815 hours annually in Price Class D (907 for projects valued at €50,000), 1652 hours annually in Price Class E (826 for projects valued at €50,000) or 1517 hours annually in Price Class F (758 for projects valued at €50,000).

Basic projects - AD programme will be (co-)financed in the approximate annual amount of €100,000. Calculated in terms of effective project research hours, this equates with approximately 2571 hours annually in Price Class A, 2294 hours annually in Price Class B, 2017 hours annually in Price Class C, 1815 hours annually in Price Class D, 1652 hours annually in Price Class E or 1517 hours annually in Price Class F.

The scope of a post-doctoral project is 1700 effective research hours annually (1 FTE) in Price Category B.

Large projects will be (co-)financed in the approximate annual amount of €500,000. Calculated in terms of effective project research hours, this equates with approximately 12857 hours annually in Price Class A, 11468 hours annually in Price Class B, 10083 hours annually in Price Class C, 9073 hours annually in Price Class D, 8262 hours annually in Price Class E or 7583 hours annually in Price Class F.

The ARIS will finance up to 100% of eligible project costs for basic projects, post-doctoral basic projects, basic projects - AD Programme and large projects. The ARIS will finance up to 75% of eligible project costs for applied projects and post-doctoral applied projects. The amount of co-financing of an applied post-doctoral project by the ARIS shall amount to 1275 effective research hours annually (0.75 FTE) in Price Class B.

The applicant of an applied project or a post-doctoral applied project must ensure that at least 25% of eligible project costs are covered by other interested users and submit proof of the project’s (co-)financing (a (co-)financing agreement) for the entire period of the project’s implementation in view of the value of the effective research hours at the start of (co-)financing. The projects cannot be (co-)financed by research organisations that are entered into the Databases of Research and Development Providers (hereinafter: RO database), except for companies. (Co-)financing can only be in the form of money.

A (co-)financer of an applied project may also be a participating research organisation of the same applied project, not exceeding 10% of the scope of the project, (co-)financed by the ARIS. If the applicant is a (co-)financer of an applied project, the above mentioned limit does not apply to the applicant.

In view of the number of effective research hours (co-)financed from the budget of the Republic of Slovenia, the ARIS will, in accordance with the provisions of the Decree on the scientific research funding from the budget of the Republic of Slovenia (Official Gazette of the RS, Nos. 35/22, 144/22 and 79/23), (co-)finance an individual researcher in view of the ratio of employment options for research, but no more than 1700 effective research hours per annum. The minimum annual workload of a researcher per individual project is 34 effective hours of research work.
 

4. Entities who are eligible for application to the Call

The Call is open to research organisations entered into the RO database as well as private researchers entered into the register of private researchers, which are kept by the ARIS, and that meet the requirements set out in the Scientific Research and Innovation Activities Act and the General Act on Procedures for Financing, Co-financing, Evaluating and Monitoring the Implementation of Scientific Research Activities (hereinafter: the General Act). Only research organisations can apply for the basic projects – AD Programme and large projects.

If there are several providers of scientific research activities collaborating on a project, the applicant is the parent research organisation. A parent research organisation is the research organisation that submits the application for the research project, is listed first on the application form and employs the leader of the research project upon signing the agreement on implementation and (co-)financing of the scientific research activities. Research projects which are (co-)financed by the ARIS and comply with the framework programme of research and technology development activities of the EU shall be open to research entities from the EU, whereby the said entities (co-)finance their own part of research using their own funds. The applicants may register these subjects as participating research groups.
 

5. Objectives of the Call

The objective of the Call is to select for (co-)financing:

5.1. Basic projects and post-doctoral basic and post-doctoral applied projects

Within the scope of item 2.a, two research projects are dedicated to clinical studies.

The amount of €200,000 is allocated to clinical studies for the realisation of items 2.b, 2.c and 2.d. At least €400,000 is allocated to interdisciplinary research, of which €200,000 is allocated to the ERC research domain Physical Sciences and Engineering (PE), €100,000 to the ERC research domain Life Sciences (LS), and €100,000 to the ERC research domain Social Sciences and Humanities (SH).

No more than 10% of projects amounting to €50,000 within items 2.b., 2.c and 2.d can be approved for all the ERC research domains in total. Projects amounting to €50,000 are usually assigned to applications that are at the bottom of the list of approved applications.

5.2. Applied projects

Within the scope of item 2.e, €2,200,000 is allocated to the ERC research domain Physical Sciences and Engineering, €600,000 to the ERC research domain Life Sciences (LS) and €200,000 to the ERC research domain Social Sciences and Humanities (SH).

The amount of €100,000 is allocated to clinical studies for the realisation of item 2.e.

No more than 10% of projects amounting to €50,000 within item 2.e can be approved for all the ERC research domains in total. Projects amounting to €50,000 are usually assigned to applications that are at the bottom of the list of approved applications.

Applied projects are not to be submitted under the agreement with the Hungarian agency NKFIH and under the WEAVE agreement with the Austrian agency FWF, the Polish agency NCN, the Swiss agency SNSF, the Flemish agency FWO, the Croatian agency HRZZ, the Czech agency GAČR and the Luxembourg agency FNR.


5.3. Basic programmes - AD Programme

For the ERC research domain Physical Sciences and Engineering (PE), four top ranked projects are selected for (co-)financing, whereby they cannot belong to the same ERC field within the ERC research domain, except in the cases specified in item 11 of the Call.

For the ERC research domain Life Sciences (LS), three top ranked projects are selected for (co-)financing, whereby they cannot belong to the same ERC field within the ERC research domain, except in the cases specified in item 11 of the Call.

For tje ERC research domain Social Sciences and Humanities (SH), three top ranked projects are selected for (co-)financing, whereby they cannot belong to the same ERC field within the ERC research domain, except in the cases specified in item 11 of the Call.

Basic projects - AD programme are not to be submitted under the agreement with the Hungarian agency NKFIH and under the WEAVE agreement with the Austrian agency FWF, the Polish agency NCN, the Swiss agency SNSF, the Flemish agency FWO, the Croatian agency HRZZ, the Czech agency GAČR and the Luxembourg agency FNR.

5.4. Large projects

Large projects are basic projects that must include at least two Slovenian ROs of a different type (with regard to their status, i.e. research institution, university or independent higher education institution, or company) and include a minimum of two ARIS Classification disciplines.

Two best rated large projects in the ERC research domain Physical Sciences and Engineering (PE) are selected for (co-)financing.

One best rated large project in the ERC research domain Life Sciences (LS) is selected for (co-)financing.

One best rated large project in the ERC research domain Social Sciences and Humanities (SH) is selected for (co-)financing.

Large projects are not to be submitted under the agreement with the Hungarian agency NKFIH and under the WEAVE agreement with the Austrian agency FWF, the Polish agency NCN, the Swiss agency SNSF, the Flemish agency FWO, the Croatian agency HRZZ, the Czech agency GAČR and the Luxembourg agency FNR.
 

6. Requirements

Requirements for the participation in the Call for basic and applied projects, post-doctoral basic and applied projects, and large projects are set out in the Scientific Research and Innovation Activities Act, the Methodology for the assessment of applications in the procedures for the (co-)financing of scientific research activities (hereinafter: the Methodology), in the General Act, and in the Criteria for demonstrating internationally comparable research results and the period of eligible internationally comparable research results for the research project and programme leader, No. 007-5/2022-3 of 16 May 2022, and No. 007-1/2023-1 of 2 February 2023 (hereinafter: criteria for the project leader). All listed documents are published on the ARIS website.

The requirements for participation in the Call for basic projects – AD Programme are laid out in the Methodology.

The requirements for participation in the Call must be met on the closing date of the Call, unless otherwise determined by this Call.

6.1. Requirements for basic and applied projects and post-doctoral (basic and applied) projects

6.1.1 Basic requirements for applicants and project leaders

The Call applicant must be an eligible applicant in accordance with item 4 of the Call.

Large, basic and applied projects are to be carried out by a project group comprising a project leader, researchers, and professional and technical associates. If the project group comprises several project subgroups at various research organisations, the applicant must have a signed agreement with the other participating research organisations on the regulation of mutual rights and obligations. The relevant requirement must be fulfilled at the time of signing the agreement on (co-)financing and implementation of the scientific research activities.

If the project is granted €50,000, the applicant can exclude or reduce the share carried out by the participating research organisations and must state this on the application for the Call – item 25 of the application form (with an indication of the share of participating research organisations).

The participating research organisation must collaborate with at least 170 effective hours of research work during the period of the project’s implementation, whereby the minimum amount of the research organisation's collaboration is 170 effective hours of research work per annum. During the project’s implementation, the number of effective hours of research work rendered annually by the participating research organisation can be 0.

The applicant of an applied project or a post-doctoral applied project must ensure that at least 25% of eligible project costs are covered by other interested users, with whom a written agreement on (co-)financing must be concluded. The relevant requirement must be fulfilled at the time of signing the agreement on implementation and (co-)financing of the scientific research activities.

The project leader must have a researcher number, which means that he or she must be entered into the RO database or into the private researcher register. For a project leader without an assigned researcher number, the applicant must fill out the ARIS-ZOP-02/2023-1 form and submit an accompanying Statement on the intention of employment. 

A researcher who has received a negative grade on a final report for a project in which he or she was a project leader during the period of three years prior to the starting year of the Call cannot apply as a project leader on this Call.

A researcher whose project application, of which he or she was a project leader, was given a lower number of points than the amount defined as the overall threshold for the sum of all scores, as specified in Article 71 or 72 of the General Act, in a previous call may not apply to the Call as the leader of a project.

Only researchers who are project leaders for a maximum of one project (co-)financed by the ARIS during the period of one year after the deadline for the submission of the application, including projects with an extended deadline for project conclusion in accordance with Article 81 of the General Act or Article 104 of the Rules that were in force before the General Act was adopted, may apply as project leaders under this Call. Target research programmes and projects referred to in item 3 of Article 3 of the General Act and Article 103 of the General Act, new projects, and also the projects referred to in Article 102 of the General Act that are (co-)financed in an amount that equals less than €50,000 annually, shall not be taken into consideration regarding the limitation from the previous paragraph.

A post-doctoral project can only be carried out by one researcher - a post-doctoral researcher. Post-doctoral researchers fulfil the post-doctoral project leader requirements if no more than three years have passed since they defended their first doctorate (i.e. the doctorate was defended in the period of 1 January 2021 to the end of this Call). If a post-doctoral researcher utilises their parental leave under the parental protection insurance, the time period following the year of doctoral defence is extended beyond the three years for a period of one year and a half per child. The same applies to documented absences due to sick or injury leave, other types of absence provided for in the regulations on health insurance, longer than six months.

Researchers who have already carried out a post-doctoral project or have received funds from the “Researchers at the start of their career/Raziskovalci na začetku kariere” call may no longer register a post-doctoral project.

A researcher fulfils the requirement for a young doctor if, on the closing date of the Call, no more than seven years have passed after the year of defending his or her doctoral dissertation (the period of defending the doctoral dissertation from 1 January 2017 to the end of this Call).

A researcher fulfils the requirement for a middle generation researcher if, on the closing date of the Call, no more than fifteen years have passed after the year of defending his or her doctoral dissertation (the period of defending the doctoral dissertation from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2016). A researcher may apply as a leader for only one research project within the Call.
 

6.1.2 Additional requirements for applicants submitting projects under the agreement with the Hungarian agency NKFIH and under the WEAVE agreement with the Austrian agency FWF, the Polish agency NCN, the Swiss agency SNSF, the Flemish agency FWO, the Croatian agency HRZZ, the Czech agency GAČR and the Luxembourg agency FNR

6.1.2.1. Additional requirements for applicants who submit projects under the agreement with the Hungarian agency NKFIH

Pursuant to an agreement with the Hungarian agency NKFIH, the applicant may submit projects in collaboration with Hungarian researchers (researchers who work in Hungarian research organisations), whereby the ARIS acts as the “lead agency” and performs the project review. Hungarian researchers shall submit the application together with the Slovenian researchers, as well as send the application documentation to NKFIH as required by the said agency. In the case of (co-)financing by the NKFIH, the volume of NKFIH funds must be less than the volume of the Slovenian part. Projects submitted under an agreement with the NKFIH may only be basic projects as defined in items 2.b, 2.c and 2.d of the Call.

6.1.2.2. Additional requirements for applicants submitting projects under the WEAVE agreement with the Austrian agency FWF, the Polish agency NCN, the Swiss agency SNSF, the Flemish agency FWO, the Croatian agency HRZZ, the Czech agency GAČR and the Luxembourg agency FNR

Under the WEAVE agreement with the Austrian agency FWF, the Polish agency NCN, the Swiss agency SNSF, the Flemish agency FWO, the Croatian agency HRZZ, the Czech agency GAČR and the Luxembourg agency FNR, applicants can submit projects in collaboration with Austrian, Polish, Swiss, Flemish, Croatian, Czech, and Luxembourg researchers (researchers working in Austrian, Polish, Swiss, Flemish, Croatian, Czech, and Luxembourg research organisations), where the ARIS acts as a "leading agency", which reviews the project. Slovenian researchers can submit an application together with:

  • Austrian researchers who simultaneously submit the application to the FWF as required by the FWF,
  • Polish researchers who simultaneously submit the application to the NCN as required by the NCN,
  • Swiss researchers who simultaneously submit the application to the SNSF as required by the SNSF,
  • Flemish researchers who simultaneously submit the application to the FWO as required by the FWO,
  • Croatian researchers who simultaneously submit the application to the HRZZ as required by the HRZZ,
  • Czech researchers who simultaneously submit the application to the GAČR as required by the GAČR, and
  • Luxembourg researchers who simultaneously submit the application to the FNR as required by the FNR.

Slovenian researchers can also submit applications in co-operation with researchers from two countries listed under item 6.1.2.2. of this Call who simultaneously submit the application to the partner agencies as required by the partner agencies. Regardless of the above, it is not possible to submit an application in co-operation with Flemish and Czech researchers (participating agencies FWO and GAČR).

Researchers from partner countries shall submit the application together with the Slovenian researchers, as well as send the application documentation to partner agencies as required by those agencies.

Projects submitted under an agreement with the listed partner organisations may only be basic projects as defined in items 2.b, 2.c and 2.d of the Call.

6.1.2.3. Common provisions for applicants submitting a project under agreements with partner agencies

If the entry requirements of one of the participating agencies are not met, the application will be deemed to have been rejected by all participating agencies.

6.1.3 Available capacities and employment

The project leader and the members of the project groups must have available capacities as regards FTE to carry out the research project (the maximum permitted capacity for full-time employment is 1700 effective research hours or one FTE) and must be employed by the RO that will carry out the project, or have the status of private researcher. Upon signing the agreement on implementation and (co-)financing of the scientific research activities, the project leader must have at least 170 effective research hours (0.1 FTE) available annually. A project group member (except for young researchers, doctoral students, financed from other sources, retired researchers, who may participate in the project with 0 effective hours of research work) must, on the starting day of project implementation, participate with at least 34 effective research hours (0.02 FTE) available annually. PRO head may participate in the project with 0 effective hours of research work.

The agreement must be signed no later than three months from the date of adopting the decision on the selection of application. If there is a delay in the start of (co-)financing, the agreement will be signed no later than six months from the date of adopting the decision on the selection of application. The project leader must be employed in at least a 20% full-time capacity at the research organisation in the Republic of Slovenia carrying out the research project.

6.1.4 Research performance of project leaders

Research project leaders must hold a doctoral degree and comply with the following requirements, stated with the minimum values for each parameter. Researchers with young doctor status must fulfil the requirements for young doctors where expressly required.

Compliance with the requirements is checked for research discipline and research field according to the ARIS classification, which the project leaders mark in the application form.

Quantitative grades for each evaluation factor (A1 and CI) and for each scientific discipline according to the ARIS classification, defined in the methodology are obtained and calculated by the ARIS. To calculate the quantitative grade, the ARIS will use the data entered into the SICRIS (COBISS) databases and the ARIS databases on the closing date of the Call (A1) or on the day of the last data capture in the SICRIS (COBISS) database prior to the closure of the Call (CI).

For the purpose of evaluating bibliographic criteria of a researcher's research performance (calculation of quantitative assessments), researchers themselves must, through an authorised library, timely enter the researcher's number from the RO database, into the normative record for the author in the CONOR.SI normative database.

6.1.4.1. Requirements for leaders of basic and applied projects

  • Achieved requirements regarding citations and a minimum number of points for scientific publications as laid out by Subchapters 1 and 2 of Chapter I of Article 1 of the criteria for project leaders,
  • A1/2 ≥ 400 or A' ≥ 200 or A" ≥ 50 or basic requirement,
  • A' > 0,
  • A1 ≥ 0.30.

Basic requirements for project leader candidates are: A1 ≥ A1 minimum, CI ≥ CI minimum and A3 ≥ A3 minimum.

Requirements for A1 minimum, CI minimum and A3 minimum for each discipline and field according to the ARIS classification are listed in the table below. The field according to the ARIS classification is listed if it is considered an exception and therefore has different requirements than the discipline. For fields that are not listed, the requirements for the discipline are applicable.

Grade A1

  1. A1 minimum is as follows:
     
Discipline/Field according to the ARIS classification A1 minimum
Natural Sciences, Engineering, Medical Sciences, Biotechnical Sciences, Social Sciences, Archaeology, Geography 0.50
Humanities, Law, National Issues 1
  1. For project leaders with young doctor status, the A1 minimum is set out in the following table:
     
Discipline/Field according to the ARIS classification A1 minimum
Natural Sciences, Engineering, Medical Sciences, Biotechnical Sciences, Social Sciences, Archaeology, Geography 0.40
Humanities, Law, National Issues 1

Pure citations

  1. The minimum number of pure citations, CI minimum, for project leaders is as follows:
     
Discipline/Field according to the ARIS classification CI minimum
Humanities, Law, National Issues 1
Social Sciences, Archaeology, Geography 5
Mining and Geotechnology, Geodesy, Transport, Hydrology, Psychology, Sport 15
Engineering, Biotechnical Sciences, Mathematics, Geology 50
Medical Sciences, Biology, Computationally Intensive Methods and Applications, Chemical Engineering, Energy Engineering, Materials 100
Natural Sciences, Microbiology and Immunology, Biotechnology 200
  1. For project leaders with young doctor status, the minimum number of pure citations, CI minimum, is set out as follows:
     
Discipline/Field according to the ARIS classification CI minimum
Humanities, Law, National Issues 1
Social Sciences, Mining and Geotechnology, Transport, Hydrology, Geography 5
Engineering, Mathematics, Geology, Forestry, Wood and Paper Industry, Plant Production and Processing 10
Natural Sciences, Medical Sciences, Biotechnical Sciences 20

Other quantitative requirements

For project leaders, A3 minimum equals 0.

6.1.4.2. Requirements for post-doctoral project leaders

  • At least one scientific publication, as laid out in the methodology,
  • A> 0,
  • A' > 0.

6.1.4.3. Requirements for large project leaders

  • Achieved requirements regarding citations and a minimum number of points for scientific publications as laid out in Subchapter 1 of Chapter I of Article 1 of the criteria for project leaders,
  • A" ≥ 50.

6.2. Requirements for basic projects – AD Programme

  • On the closing date of the Call, the leader of the submitted project must have been living abroad for at least one year and must not be employed in the Republic of Slovenia nor have a suspension of employment contract (legal suspension or suspension based on agreement with the employer) or the status of a private researcher in the Republic of Slovenia. The requirement of living abroad for a period of one year is also considered fulfilled if the leader of the submitted project defended their doctoral dissertation abroad no more than one year prior to the closure of the Call.
  • On the closing date of the Call, the leader of the submitted project must fulfil the requirement that no more than 15 years have passed since he or she defended their first doctorate (the period of defending the doctoral dissertation from 1 January 2009 to the end of this Call).
  • The leader of the submitted project must be a citizen of the Republic of Slovenia on the closing date of the Call.
  • The leader of the submitted project must be listed as working on the research project they lead for at least 340 effective research hours annually (20% of 1700 effective research hours). Upon concluding the agreement on implementation and (co-)financing of the scientific research activities, he or she must be listed as employed for scientific research activities in a share of no less than 20%.
  • The leader of the submitted project must fulfil the requirements for leaders of basic projects.
  • In case an application is selected for (co-)financing, the researchers cannot submit a second project for consideration within the same or a similar mechanism, that is a mechanism for (co-)financing projects by researchers returning to the Republic of Slovenia from abroad.
     

7. Applying to the Call

The applicant applies to the ERC field. For the purpose of evaluation, the applicant chooses a discipline and field according to the ARIS classification, which overlaps in terms of content with the selected ERC field. The table of content overlaps between the fields of the ARIS classification and the fields of the ERC classification is available here.

The applicant of an interdisciplinary research applies to the ERC field. For the purpose of checking the entry requirements and evaluation, the applicant selects a basic discipline and field according to the ARIS classification, which overlaps in content with the selected ERC field, and indicates another discipline and field according to the ARIS classification, which are included in the applied interdisciplinary research project. When choosing another discipline and field, it is not necessary to take into account content overlap with the ERC field.

On his or her application the applicant marks if the content of the proposed research project is considered a trade secret according to the Trade Secrets Act (Official Gazette of the RS, No. 22/19).

The assembly of a project group is an integral part of the application. Project groups from the application cannot be changed until the end of the year in which the implementation of the research project started, unless their employment relationship with the applicant or contractor ends or in case of another similarly justified reason. Project group members, whose most important research achievements are listed on the application, must participate in the project group at all times, unless their employment relationship with the applicant or contractor ends or in case of another similarly justified reason. For a change due to another similarly justified reason, the applicant or contractor must submit an application to the ARIS. Applicants who cannot foresee which researchers will be involved in the implementation of the project when submitting the application (mainly foreign post-doctoral students who have not yet concluded relevant contracts), only list them as part of the project content.

Joint project application based on the agreement with the Hungarian agency NKFIH and under the WEAVE agreement with the Austrian agency FWF, the Polish agency NCN, the Swiss agency SNSF, the Flemish agency FWO, the Croatian agency HRZZ, the Czech agency GAČR and the Luxembourg agency FNR consists of a joint scientific description of the project, describing the scientific contributions of individual partners. A joint research project application must have a common research question and a common research plan, and individual national/regional parts of the project must be closely related and complementary. The scientific contribution of each co-applicant must be clearly visible. Cost estimates must be provided separately for each national part of the project and must follow the guidelines of the (co-)financing partner agency. Should the joint project be approved, the project parts will be (co-)financed by the ARIS and the partner agency(-ies) in accordance with their regulations.

Clinical studies must demonstrate the participation of health/educational institutions in the amount of at least 30% of the research hours. A clinical study applicant must choose one of the following ERC fields: LS2 (Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems), LS3 (Cellular, Developmental and Regenerative Biology), LS4 (Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing), LS5 (Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System), LS6 (Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy) or LS7 (Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases). The clinical study applicant must choose one of the fields of medical sciences according to the ARIS classification list as the field of application evaluation (in the case of interdisciplinary research, this must be the primary field). For each project application where the applicant chooses to conduct research in the field of clinical medicine, the applicant must specifically justify that it is a clinically oriented project, and the justification will be verified and confirmed/rejected by the international panel as part of the assessment process.


8. Evaluation criteria and indicators

The criteria and indicators for evaluating research projects are specified in Articles 71 and 72 of the General Act, and the criteria in the Methodology, chapter B. Research projects, point III. Assessment elements.

Criteria for research project evaluation are:

  • for basic projects, large projects and post-doctoral basic projects:
    • Scientific excellence of researchers;
    • Scientific excellence of application;
    • Quality and efficiency of the implementation;
       
  • for applied projects and post-doctoral applied projects:
    • Scientific excellence of researchers;
    • Scientific excellence of application;
    • Quality and efficiency of the implementation;
    • Social and economic impact.

Basic projects – AD Programme are evaluated according to the criteria and indicators for evaluating basic projects, as set out in Article 71 of the General Act.

The applicants proposing large projects must state in the leader's CV the organisational skills of the leader to lead large projects and their previous experience in leading such projects.


9. Project evaluation

Research project applications are evaluated based on the research field according to the ARIS classification, which project leaders indicate in the application form.

Applications of research projects, except for large projects, are evaluated by two reviewers.

Applications for large projects are evaluated by four reviewers. At least two of the reviewers must be from the primary discipline and one of them must be a reviewer-rapporteur.
 

10. Research project duration

The anticipated beginning of the (co-)financing of project implementation is 1 October 2024, depending of the funds available in the budget of the Republic of Slovenia and the ARIS financial plan, as well as other objective circumstances that may affect implementation of the Call. Any changes of the expected start date of the (co-)financing of project implementation will be communicated to the applicants while the Call is in progress.

The selected applications are (co-)financed by the ARIS for up to three years, with the exception of post-doctoral research projects, which are (co-)financed for two years. The selected projects will be allocated an annual amount of research hours, and this number of effective research hours is applicable for each year of the project's duration as part of this Call. 
 

11. Selection of applications

Project applications with a total or individual grade that is lower than the limit set in the General Act and Methodology cannot be selected as (co-)financed applications.

By majority decision, the international panel shall adopt the draft priority application list for (co-)financing, which the external expert panel forwards to the Agency's Scientific Council (hereinafter: ASC) for consideration. The ASC adopts the draft priority application list for (co-)financing and forwards it to the ARIS Director for a decision. The ARIS Director adopts the decision on the selection of applications, with which he or she decides if an application is selected for (co-)financing or not.

In the selection of applications registered on the basis of the agreement with the Hungarian agency NKFIH, the following applies:

  • After the evaluation process is completed, ARIS notifies the partner agency about the results of the evaluation process, which, after consideration by its decision-making bodies, forwards the confirmation of the decision to ARIS or submits a reasoned refusal. Each partner agency shall inform the applicants of its national part of the joint project regarding the outcome of the assessment procedure.
  • Only applications accepted for co-financing by both participating partner agencies can be included in (co-)financing.

In the selection of applications registered on the basis of the WEAVE agreement with the Austrian agency FWF, the Polish agency NCN, the Swiss agency SNSF, the Flemish agency FWO, the Croatian agency HRZZ, the Czech agency GAČR and the Luxembourg agency FNR, based on the agreement between the partner agencies, the following applies:

  • In case that within the scope of items 2.b. 2.c and 2.d, the success rate of applications to the call (number of applications selected for (co-)financing in relation to applications received) is greater than 20%, applications that are ranked below the applications that are included in the above 20% of applications, taking into account the ratio of the application score to the highest possible score of the individual application as a percentage, they are not included in the selection for (co-)financing. The Multilateral Lead Agency Agreement allows the option of the agencies mutually agreeing to also (co-)finance projects that have been positively evaluated in the evaluation procedure but failed to meet the agreed threshold.
  • Following the completion of the assessment procedure, the ARIS informs the partner agency(-ies) of the assessment procedure results, and the partner agency in turn, after consideration by its decision-making bodies, provides confirmation of the ARIS decision or a reasoned rejection. Each partner agency shall inform the applicants of its national part of the joint project regarding the outcome of the assessment procedure.
  • Only applications accepted for co-financing by ALL participating partner agencies can be included in (co-)financing.

The following applies to the selection for (co-)financing of applied projects:

  • If a smaller number of applications within an ERC research domain are placed on the draft priority application list compared to the available funds specified in the Call, the remaining funds of the Call (for the subject of item 2.e of this Call) will be proportionally distributed among those ERC research domains within the scope of items 2.b, 2.c and 2.d, for which the number of applications was not selected within the scope of item 2.e of the Call, based on the available funds specified in the Call.

Basic projects – AD Programme projects are selected for (co-)financing according to the following procedure:

  • Based on the proposal by the international panel, the external expert panel draws up a draft priority application list, considering provisions of item 5.3 of the Call and starting with the highest evaluated projects per ERC research domain, which must concern different fields within the ERC research domain. In case all submitted projects within the ERC research domain concern the same ERC field, the selection for (co-)financing includes the best rated projects concerning the same field.
  • If the draft priority application list contains fewer than 10 project submissions, the remainder of the funds for the Call (allocated for item 2.f of the Call) is proportionately divided among those ERC research domain within the scope of items 2.b, 2.c and 2.d, to which two project applications were not listed within the scope of item 2.f of this Call.
  • If a basic project – AD Programme is not selected for (co-)financing within this programme, it can be submitted for consideration for basic research projects in line with the rules applicable for the selection of these projects and in terms of career stages of the project leader.
  • The international panel for each discipline including applications for (co-)financing basic projects - AD Programme that fulfil the requirements of the Call and have not been listed on the draft priority application list based on indents 1 and 3 of this paragraph, additionally proposes applications for the reserve list. The reserve list applications are to be considered by the ASC within the scope of its competences, adding to the draft priority project list up to the amount of the funds available for the Call (for item 2.f of this Call), whereby the draft priority application list may include more than two projects per ERC research domain as specified by item 5.3 of this Call.
  • If the number of applications that meet the requirements of the Call and are not graded below the prescribed application selection threshold is equal to or less than the maximum number of possible selected applications in relation to the tendered funds, all applications for (co-)financing will be included in the selection.
     

Large projects are selected for (co-)financing according to the following procedure:

  • If there are not enough applications for an individual ERC research domain that could be included in the selection for (co-)financing in an individual ERC research domain in accordance with item 5.4 of this Call, applications in other ERC research domains that meet the requirements of the Call and are not graded below the defined threshold for project selection are included in the selection, based on the achieved grade and up to the total number of large project applications in the Call (4 applications).
  • If the draft priority application list contains fewer than 4 project submissions, the remainder of the funds for the Call (allocated for item 2.g of the Call) is proportionately divided among those ERC research domains within the scope of items 2.b, 2.c and 2.d, to which project applications were not listed within the scope of item 2.g of this Call.
     

12. Legal remedies

An applicant may appeal to the decision of the ARIS Director on the application selection within 15 days of receiving the decision. The Management Board of the ARIS issues a decision on the appeal.

A filed appeal does not delay the signing of contracts with selected applicants.
 

13. Open access to reviewed scientific publications and web access to information about the research project

In accordance with Article 41 of the Scientific Research and Innovation Activities Act, all reviewed scientific publications arising from the implementation of a research project must be published with open access. A reviewed scientific publication must also include information on the (co-)financer or (co-)financers and the project number in accordance with Article 82 of the General Act.

After the application is selected for (co-)financing, the applicant must create a website or subpage on their research organisation’s website dedicated to the project and enabling the dissemination of its results. The minimum requirements of the website content are: a description of the project’s content including basic information about (co-)financing, composition of the project group with links to data in the SICRIS system, the project phases and descriptions of their implementation, bibliographical references arising directly from the implementation of the project, as well as the ARIS’s logo and logos of other (co-)financers. Content included in the SICRIS system should be linked and need not be provided twice. The project presentation website must remain active for 5 years following the conclusion of the project. The implementer reports on the establishment of the website in the interim and final report on project results.
 

14. Means, form and deadline for application submission

The application to the Call shall be submitted in electronic form via ARIS web portal: Digital Forms. Login to the Digital Forms web portal is possible with a username and a password. The portal can be used by researchers registered in the RO databases, administrators of the Digital Forms web portal in research organisations, representatives of research organisations, authorised representatives of research organisations and additional users. Researchers can obtain a login password themselves on the Digital Forms portal, other users are assigned a password by the Digital Forms administrator in the research organisation or ARIS.

The application is filled out and submitted using the ARIS-RPROJ-JR-Prijava/2024 application form available at the ARIS web portal: Digital Forms. The application must be electronically signed (a qualified digital signature is not required) by a representative or authorised person of the applicant and the leader of the research project.

In accordance with the State Aid Rules in the field of research activity, No. 007-7/2015-11 of 8 April 2016, applicants of research projects, where a company acts as the contractor of the research project, shall also enclose a completed, signed and stamped State Aid Form ARIS-RPROJ-JR-Prijava/2024-DP.

14.1.Application deadline

Applications must be submitted by 2 p.m. on 12 January 2024.

Applicants are advised not to submit their applications on the final day before the closure of the Call, as the server may be overloaded.
 

15. Opening of applications

On 15 January 2024, the official person shall record a list of applications received in the electronic application system.
 

16. Deadline for applicant notification on the outcome of the Call

It is foreseen that the applicants will be notified about the selection of applications for (co-)financing in June 2024.
 

17. Time, place and method of collecting the Call documents by the interested parties

The Call documents are available on the ARIS website (http://www.aris-rs.si/sl/razpisi/).

Links to public calls with partner agencies:

FWF: https://www.fwf.ac.at/en/research-funding/fwf-programmes/international-programmes/joint-projects

SNSF:https://www.snf.ch/en/hTBUS7CLoDTMortt/funding/projects/weave-lead-agency-slovenia

GAČR: https://gacr.cz/en/types-of-grant-projects/

NCN: https://www.ncn.gov.pl/en/ogloszenia/konkursy/weave-unisono

NKFIH:https://nkfih.gov.hu/english-2017/funding-schemes/open-calls

FWO: https://www.fwo.be/en/fellowships-funding/international-collaboration/intra-european-research-projects/weave/weave-fwo-partner/

HRZZ: https://hrzz.hr/programi/medunarodna-suradnja/

FNR: https://www.fnr.lu/international-cooperation/weave/

Information related to the Call can be found on the ARIS website at http://www.aris-rs.si or obtained at the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency, Bleiweisova cesta 30, 1000 Ljubljana, weekdays during office hours.

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

 

Number: 6316-6/2023-6
Date: 14 November 2023

 

Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
Dr. Špela Stres
Director

 

Legal basis:

 

Call documents: