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 (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 92/2024) and based on the Lead Agency Agreement - Memorandum of Understanding on the unilateral administration and mutual recognition of evaluation procedures of 4 April 2014, the Multilateral lead Agency Agreement (MLA) of 12 November 2019, and 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, No. 6319-5/2022-8 of 13 November 2023, No. 6319-5/2022-9 of 18 December 2023, No. 6319-5/2022-10 of 4 March 2024, No. 6319-5/2022-11 of 29 May 2024, No. 6319-5/2022-12 of 9 September 2024, No. 6319-5/2022-13 of 23 September 2024 and No. 6319-5/2022-16 of 30 October 2024, hereby publishes the

Public Call for the (co-)financing of research projects in 2025

1. Name and registered office of the budgetary funds user

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 2025 (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. basic projects in a basic or reduced amount for young doctors (maximum 7 years after defending the first doctoral dissertation);
  3. basic projects in a basic or reduced amount for the middle generation of researchers (maximum 15 years after the year of defending their first doctoral dissertation);
  4. basic projects in a basic or reduced amount for other researchers (more than 15 years after defending their first doctoral dissertation);
  5. applied projects in a basic or reduced amount (hereinafter: applied projects);
  6. basic projects in a basic amount – Dr. Aleš Debeljak Programme (hereinafter: basic projects - AD Programme).

3. Indicative amount of funds of the Call

3.1. Estimated annual amount

The estimated annual amount of funding for the realisation of items 2.a, 2.b, 2.c, 2.d, 2.e and 2.f is €37,500,000, specifically:

- €3,600,000 for item 2.a;

- €8,475,000 for item 2.b;

- €8,475,000 for item 2.c;

- €8,475,000 for item 2.d;

- €6,975,000 for item 2.e;

- €1,500,000 for item 2.f.

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

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).

3.2. Distribution of approximate annual funds in terms of items 2.a, 2.b, 2.c, 2.d and 2.e in the amount of €36,000,000 per ERC domain

 

ERC domain Ratio of funds in the Call (in %)
Physical Sciences and Engineering (PE) 47.62%
Life Sciences (LS) 29.49%
Social Sciences and Humanities (SH) 22.89%
TOTAL 100.00%

Information about the capacity of ERC doimains 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, namely in point 5.1 of the Call.

Information about the capacity of ERC domains 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, namely in point 5.1 of the Call.

When applying for interdisciplinary projects, applicants must state which strategic objective of the Republic of Slovenia and the European Union their 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 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, namely in point 5.2 of the Call.

3.3. Amount and share of (co-)financing

3.3.1. Amount of (co-)financing

The ARIS will finance up to 100% of eligible project costs for basic projects in the basic and reduced amount (hereinafter: basic projects), post-doctoral basic projects and basic projects - AD Programme. The ARIS will finance up to 75% of eligible project costs for applied projects and post-doctoral applied projects.

3.3.2. Share of (co-)financing

Basic projects in the basic amount or applied projects in the basic amount will be (co-)financed in the approximate annual amount of €150,000. At the proposal of the international panel, the project may be (co-)financed at the reduced amount of €75,000 annually. Calculated in terms of effective project research hours, this equates with approximately:
- 3739 hours annually in Price Class A (1869 for projects valued at €75,000),
- 3331 hours annually in Price Class B (1666 for projects valued at €75,000),
- 2925 hours annually in Price Class C (1463 for projects valued at €75,000),
- 2630 hours annually in Price Class D (1315 for projects valued at €75,000),
- 2393 hours annually in Price Class E (1197 for projects valued at €75,000) or
- 2196 hours annually in Price Class F (1098 for projects valued at €75,000).

Basic projects - AD Programme will be (co-)financed in the approximate annual amount of €150,000. Calculated in terms of effective project research hours, this equates with approximately:
- 3739 hours annually in Price Class A,
- 3331 hours annually in Price Class B,
- 2925 hours annually in Price Class C,
- 2630 hours annually in Price Class D,
- 2393 hours annually in Price Class E or
- 2196 hours annually in Price Class F.

Post-doctoral basic projects will be (co-)financed in the scope of 1700 effective research hours annually (1 FTE) in Price Category B.

Post-doctoral applied projects will be (co-)financed in the scope of 1275 effective research hours annually (0.75 FTE) in Price Category B.

The annual volume of research hours at the price of full-time equivalent upon the selection shall be allocated to the selected project, meaning that the volume of effective hours of research work for the duration of the project for implementing citizen science is determined in the Call. The volume of (co-)financing is annually adjusted with the valid price of the full-time equivalent for an individual year.

3.3.3. (Co-)financing of an applied project

The applicant of an applied project or post-doctoral applied project must ensure (co-)financing of the project in the amount of 25% of the eligible project costs by other interested users (hereinafter referred to as: a (co-)financer). The contract for (co)financing of the applied project between the applicant and the (co-)financer must be concluded by using the sample contract, which is available in an annex to the Call.

When concluding a contract with ARIS, the applicant must submit the signed contract for (co-)financing of the applied project with uniform annual dynamics for the entire period of project implementation. The starting value for concluding a contract for (co-)financing of the applied project is three times the annual financial volume of the project from the Call. If the applicant does not attach the signed contract for (co-)financing of the applied project, the contract for (co-)financing of the project with ARIS shall not be concluded, regardless of whether the director's decision on the selection of applications, by which he or she decided that the application for the application project should be selected for (co-)financing, has already been issued.

All project costs and revenues must be booked to a single cost centre.

(Co-)financing can be in the form of money or by direct purchase from the (co-)financier's sources for the purchase of research equipment, which is recorded as a tangible fixed asset of the applicant. (Co-)financing “in kind” or in the form of work by employees of the (co-)financier is not permitted.

The projects cannot be (co-)financed by research organisations that are entered into the records of scientific research activity operators with ARIS (hereinafter: RO Records), except for companies.

A (co-)financer of an applied project may also be a co-implementer of the same applied project, not exceeding 10% of the total financial scope of the project. If the applicant is a (co-)financer of an applied project, the above mentioned limit does not apply to them.

In the event of a reduction in the (co-)financing of the project by the (co-)financer, the applicant is obliged to state the objective circumstances that led to the reduction and to demonstrate that it could not have foreseen, prevented, eliminated or avoided this (e.g. proof of the bankruptcy of the (co-)financer, proof of the prohibition of the (co-)financer from carrying out their activities, proof of other initiated proceedings for the termination of activities, proof of filing a lawsuit, proof of initiated enforcement proceedings).

In the event of a reduction in the (co-)financing of the project by the (co-)financer, the applicant may, in the event of objective circumstances, acquire a new (co-)financer for the share of eligible project costs in which the previous (co-)financer reduced the (co-)financing of the project, or the applicant may carry out (co-)financing for the share of eligible costs from their own funds, whereby neither the new (co-)financer nor the applicant may provide the relevant share of funds from public funding of scientific research activities.

In the event that the (co-)financer reduces the (co-)financing of the project, ARIS will (co-)finance the project only in the estimated proportion of 75% of the eligible project costs or request a refund if the funds already paid out have exceeded ARIS' share of (co-)financing in accordance with the concluded contract on the implementation and (co-)financing of scientific research activities (hereinafter: contract for (co-)financing of the project), in relation to the total funds spent on the implementation of the project.

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 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.

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 project, is listed first on the application form and employs the leader of the project upon signing the contract for (co-)financing of the project. 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. Objective of the Call

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

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

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

The amount of €450,000 is allocated to clinical studies for the realisation of items 2.b, 2.c and 2.d. At least €1,050,000 is allocated to interdisciplinary research within items 2.b., 2.c and 2.d, of which €450,000 is allocated to the ERC domain “Physical Sciences and Engineering (PE)”, €300,000 to the ERC domain “Life Sciences (LS)”, and €300,000 to the ERC domain “Social Sciences and Humanities (SH)”.

No more than 10% of projects amounting to €75,000 within items 2.b., 2.c and 2.d can be approved for all the ERC domains in total. Projects amounting to €75,000 are usually approved for applications that are at the bottom of the list of approved applications.

5.2. Applied projects

Within the scope of item 2.e, €5,100,000 is allocated to Physical Sciences and Engineering, €1,425,000 to Life Sciences (LS), and €450,000 to Social Sciences and Humanities (SH).

The amount of €300,000 is allocated to clinical studies for the realisation of item 2.e.

No more than 10% of projects amounting to €75,000 within item 2.e can be approved for all ERC domains in total. Projects amounting to €75,000 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 Lead Agency Agreement - Memorandum of Understanding on the unilateral administration and mutual recognition of evaluation procedures of 4 April 2014 (hereinafter: the agreement with the Hungarian agency NKFIH) and based on the Multilateral lead Agency Agreement (MLA) of 12 November 2019 (hereinafter: 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, the Luxembourg agency FNR, and the German agency DFG.


5.3. Basic programmes - AD Programme

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

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

For Social Sciences and Humanities (SH), three top ranked projects are selected for (co-)financing, whereby they cannot belong to the same field within the discipline, 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, the Luxembourg agency FNR, and the German Agency DFG.
 

6. Conditions for applying to and granting (co-)financing

The terms and conditions for the participation of basic and applied projects, as well as post-doctoral basic and applied projects in the Call are set out in the Research and Development Activity Act, the Methodology for the assessment of applications in the procedures carried out by the ARIS 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 leader and programme, No. 007-14/2024-4 of 22 May 2024 and No. 007-14/2024-5 of 24 May 2024 (hereinafter: criteria for the project leader), in the agreement with the Hungarian agency NKFIH, and in the WEAVE agreement. All listed documents are published on the ARIS website.

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

6.1.1. Entry conditions

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

(2) Basic and applied projects must be carried out by a project group comprising the project leader, researchers, as well as technical or professional associates.

(3) Post-doctoral (basic and applied) projects are carried out by one researcher alone.

(4) Project leader:

  • Must have a doctorate degree, obtained in accordance with the criteria for a project leader;
  • 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 num, the applicant must fill out the ARIS-ZOP-02/2023-1 form and submit an accompanying statement on the intention of employment;
  • Cannot be a researcher who has received a negative grade on a final report for a project in which he or she was the project leader in the period of three years prior to the starting year of the Call;
  • Cannot be 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;
  • Cannot be a researcher who was the project leader of more than one project (co-)financed by 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. Targeted 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.

(5) A project leader who is applying as a post-doctoral researcher, must comply with the following conditions:

  • No more than three years have passed since he or she defended thier first doctoral dissertation (the period of defending the doctoral dissertation from 1 January 2022 to the end of the Call) and
  • He or she has not carried out a post-doctoral project or has not receive funds from the “Researchers at the start of their career/Raziskovalci na začetku kariere” Call.

(6) A project leader applying as a young doctor must meet the condition that no more than seven years have passed since the year he or she defended their first doctoral dissertation (the period of defending the doctoral dissertation from 1 January 2018 until the end of the Call).

(7) A project leader applying as a middle generation researcher must meet the condition that no more than fifteen years have passed since the year of defending their first doctoral dissertation (the period of defending the doctoral dissertation from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2017).

The project leader's period for determining the researcher's career stage is extended by the period of justified absence due to parental leave and other forms of justified absence specified in health insurance regulations, if the absence is continuous and longer than six months, at most for the period of justified absence.

6.1.2. Other conditions

(1) 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 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.

(2) 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.

(3) The project leader and members of the project group must have available capacities as regards FTE to carry out the projects (the maximum permitted capacity for full-time employment is 1700 effective research hours or 1 FTE), more specifically:

  • Must be employed in at least a 20% full-time capacity at the research organisation in the Republic of Slovenia that shall carry out the project or have the status of a private researcher;
  • The project leader has 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 and retired researchers who may participate in the project with 0 effective hours of research work) has at least 34 effective research hours (0.02 FTE) annually,
  • JRZ directors may participate in the project with 0 effective hours of research work.

(4) Project group members must be employed in the research organisation that shall carry out the project or have the status of a private researcher.

6.1.3. Fulfilment of conditions

6.1.3.1. Entry conditions

The entry conditions (item 6.1.1.) must be met on the last day of the deadline for submitting applications for the Call. If the entry conditions are not met, the application shall be rejected.

6.1.3.2. Other conditions

Other conditions (point 6.1.2.) must be met upon conclusion of the contract for (co-)financing the project, except for the start of fulfilling the condition of free capacities of effective research hours for project members, which must be met on the starting day of project implementation, and the scope of effective research hours of the participating organisation, which shall be checked during the project implementation period.

If the conditions from this item are not met, the contract for (co-)financing of the project shall not be concluded.

6.1.3.3. Additional conditions 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, the Luxembourg agency FNR, and the German agency DFG

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

If a joint application is not submitted to the partner agency or both partner agencies in the case of trilateral co-operation, the application shall not be included in further evaluation process and shall be rejected.

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

Only applications accepted for (co-)financing by both or all participating partner agencies can be chosen for (co-)financing.

6.1.3.3.2. 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 must submit a joint project application to the NKFIH, in accordance with the NKFIH requirements. The scope of NKFIH funds must be smaller than the scope of co-financing of the Slovenian part.

6.1.3.3.3. Additional conditions 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, the Luxembourg agency FNR, and the German agency DFG

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, the Luxembourg agency FNR, and the German agency DFG, applicants can submit projects in collaboration with Austrian, Polish, Swiss, Flemish, Croatian, Czech, Luxembourg, and German researchers (researchers working in Austrian, Polish, Swiss, Flemish, Croatian, Czech, Luxembourg, and German research organisations), where the ARIS acts as the "lead agency" and 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,
  • Luxembourg researchers who simultaneously submit the application to the FNR as required by the FNR, and
  • German researchers who simultaneously submit the application to the DFG as required by the DFG.

The applicants can also submit applications in co-operation with researchers from two countries listed under item 6.1.3.3.3. of the Call. 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 must submit the application to foreign partner agencies as required by those agencies.

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 form 1 January 2010 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 have a doctorate degree obtained in accordance with the criteria for a project leader.
  • 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 contract for (co-)financing of the project, 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 has not yet been (co-)financed within the same or a similar mechanism, i.e. a mechanism for (co-)financing projects by researchers returning to the Republic of Slovenia from abroad.
     

7. Applying to the Call

The applicant selects one ERC field in the application. In case of an interdisciplinary research, an additional/secondary ERC field is defined.

On his or her application the applicant marks if the content of the proposed 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 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, the Luxembourg agency FNR, and the German agency DFG consists of a joint scientific description of the project, describing the scientific contributions of individual partners. A joint 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 partner 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. The clinical study applicant must choose one of the listed ERC fields within the ERC domain “Life Sciences (LS)”. 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.

If the project is selected for (co-)financing in the annual financial scope of €75,000, the applicant may 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 (indication of the share of participating research organisations).

 

8. Evaluation criteria and indicators

The criteria and indicators for the evaluation of projects are set out in Articles 71 and 72 of the General Act:

  • For basic projects and post-doctoral basic projects:
    • Scientific excellence of researchers;
    • Scientific excellence of application;
    • Quality and efficiency of implementation; 
  • For applied projects and post-doctoral applied projects:
    • Scientific excellence of researchers;
    • Scientific excellence of application;
    • Quality and efficiency of implementation;
    • Social and economic impact;
  • For basic projects – AD Programme:
    • Scientific excellence of researchers;
    • Scientific excellence of application;
    • Quality and efficiency of implementation. 


9. Project evaluation

Project applications are evaluated based on the General Act and the methodology in the filed of research according to the ERC classification, which project leaders indicate in the application form.

The project applications are evaluated by two foreign reviewers.
 

10. 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.

In the case of an equal number of points of two or more applications for basic projects, post-doctoral basic projects, and basic projects – AD Programme, the Panel shall adopt a decision on the selection of applications by taking into account the scores, project applications and the replies of the applicants to the individual reports of the reviewers in the case of a non-harmonised report. The application that has the greatest number of points for the “Scientific excellence of application” is ranked higher on the draft priority application list by the panel, than the application that has the greatest number of points for the “Scientific excellence of researchers” criterion, followed by the application that has the greatest number of points for the “Quality and efficiency of implementation” criterion. In the event that, after ranking the applications in accordance with the criterion from the previous sentence, there are still several applications that achieved the same number of points, the panel shall state their reasons for the ranking of an application on the priority list.

In the case of an equal number of points of two or more applications for applied or post-doctoral applied projects, the panel shall adopt a decision on the selection of applications by taking into account the scores, project applications and the replies of the applicants to the individual reports of the reviewers in the case of a non-harmonised report. On the draft priority application list, they shall rank the application that has the greatest number of points in the “Scientific excellence of application” criterion higher than the application that has the greatest number of points in the “Social and economic impact” criterion, followed by the application that has the greatest number of points in the “Scientific excellence of researchers” criterion, and then followed by the application that has the greatest number of points in the “Quality and efficiency of implementation” criterion. In the event that, after ranking the applications in accordance with the criterion from the previous sentence, there are still several applications that achieve the same number of points, the panel shall state their reasons for the ranking of an application on the priority list.

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 for (co-)financing 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.

In the selection of applications for (co-)financing 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, the Luxembourg agency FNR, and the German agency DFG, 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 public 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.

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

  • Within each ERC domain, the capacity of ERC fields is determined by the proportion of applications with a harmonised score, which are considered by an international panel and which have achieved at least 80% of the maximum score.

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

  • If a smaller number of ERC domain applications are placed on the draft priority application list compared to the available funds of 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 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.

For selecting basic projects – AD Programme for (co-)financing the following applies:

  • Based on the proposal by the international panel, the external expert panel draws up a draft priority application list, taking into account the provisions of item 5.3 of the Call and starting with the highest evaluated projects per research discipline, which must concern different fields within the discipline. In case all submitted projects within the discipline concern the same 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 disciplines 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 the 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.
  • If the number of applications that meet the conditions 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 funds of the Call, all applications for (co-)financing will be included in the selection.
     


11. Project duration

The anticipated beginning of the (co-)financing of project implementation is 1 October 2025, depending on 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.

 

12. Conclusion of a contract for (co-)financing of the project

The contract for (co-)financing of the project must be signed no later than three months from the date of adopting the decision on the selection of the application. If there is a delay in the start of (co-)financing, the contract shall be signed no later than six months from the date of adopting the decision on the selection of the application.
 

13. 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.
 

14. Science communication

The objective of scientific research is the progress and well-being of society as a whole, so it is important that the results of scientific research are properly explained to citizens and (political) decision-makers. It is important that scientific findings are interpreted and communicated by the researchers themselves, who best understand the significance of their scientific research and discoveries, and that they do so in an appropriate manner, so that their information is understandable and convincing to lay persons. The project must therefore also include communication activities through which the results of the individual project shall not only be properly presented to the public, but the (interested) public shall be provided with such insight into the research area addressed by the project that, in addition to being informed, their level of understanding shall also be increased. The latter is even more important when providing information to political decision-makers. For the proper implementation of science communication, it is important that researchers have the necessary communication skills and knowledge.

The project must therefore include a Plan of communication activities (hereinafter: the Communication Plan), which must be submitted to ARIS within at least 6 months after the start of the project and must include various audiences. In the event of changes, the updated Plan of communication activities must be submitted in the interim and final reports.

Communication activities may also include activities intended to train researchers in science communication, but not exclusively educational activities.

 

15. 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 and Articles 2 and 3 of the Regulation on the implementation of scientific research work in accordance with the principles of open science (hereinafter: the Regulation) all peer-reviewed scientific publications resulting from the implementation of a research project, together with the associated research data and other research results, must be published in open access.

In accordance with the first indent of paragraph 1 of Article 3 of the Regulation, open access is implemented in such a way that the machine-readable digital form of the published version of a scientific publication (VoR) or a peer-reviewed manuscript (AAM) accepted for publication is stored in a trustworthy repository for scientific publications. A trustworthy repository is a repository that is certified or a sectoral or institutional or other repository that researchers trust. A scientific publication must also contain information about the (co-)financer or (co-)financers and the project number in accordance with Article 82 of the General Act, as well as information about the share of co-financing from public sources in accordance with Article 1 of the Regulation.

Open access costs ("APC" or "BPC" costs), including the costs of preparing scientific publications and other results of scientific research work, are eligible costs of scientific research activities.

Authors of scientific publications or their employers, when rights are transferred to them, may transfer copyrights in scientific publications to third parties only on a non-exclusive basis. Authors of scientific publications or their employers, when rights are transferred to them, must, in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 6 of the Regulation, publish scientific publications under an open license, for example CC BY, CC BY-SA or equivalent licenses.

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 for the website content are:

  • A description of the project’s content including basic information about (co-)financing,
  • A link to data in the SICRIS system,
  • NRRP and its updates, and
  • A reference to the ARIS logo and the 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.

In accordance with Article 4 of the Regulation, the project must include a Research Data Management Plan (hereinafter referred to as: the NRRP), which must be submitted to ARIS within at least 6 months after the start of the project implementation. In the event of changes, the updated NRRP must be submitted in the interim and final reports and published on the project website. The mandatory content of the NRRP is an annex of the Call.

In open access to research data, in accordance with Article 4 of the Regulation, the "FAIR" principle must be taken into account, together with the principle that research data must be "open as much as possible and closed as much as necessary". Regarding the method and timeliness of storage and accessibility of research data and other research results in digital form, paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 5 of the Regulation must be taken into account.

 

16. Means, form and deadline for application submission

The application to the Call shall be submitted in electronic form via the ARIS web portal: Digital Forms. Login to the Digital Forms web portal is possible with a username and password. The portal can be used by researchers registered in the RO Records, 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/2025 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 project.

Project applicants, listing a company as a project implementer, as defined in Article 4 of the State Aid Rules in the field of research activity, No. 007-2/2024-1 of 7 March 2024, must also attach a completed, signed and stamped State Aid Form ARIS-RPROJ-JR-Prijava/2025-DP, which is an annex to the Call.

16.1. Application submission deadline

Applications must be submitted by 31 January 2025 at 2 p.m.

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

17. Opening of applications

On 4 February 2025, the official person shall record a list of applications received in the electronic application system.
 

18. 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 2025.
 

19. 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/funding/portfolio/international-collaborations/slovenia

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?json=0&save=1&cimke=

FWO: https://www.fwo.be/en/support-programmes/all-calls/senior-researchersresearch-teams/weave-fwo-partner/

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

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

DFG: https://www.dfg.de/en/research-funding/funding-opportunities/programmes/international-cooperation/joint-proposal-weave-process

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

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

 

Number: 6316-8/2024-4
Date: 30 October 2024

 

Slovenian Research Agency
Dr. Špela Stres, Director

 

 

Legal basis:


 

Call documents: