Russian Foundation for Humanities – BONUS 2015 (Blue Baltic)

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Russian Foundation for Humanities – BONUS 2015 (Blue Baltic)
Start: 15 December 2015 End: 1 April 2016 Application deadline: 14 November 2015 - 9 March 2016 Dates: 1 December 2017 - 1 December 2019 Grant Amount: RUB 1,000,000 per year

In 2016, the Russian Foundation for Humanities (RFH) and the joint Baltic Sea research and development program (BONUS) will launch a competitive call for joint research projects in the field of humanities and social sciences.

The call is aimed at promoting and supporting scientific cooperation between Russian and European researchers as part of the BONUS program.

The call's terms and conditions suggest that the Russian side of joint projects is to be funded by the RFH, while their foreign partners are to be founded by BONUS. Joint projects are evaluated based on the information systems of the RFH and BONUS.

The competitive call for joint research projects is aimed at selecting and further funding of 2017-2019 projects according to the priorities common for all finance parties.

As part of the RFH–BONUS call 2015: Blue Baltic, the RFH supports research projects in the field of humanities and social sciences in priority directions approved by the BONUS Secretariat. More information on the call is available at the BONUS website.

The RFH provides financial support of up to RUB 1,000,000 per one year of project implementation with each project running for a maximum of three years.

The Foundation awards grants for joint research only to the Russian project party.

Partcipation requirements

The call only allows projects that have been developed by a consortium of participants, which must involve research teams from at least four countries: Russia and three EU member states or associated countries; of these countries, at least two must be BONUS participating states (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Sweden).

The Foundation recommends involving young scientists (up to 39 years old), postgraduates, and students in the projects.
Foreign researchers can also be involved in project implementation.

A researcher can only apply one project for the RFH–BONUS call 2015: Blue Baltic as a Russian team leader.

Project themes: according to the RFH classifier http://www.rfh.ru/index.php/ru/dokumenty/klassifikator-rgnf

Project type

Applications of project type "a" (joint research projects carried out by research teams) are accepted.

The Foundation supports research projects carried out by individual researchers or teams of scientists in the humanities and social sciences according to the RHF classifier.

BONUS informs of the call via its website http://www.bonusportal.org/ and the corresponding European mass media. Proposals of research teams, including those of Russian participants, are prepared according to the Guide for applicants specific to the BONUS call 2015: Blue Baltic.

Proposal submission procedure:

Russian and foreign researchers that participate in a project as part of the RFH–BONUS call 2015: Blue Baltic program finalize a plan for joint research. The project title must be the same in the Russian and foreign proposal.

Russian participants that apply for the RFH funding must submit a proposal in Russian to the RFH presented in the form prescribed for research projects by the Foundation, along with a consortium proposal to the Bonus Secretariat via BONUS EPSS (Electronic Proposal Submission System).

Only proposals submitted to the RFH and the BONUS Secretariat simultaneously are accepted.

Proposal submission terms and conditions:

The proposal must be pre-registered in the BONUS EPSS by 9 February 2016, 17.00 CET.

From 9 November 2015 to 15 March 2016, the proposal must be electronically registered in the RFH Information System (RFH IS).

Electronic proposal submission to the RFH IS and BONUS EPSS closes on 10 March 2016, 17.00 CET.

Printed proposal submission to the RFH closes on 15 March 2016, 18:00 CET

A researcher must enclose a PDF file containing a copy of the foreign proposal submitted to BONUS to the proposal submitted to the RFH IS. The file size should not exceed 3 Mb.

NB: electronic proposals submitted for registration within the established deadline that were sent back for refinement by the RFH must be submitted and registered in the RFH IS after the refinement has been completed by 14 March 2016, 18:00 Moscow time. In this case, the printed version of the proposal must reach the Foundation by 15 March 2016.

Printed proposal received after the deadline are not accepted regardless of submission date.

Information for foreign partners: 


BONUS Secretariat contacts:
BONUS Secretariat (EEIG)
Hakaniemenranta 6
00530 Helsinki, FINLAND
Tel. +358 40 040 4011
Fax +358 9 4780 0044
Email: bonus@bonuseeig.fi
E-mail: helpdesk@bonusportal.org