Competition for financial support of joint research projects implemented by scientific and pedagogical staff of SPbU and the University of Tehran

Saint Petersburg State University (hereinafter - SPbU) announces a competition for financial support of joint research projects implemented by scientific and pedagogical staff of SPbU and the University of Tehran in the period from 12 March to 13 May 2024.

Only applications to support the establishment and implementation of the initial stages of cooperation are allowed to participate in the Competition, applications to support already established cooperation and previously implemented projects are not allowed to participate in the Competition.

Applications in all fields of knowledge are allowed to participate in the Competition.

Scientific and pedagogical staff of SPbU are allowed to participate in the Competition. From the moment of applying for participation in the Competition until the end of the project, SPbU employee, participating in the project as a supervisor or executor, must have a valid employment agreement with SPbU. A member of the scientific team cannot be an employee of SPbU, whose direct subordinate is the project leader. The project leader from the University of Tehran must hold the position of a scientific and pedagogical employee at the University of Tehran.

In accordance with the order of the Head of the Main Department of Human Resources Management dated 15.04.2016 № 2914/1 ‘On issues of relevance of information about the scientific activity of scientific and pedagogical staff of SPbU’, when conducting the Competition, SPbU officials use information about scientific activity obtained from scientometric databases using author identifiers (Researcher ID, Scopus Author ID, ORCID ID, SPIN code, etc.) provided by scientific and pedagogical staff to employees of the Human Resources Management. SPbU scientific and pedagogical workers who did not provide or provided unreliable information about author IDs to the staff of the Human Resources Department are not allowed to participate in the Competition.

The deadline for the project implementation is 30.12.2024.

Based on the results of the Competition, funding is provided for the implementation of joint research projects with the University of Tehran. The maximum amount of funding allocated for the implementation of one project should not exceed 5,000 USD (or equivalent amount in roubles) in total. SPbU funding may be used to cover the following categories of expenses: equipment and consumables, travel, subsistence and accommodation expenses of SPbU project participants, expenses related to the publication of the results of the joint project. There is no provision for the payment of salaries to SPbU project participants from the allocated funds.

Formalisation and submission of competitive bids

The procedure for completing and applying includes the following:

Data entry in the Pure SPbSU system to generate an electronic version of the application form. Detailed instructions for completing the application form are provided in the Announcement of this competition in the ‘Regulatory Documents’ section.

The data for the application form shall be filled in the Pure SPbU system until 17:00 on 13.05.2024. After this deadline, no changes to the contents of the application form are allowed.

The following documents must be attached to the application card in the Pure SPbSU system:

  • detailed project plan (not more than 4 pages) in English language
  • project cost estimate (in Russian and English) with a breakdown of SPbU expenses and University of Tehran expenses by line item
  • a list of project participants from SPbU and the University of Tehran with details of the project leaders from both sides (in English)
  • in case the SPbU employee is expected to visit the University of Tehran within the framework of the project - an electronic copy of the invitation letter from the host scientist of the University of Tehran on the letterhead of the host organisation, indicating the dates and purpose of the visit, with the signature, position and contact details of the host scientist
  • if the letter of invitation is in Persian language - a file with a translation of the letter of invitation into Russian language
  • a file with the list of publications in .pdf or .doc format, generated in the Pure SPbU system. To generate a file, you should click the green ‘Add’ button on the right side of the screen on your page in the PURE SPbU system. In the main menu on the left side of the screen select the field ‘Biography’, select the section ‘Private Biography’. In the window that opens, select the ‘Research Results’ section, click the ‘Create’ button and select the ‘Save to .pdf’ or ‘Save to .doc’ option

The application should contain a brief description of the planned/possible intellectual outputs that may arise during the travel period.

The application should contain information on the number of joint publications/monographs with scientific and pedagogical staff of the University of Tehran, which should be published as a result of the project (p.2.9 and p.2.10 in the instructions in Appendix 1 to the Announcement) within not more than one and a half years after its completion and entered into the Pure system of SPbU.

The application must contain information on the planned sources of funding for the project in the future (joint grants of scientific foundations, international competitions, etc.) (p.2.6 in the instructions in Annex 1 to the Announcement).

The Competition application shall be recognized as invalid and shall not be admitted to the Competition based on the results of the technical expertise in the following cases:

  • at the time of the deadline for submission of bids (17:00 09.04.2024), the bid data has not been entered into the Pure SPbU system and the bid has not been sent for internal approval in accordance with clause 4 of the Appendix to the Announcement
  • the application was not prepared in accordance with the requirements set out in the Announcement (including the Annex to the Announcement).
  • the application was not submitted to the University of Tehran in due time by the project manager of the University of Tehran
  • the application does not contain a description of the planned/possible results of intellectual activity that may arise during the period of the visit
  • the application does not contain information on the number of joint publications/monographs with scientific and pedagogical staff of the University of Tehran, which should be published as a result of the project within a year and a half after its completion;
  • the application does not contain information about the planned sources of funding for the project in the future (joint grants from scientific foundations, international competitions, etc.).
  • the applicant provided unreliable information or did not provide information about author identifiers in scientometric databases to the staff of the Human Resources Department (see the order of the Head of the Main Department for Human Resources Management dated 15.04.2016 № 2914/1 ‘On issues of relevance of information about the scientific activity of scientific and pedagogical staff of SPbU’)

Procedure for evaluation of applications and identification of the winners of the competition

On the part of SPbU applications are evaluated remotely by the Commission for the evaluation of competitive applications, approved by the order of the Vice-Rector for Research (hereinafter - the Commission).

The Commission shall consist of at least three experts - scientific and pedagogical staff, who represent the subject scientific field, corresponding to the subject of the projects of the applications.

Each expert shall evaluate all applications submitted for the competition, assessing the scientific significance of the project, especially considering innovative approaches and methods, potential for future joint projects, rational and economical use of funds.

The members of the Commission give each application a score from 1 to 10 points (taking into account tenths) in the form of evaluation of competitive applications (Annex 2 to this Announcement), taking into account the following criteria: evaluation of the scientific project presented in the application, clear formulation of the project objectives; availability of information about the expected mutually beneficial results of cooperation between SPbU and the University of Tehran in the framework of this project; the level of specificity in describing the joint project (including information about the timing of its implementation, steps taken to implement the project); the level of information about the results of the joint project (including information about the steps to be taken to achieve the objectives of the project).

Scientific and pedagogical employees who have applied for participation in the Competition, as well as those who are members of the project team, may not be included in the Commission for the evaluation of applications with the right to vote.

The official responsible for the organization and conduct of the Competition in accordance with clause 3 of this Order shall organize the work on the formation of the final ratings of the applications based on the results of the evaluation of the applications made by the members of the Commission. The highest rating shall be assigned to the tender that has scored the highest score (arithmetic mean of the scores assigned to the tender by the members of the Commission). On the basis of the final rating of the applications, a proposal on the composition of the winners of the Competition is formed by SPbU.

Based on the results of the exchange between SPbU and the University of Tehran of proposals on the composition of the winners of the joint competition, a list of winners of the Competition is formed, fixed in the protocol.

The list of winners is approved by the order of the Vice-Rector for Research.

Reporting

Each winner of the Competition is obliged to submit a detailed report on the results of the project implementation within one month after the end of the project by filling in the card of the relevant project in the Pure SPbU system.

Each winner of the Competition is also obliged to submit a report on the fulfilment of the declared publication obligations, as well as obligations to seek funding in case of expediency of further implementation of the project.

Failure to submit the report, failure to fulfil the declared project implementation plan, failure to fulfil the declared publication obligations, including the obligations to indicate affiliation with SPbU, will be considered when considering the applicant's subsequent applications for SPbU competitions, and is a reason for refusal to consider applications for other SPbU competitions.

Obligations of Competition Winners

Each winner of the competition undertakes to submit at least 1 joint application for grant support with partners from the University of Tehran within 2 years after the completion of the project; to publish at least 1 publication in journals of the 1st or 2nd quartile in terms of SJR citation index (Scopus system) or JCR impact factor (Web of Science system) within one year after the completion of the project. Publications must contain an indication of the affiliation of the scientific and pedagogical worker with SPbU in accordance with the order of the Vice-Rector for Research from 23.07.2015 №5805/1 ‘On the form of indicating the affiliation of authors in scientific articles’ (as amended by the order from 21.03.2016 №1758/1). In accordance with the order of the Vice-Rector for Scientific Work dated 15.10.2019 №10110/1 ‘On accounting of publications based on the results of R&D and R&D implemented at SPbU’ one and the same publication cannot be accounted as a result of more than one R&D or R&D implemented at SPbU.

Contact information

For questions about working in the Pure SPbU system: support.pure@spbu.ru

Programme Coordinator from SPbU

Tatyana Ryazantseva, t.ryazantseva@spbu.ru

Universitetskaya nab. 7/9, office 1113

Programme Coordinator of the University of Tehran

Abdolmajid Eskandari

Director General of International Relations

Phone: +98 (21) 61113260

E-mail: international@ut.ac.ir

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