THE CORPORATION CENTER OF EXCELLENCE IN MARINE SCIENCES – CEMarin OPENS THE CALL No. 12 OF 2018, TO OFFER FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR DOCTORAL THESIS PROJECTS IN MARINE SCIENCES AND RELATED TOPICS

CEMarin is a mixed and non-profit Corporation, founded by Colombian institutions (Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Universidad de los Andes, Universidad de Bogotá Jorge Tadeo Lozano, Universidad del Valle, and Universidad de Antioquia) and by the Justus-Liebig University in Giessen, Germany to perform basic and applied research in Marine Sciences, collectively solving problems that cannot be faced by isolated individuals or institutions. This initiative that has been driven by the Colombian government, by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD according to its German acronym) has making possible the scientific cooperation between researchers from the two countries and scientific training of young doctoral-level researchers. As part of activities to fulfill its mission CEMarin opens the call No. 12 which is expected to finance doctoral thesis.
2. CALL OBJECTIVES:
a) Promote scientific research and capacity building in Marine Sciences at national and
international levels.
b) Support doctoral students in developing their theses within the current research lines of CEMarin.
3. DIRECTED TO:
CEMarin Early Stage Researcher (ESR) developing their thesis work in the current CEMarin research lines and registered in one of CEMarin partner institutions.
4.MODALITIES:
Modality 1: Specific activities: Mobility and publications (closing projects)
Modality 2: Financial support for doctoral thesis projects (project execution)
5. TOTAL BUDGET AMOUNT:
For this call, up to 160 million Colombian Pesos (COP) are available. The maximum amount to be financed per person is 14 million Colombian Pesos, according to the financial conditions of CEMarin. The amount of the financed project must have matching funds from the University of at least 30% of the project value.
Availability: $160.000.000 COP
Modality 1: $60.000.000 (Up to $ 5.000.000 COP – 12 proposals)
Modality 2: $100.000.000 (Up to $14.200.000 COP – 7 proposals)
6. DURATION OF EXECUTION:
Modality 1: Six (6) months
Modality 2: Eight (8) months
7. APPLICATION DOCUMENTS REQUIREMENTS:
a) A photocopy of the identity card or the passport.
b) Letter of motivation, including the statement that the topic of the doctoral research thesis matches the thematic framework and specific research lines of the CEMarin, maximum 1 page.
c) Letter of the advisor approving the participation of the student in the present call, confirming that the project of the thesis has been approved and in which stage of development is the project and in which semester is the doctoral student currently enrolled.
d) The advisor of the doctoral student must be a CEMarin researcher. e) Draft of the thesis project containing the following information:
I. Project Title. Must be concise. The title should provide the reader with enough information on the research topic.
II. CEMarin research theme. The student must justify appropriately how the proposal relates/addresses the call and the selected CEMarin research theme.
III. Duration of the project. Ideally not longer than 24 months.
IV. Partner institution. Institutions involved in the project.
V. Name of Advisor and Co-Advisor of the thesis project.
VI. The proposal containing the following:
A. Summary. A summary of the project including goals, methods and expected outcome (maximum 250 words).
B. Keywords. Five (5) keywords.
C. Project description. Maximum 600 words. It must contain:
- Background: Should describe over time the scientific or technological environment in which the proposal is ascribed, not only counting or invoking an author or ‘school’, but showing the overall analysis of the subject that allows to deduce the hypothesis or the research question. Please include: State of the art and the identification of the research problem. This formulation must be accurate, clear and direct. Therefore, each of the terms and categories used in the question will be further elaborated on the objectives, the theoretical framework and methodology respectively.
- Objectives: The aims and purposes of the doctoral thesis and must be concise, realistic, measurable and achievable. Indicate the general and specific objectives.
- Methodology: Describe the experimental design of the project such as the number of replicates, sample size, sampling techniques or experimental units. Also, the technical or procedures to be applied and how data analysis will be done. Please be concise, specific and indicate which methods are associated with each specific objectives of the project. Describe a data-management plan that explains how researchers will handle their data during and after a project (e.g., https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-03071-1).
- Expected results: Research results must be of high quality and publishable as one or more scientific papers in indexed journals (WoS/Scopus) or as technology products like patents, publications or prototypes.
- Schedule: Must order chronologically the relevant activities of the research.
- Bibliography: List the references cited in the text as follows: Authors. Year. Title of the publication. Name of the Journal. Volume and issue number in parenthesis, first page and last page. EXAMPLE: G.M. Cragg, D. J. Newman, 2013. Natural products: A continuing source of novel drug leads. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1830(6), 3670-3695.
- Budget: Overall budget should be presented in some or all of the following items: field trips, materials and reagents, equipment, bibliography, publication costs, mobility costs to participate in forums, symposia, seminars and national and international events with the aim of socializing the products generated by the funded research. Example:
Modality 1: Specific activities: Mobility and publications (closing projects)Mobility costs (in the frame of internships); conferences, congress and workshops; translations and publications fees.
Modality 2: Financial support for doctoral thesis projects (project execution) Field trip expenses, services & software, equipment, materials and bibliography.
Non eligible items personnel, maintenance and administration fees.
8. COMMITMENTS (AFTER RECEIVING THE GRANT):
a) Publish one scientific paper in a journal ranked in quartile one (Q1 from Scimago Journal Rankor JCR Clarivate Analytics).
b) Acknowledge CEMarin, use the CEMarin affiliation in any publication (e.g., research papers, book chapters, preprints, working papers) or presentation in a national or international scientific event (e.g., congress, workshops, meetings, posters) derived from the doctoral thesis or the resulting technological products. A certificate must be forwarded.
c) Take part in an activity designed by the CEMarin as lecturer.
d) Handout five (5) photographs of excellent quality of the research place, subject and at least one of them in which the ESR appears.
e) Spend the budget and provide the supporting documents in less than one (1) year.
f) The goods that are acquired with the resources assigned to the project and that have cost a sum equal to or greater than 3’000.000 Colombian pesos (COP) will be property of the CEMarin Corporation / of the research group to which the student is assigned, with charge to one of the CEMarin Researchers.
9. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY:
The rights of intellectual property over the results obtained in each case will be governed by the internal regulations of Intellectual property of the corresponding University member of CEMarin.
10. EVALUATION CRITERIA:
a) Quality of the letter of motivation: 20%.
b) Scientific quality of the proposal: 60%.
c) Broader impact of the proposal: 10%
d) Relevance of the budget: 10%.
e) The projects will be submitted for evaluation by the CEMarin to scientific pairs, clarifying the issue of conflicts of interest.
11. SCHEDULE:
The call will be open in 2018 as long as funds remain and its results will be published periodically in the CEMarin website at https://www.cemarin.org/calls.
The call may be declared void if participating projects don’t meet the stated requirements.
Note:
Documents must be submitted in PDF format by email to convocatorias@cemarin.org with email subject: Call No. 12 of 2018, Modality 1 or Modality 2. For more information, please email your questions to convocatorias@cemarin.org or contact us to skype:corporacioncemarin.
Terms of reference and addendums No. 1 and No. 2 of the call.
Winners of modality 1:
- Estefanía Isaza (Universidad del Valle)
- Laura Perdomo (Universidad Nacional de Colombia)
- David Sánchez (Universidad Nacional de Colombia)
Winners of modality 2:
- Dalia Barragán (Universidad de los Andes)
- Milena Benavides (Universidad Nacional de Colombia)
- Ángela Gómez (Universidad Nacional de Colombia)
- Gilberto Orozco (Universidad Nacional de Colombia)
Open date: July 4th, 2018.
Close date: June 28th, 2019.