The call for projects "Consolidation Grants" aims to encourage more advanced, solid projects between Switzerland and the MENA region. The impulse for the COG proposals should come from previous collaborations between the Swiss and the MENA applicants, with the goal to evolve and deepen those partnerships.
The objective of this instrument is to allow researchers to conduct fieldwork, laboratory feasiblility studies, or to organise conferences and workshops.
This call for "Consolidation Grants" is launched for the first time and it is currently open. The COGs are different from the Research Partnership Grants (2021, 2022, 2023) as the Swiss and MENA partners must have already conducted at least one activity together. The text for this call is available below.
Applications must be submitted on the https://hes-so.k-review.com/ platform in the following steps:
- When you first use the platform, click on the "Register" button (top right) to create an account.
- Log in using the "Sign in" button.
- Under "Ongoing campaigns", select the "Consolidation Grants 2023" call for projects.
- Under "Proposals", click on the "Add" button. Enter the title of your project (this can be changed later) and click on "Create draft".
- Follow the instructions to complete the "Information" and "Proposal questions" sections.
- Each time you make a modification, a save bar appears at the bottom of the screen. Do not forget to save your changes regularly.
- You can access your project at any time. To do so, log in to the platform (steps 2 and 3 above) and select the project that appears under "Proposals".
- After answering all the questions, providing the requested documents and indicating all the participants, the application must be sent using the "Submit the proposal" button (top right in the "Information" tab). Please note that no further changes can be made once the application has been submitted.
You can add your partners as "participants" on the platform:
- In your proposal, in the "Information" tab, the section "Register a participant" allows you to create profiles for one or more people.
- Once you have created their profile, or if they already have a profile on the platform, you can select your partners under the section "All registered participants except the author", by clicking the "Add" button. This opens a menu where you can choose or search participants.
- Once you have selected the participants, click on "Add" in the yellow line below, and then on "Save" at the bottom of the screen.
- The main applicant has to be identified as such by choosing the relevant option in the list. The person who is the "author" is the one who first created the proposal on the platform. They also need to be added as a participant. This person may be different from the "main applicant".
Once they have activated their account, all registered participants can work together on a proposal. Each of them can modify answers and add documents.
Once your partner has added you as a participant in your proposal, an account has been created for you on the platform. To access it, follow these instructions:
-
Go to https://hes-so.k-review.com/.
-
Click on "Forgot your password?"
-
Enter your email address. If needed, check with your partner which address they have used to create your account.
-
Click on "Send instructions".
-
You will receive an email with instructions on how to reset your password.
-
Once your new password is set up, you can access your account with your email address and your new password.
If you do not get an email with the instructions (step 5), please write an email to lhmena@hes-so.ch and we will send you a new password.
Once you are logged in, please follow these steps to access the project :
-
Click on the three bars at the top left and on "Campaigns".
-
Under “Ongoing campaigns for this partnership”, click on “Leading House for the Middle East and North Africa – Consolidation Grants 2023”.
-
The project is listed under “Proposals”.
The only requested documents are:
- The form "Budget table" (the form and an example are available on the platform, under "Instructions" in the "Information" section).
- CVs of all participants in one single PDF.
- If needed, a document presenting the activities of the project (eg a Gantt chart).
These documents have to be uploaded directly on the platform, in the "Information" section of your project, under a menu called "Documents".
No other document is accepted. If you submit other documents, they will not be considered for the evaluation of your project.
- Click on "Add" and "Upload"
- Select the document(s) that you want to add.
- The documents are added to your project. Click on "Save" at the bottom of the page.
- If you need to remove a document, click on "-" in front of the document. It will remain available on the platform and can be retrieved by clicking "Add" and "Select". However, only the documents selected and displayed on the page of your project will be considered for the evaluation.
The following scenarios are possible :
- Following a "Research Partnership Grant" obtained in 2021 or 2022, partners can apply for a "Consolidation Grant". The project submitted for the COGs call must be different from the project that was allocated a RPG, and the application must clearly identify how it represents a continuation of the partners' collaboration. The COG project may be a continuation of the RPG project, or the partners may decide to work on a new topic.
- Partners who have submitted a project for a RPG 2023 will not be able to obtain both a RPG 2023 and a COG 2023, unless they apply with a different project and justify in the COG application that they already have past collaborations making them eligible for the COGs call.
- A "Research Partnership Grant" proposal which has been rejected can be submitted for a "Consolidation Grant", provided it is eligible for this new call for projects. Partners must have already collaborated (joint application for a RPG does not count). The application must take into account the remarks made by the evaluators about the RPG project and meet the specific conditions of the COGs.
No, the Leading House MENA cannot help researchers from the MENA region find partners in Switzerland. Researchers based in Switzerland can contact the Leading House MENA to get information on eligible universities in the region or to be put in touch with potential partners in their field. This is done on a case-by-case basis, in the limit of our network.