3rd SNOWMAN call for research proposals, to be opened in September 2010

The SNOWMAN network is a transnational group of research funding organizations and administrations in the field of soil and groundwater in Europe. The SNOWMAN network wants to develop and share knowledge for the sustainable use of soil and groundwater. For the development of knowledge we have a research programme that we execute by organizing calls for projects. Already two calls have been launched successfully. More information on the history and accomplishments of the SNOWMAN group and the finalised and ongoing projects can be found on this website. The SNOWMAN network now pre-announces its upcoming third call.

The call topics
The research questions for the third call are derived from the SNOWMAN Research Programme and from the inputs and priorities of the funders who decided to join their efforts and budgets to organise this 3rd transnational call. New funders joined the SNOWMAN network members for this 3rd Call. In drafting this Research Programme, the shift of interest of many countries from site specific remediation and management of pollution towards area management of soil and groundwater quality, and from contamination to the other soils threats on soil quality outlined by the EU Soil Strategy was confirmed.

The SNOWMAN third coordinated call for research and development projects will focus on sustainable use of soil and soil quality.

Three research topics with specific areas of interest for research and development projects were defined by the common priorities in the partner countries. The research questions should give you inspiration to answer open questions which serve to better understand or deal with the problems encountered within the three topics:

1. Soil functions and ecosystem services
   - Functional soil biodiversity
   - Integrating soil ecosystem services in decision making
   
2. Sustainable agriculture and forestry
   - Impact issues of agricultural and forest practices on soil quality
   - The role of soil in the adaptation and mitigation of the agriculture and forestry sectors in Europe to climate change;
   
3. Contamination
   - Risk assessment and management
   - Soil filtering capacity
   - Regional or/and area management;

The funders of this third call each have specific interests in different research topics. You should contact your national contact point or check the table available below.

The total budget of the call should be approx. € 2 Mio.

Who is eligible?
The 3rd SNOWMAN call will be open in all countries participating in the call within a limited time from Mid September 2010 until mid December 2010.

The call is open to contractors eligible to participate in the RTD (i.e. Research and Technology Development) programmes run by the funders participating SNOWMAN’s third call. Participants should build a trans-national research consortium involving at least two independent legal entities from at least two of the SNOWMAN 3rd call funding countries listed in the table below.

Besides this, consortia may be supplemented by any additional research partners (e. g. from other EU Countries and EU Associated States) in case of availability of third party funding.

What kind of projects?
SNOWMAN wants to fund strategic research that is applicable for the stakeholders involved. It must contribute to the funders’ policies. Sustainable soil management is an activity that has to be implemented in practice, at a project site level, but also on a regional or national scale with medium-term and long term perspectives. The involvement of stakeholders and especially end-users in the project team is highly recommended, as well as the integration of relevant socio economics scientists. All SNOWMAN partners believe soil quality management should change from a specific sectoral policy and management issue into an integrated factor in social and economic decision processes and into transdisciplinary researches.

There are no strict guidelines on type and size of the projects as this depends on the kind of research the applicant will propose. They can be, for example:

• laboratory or field experiments;
• desk studies (including state of the art studies, assessment of existing knowledge, prospective studies aiming at identifying research needs, reviews of regulatory drivers, enablers or blockers …);
• development of procedures, methods or codes of good practices.

The duration of the proposed projects can be up to three years, including the submission of the draft final report. Revision by the researchers and acceptance by the funders may happen within the following 6 months.

Significant focus within each project should be given to dissemination and information exchange to share European experiences within the upcoming projects.  

The call procedures
Submission to SNOWMAN will involve a single stage application, followed by an eligibility check, and a two stage evaluation process of fundability and scientific quality and relevance. The scientific quality and relevance will be evaluated by a Peer Review panel of international experts. The SNOWMAN’s Call 3 Steering Committee will strive to arrange a balanced portfolio of funded projects covering all the topic areas.

Funding for the coordinated call will be subdivided into national contributions, financed by national funding organisations and based on their own existing funding rules. Contracts for successful applications will be placed between the research partners and their national funding organisation. However, for the first time in the SNOWMAN calls, the funders may decide to fund a whole project, or components of a project implemented by researchers from other countries. Further information on funding conditions is available from the organisations mentioned in the table below.

A further announcement containing full details of the call, an applicants guide and an application form will be published mid September 2010. All the information related to this call will be available on this website.

Interested organisations starting the process of preparation of a proposal do so at their own risk.

The SNOWMAN network shares the knowledge coming from all projects and we share the knowledge that is available among the members of the network.
 
Need more information or interested to join? Contact us or check this website.

 The funding organisations participating SNOWMAN’s 3rd call