NWO publishes joint call Cooperation China - Sustainable Deltas

The NWO-division Earth and Life Sciences (ALW) invites together with the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), applications for the call Sustainable Deltas. Deadline for submitting applications is October 25, 2016. The call is launched for trilateral research cooperation between Chinese, Dutch and UK research groups. The budget on the Dutch side is up to € 1,500,000. The aim of this trilateral call is to support world-leading research collaborations in the theme of Sustainable Deltas. The funding activity focuses on research challenges for sustainable and safe deltas within the broader framework of the water sector. A number of thematic areas have been identified, including water availability, water system analysis, salinisation and desiccation, water governance, and new solutions for passenger and freight transportation in deltas and coastal waters. Three focal areas have been defined:

Resilient urban planning and management;
Optimising water allocation and use in the delta;
Integrated coastal zone management.

These focal areas link issues from the water sector to other economic and development-relevant themes, such as energy, logistics, and agri-food. Key concerns include:

Improving and maintaining quality of life through the sustainable supply of clean water for all against a background of environmental change;
Adaptation of current industrial processes and practices to reduce over-reliance on the use of water.

The maximum funding that can be applied for on the Dutch side for an individual project will comprise up to € 280,000, covering funding of at least one Postdoc or PhD position (fixed rates, according to VSNU tariffs) and up to € 75,000 for research costs (including travel, material, laboratory, equipment). Eligible research teams are composed of Dutch, Chinese and UK researchers, with active involvement in the project of a senior Principal Investigator (PI) on the Dutch, the Chinese and the UK side. Each combined Chinese-Dutch-UK research team jointly submits one common application to the NWO-division Earth and Life Sciences (ALW).