Open Competition to Support Research Conducted by SPbU and Headed by Leading Scientists

Appendix to

Rector's Order No 1926/1

of 29 May 2013

Open Competition to Support Research Conducted by SPbU and Headed by Leading Scientists

GENERAL PROVISIONS

1.  The Open Competition to Support Research Conducted by SPbU and Headed by Leading Scientists (the Open Competition) is carried out:

1.1.  in order to meet the requirements of the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No 599 On Measures to Implement State Policy in Education and Research of 5 July 2011 with regard to improvement of competitiveness of leading Russian universities among the world's leading education and research centres and with regard to the entry of the leading Russian universities to the Top-100 in international academic rankings;

1.2.  in order to implement the Development Programme of Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education "Saint-Petersburg State University" by 2020 (SPbU Development Programme) with regard to additional support of Social Research and Technology and Biomedicine and Human Health priority areas.

2.  The competition shall result in foundation of SPbU research laboratories headed by invited leading researches. The personnel of a laboratory shall include Russian and/or foreign citizens and/or stateless persons invited by a Leading scientist and able to ensure the proposed research results. The staff of a laboratory shall include not less than three holders of the candidate of sciences or the doctor of sciences degrees or a foreign equivalent. At least two doctoral students (aspirants) and three undergraduate/specialist degree/master’s degree students of SPbU shall be involved in a laboratory's research.

3.  There shall be no limitation to the number of new laboratories created within a particular priority area.

4.  SPbU shall ensure the following conditions for the winning applicants:

4.1.  Payment of salary to employees of the research laboratories founded as a result of the Open Competition:

4.1.1. The annual amount of research financing shall be six million roubles; the period of financing shall be two years () and can be extended by two more years;

4.1.2. The remuneration of the head of a laboratory shall be three million roubles for each twelve months;

4.1.3. The remuneration of leading performers and research interns shall be defined by the head of a research team on a monthly basis according to the research contribution of each employee and shall not exceed the total amount of grant financing.

4.2.  Workplaces, including general-purpose equipment for research activities and results processing;

4.3.  Consumables required for research;

4.4.  Access to specialised research equipment available at resource centres.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS AND ELIGIBILITY

1.  The following applicants are eligible to submit joint applications for the Open Competition:

1.1.  an SPbU employee holding the position of an associate professor (dotsent), full professor, leading researcher or chief researcher.

1.2.  a leading scientist(Russian or foreign researcher having an outstanding global-level research record in the fields of knowledge corresponding to Priority Areas of SPbU development) who is not an SPbU employee.

2.  The researchers who have been awarded grants according to Regulation of the Government of the Russian Federation No 220 On Measures to Involve Leading scientists in Russian Institutions of Higher Professional Education of 9 April 2010 (as amended on 30 May 2012) and are employed by SPbU under an employment contract are not eligible to file applications for the Open Competition.

REQUIREMENTS TO WINNING APPLICANTS

1.  The winning applicants of the Open Competition shall personally head a laboratory and its research activities. They will be required to work on campus (be present at SPbU in person) no less than three months a year.

2.  The winning applicants shall raise off-budget funds to finance a laboratory’s research in the amount of not less than 25 per cent of the total amount provided by SPbU during the project’s implementation period.

3.  A winner shall ensure the following research results:

3.1.  Articles in the proposed research field that are actually published or accepted for publication (as confirmed by a journal's editorial board) in journals having the WoS and Scopus impact of not less than 1.5. The number of articles shall be:

3.1.1.  four articles within 18 months since the grant is provided;

3.1.2.  eight articles within two years since the grant is provided;

3.2.  Participation of a laboratory's team members in international research events:

3.2.1.  not less than two participants within 12 months since the grant is provided;

3.2.2.  not less than five participants within 18 months since the grant is provided, including two doctoral or undergraduate/specialist degree/master’s degree students;

3.2.3.  participation of each team member, including doctoral or undergraduate/specialist degree/master’s degree students, not less than in one research event within two years since the grant is provided.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS AND COMPETITION RULES

1.  The applications shall be submitted in English.

2.  The applications shall be completed electronically with the use of the application forms provided in the Information and Analytical System Supporting Research at SPbU (IAS NID). Instructions for completion of the e-version of the application through the application registration page shall be uploaded to and made available on SPbU's website.

3.  The application shall include the following information:

3.1.  a profile of a leading scientist (not more than three A4 pages), including a CV providing details on research experience and achievements of a leading scientist and any other information that a leading scientist may find appropriate;

3.2.  imprint of a leading scientist's five major publications and an SPbU team's five major publications on the topic of the proposed project;

3.3.  description of the proposed research project (not more than four A4 pages);

3.4.  description of a prospective laboratory's profile and its impact on SPbU’s status and development (not more than two A4 pages).

4.  All documents included into the application shall be printed out with the use of the functionality of IAS NID and signed by a leading scientist and SPbU participants. A printed version of the application shall be submitted to SPbU Vice-Rector for Research. Should there be any discrepancy between the e-version and the printed version, the e-version of the application shall prevail.

5.  The applications submitted to Vice-Rector for Research shall be assessed with regard to the formal criteria applied to the competition documentation. Should the application fail to comply with the aforementioned criteria, it shall be rejected, and the respective notification shall be sent to the official corporate e-mail of an SPbU participant.

6.  The applications shall be submitted to the Expert Board of SPbU no later than three days following the closing date.

7.  Each member of the Expert Board shall provide a written opinion in respect to each application submitted using the expert opinion questionnaire approved by the Vice-Rector for Research.

8.  The decision on the winning applicants shall be taken by the Vice-Rector for Research based on the opinions of the Expert Board members.

THE OPEN COMPETITION DEADLINES 2013

1.  Opening date for applications: 11 a. m. Moscow time on 15 June 2013

2.  Closing date for applications: 5 p. m. Moscow time on 1 August 2013

3.  Announcement of results: 30 August 2013