INTRODUCTION
Changes in the Earth system are clearly impacting the societies and economies of the countries within the Asia-Pacific region. These countries support more than half of the world's population. Recent research and supporting observations have provided new insights into some of these changes and their impacts, but have at the same time opened a number of new and challenging scientific issues.

 

The Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN) is an inter-governmental network whose mission is to enable investigation of change in the Earth's life support systems as it occurs in the Asia-Pacific region to:

 The core strategies of the APN are to:

The APN defines Global Change Research as “research regarding global change (the set of natural and human-induced changes in the Earth's physical and biological systems that, when aggregated, are significant at a global scale) and its implications for sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region.”

 

The APN supports activities that generate and transfer knowledge on the physical and human dimensions of global change in 5 main themes under its Science Agenda of Climate; Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Land Use; Changes in Atmospheric, Terrestrial and Marine Domains; Use of Resources and Pathways for Sustainable Development; Cross-Cutting and Science-Policy Linkages.

THE CALLS FOR PROPOSALS
The APN is inviting proposals under under two separate programmes, the ARCP Programme and the CAPaBLE Programme, for funding from April 2009, and is able to provide a limited amount of financial support[1] for research and capacity development activities that fall within its areas of interest.

GENERAL INFORMATION ON NEW PROCEDURE
FOR THE CALLS FOR PROPOSALS PROCESS

Following the 12^th APN Inter-Governmental Meeting (IGM)/Scientific Planning Group (SPG) Meeting in March 2007, a more streamlined process for the calls for proposals was implemented. This new procedure includes a voluntary Advisory Service and a compulsory Proposals Submission and Review Process.

ADVISORY SERVICE (Voluntary)*

A potential proponent can consult with the APN Secretariat, with a carbon copy to the national Focal Point (nFP) and to the SPG member from his/her country, by sending a Letter of Intent by Friday 4 July 2008. The APN Secretariat will respond back to the proponent, as appropriate, by Friday 22 July 2008.

 

*Almost equivalent to the “Pre-proposals Stage” in previous years, but takes place 1 month earlier. Please click here for more information on the Advisory Service and the format and procedure for the submission of the Letter of Intent.

PROPOSALS SUBMISSION AND REVIEW PROCESS (Compulsory)

The new proposals submission and review process consists of 3 main stages:

• Stage 1 – Submission and review of Summary Proposal (compulsory)
• Stage 2 – Submission and 2-step review process of Full Proposal (by invitation)
• Stage 3 – Final Decision-Making

Stage 1: Submission and Review of Summary Proposal (compulsary)
A proponent submits a summary proposal with carbon copy to the nFP and to the SPG member from his/her country by Friday 15 August 2008. The summary proposals will undergo a screening process performed by the SPG Sub-Committee, who will select proposals that will proceed to the next stage. This screening was introduced for the first time in 2007 to avoid wasting proponents' and reviewers' valuable time. All proponents are notified of the results of the preliminary screening in mid-September, and only those proponents that pass Stage 1 will be asked to submit a full proposal for further consideration.

 

Stage 2: Submission and Review of Full Proposal (compulsary and by invitation)
This stage is by invitation only. Successful proponents from Stage 1 are invited to submit their full proposals to the APN Secretariat by Friday 17 October 2008.

 

Two-Step Review Process
Review by APN internal reviewers (SPG members) and external reviewers. Proponents above the cut-off line respond to the questions and comments of the APN internal reviewers, and unsuccessful proponents are informed of the results of the first review (Step 1 Review: November 2008 – January 2009). SPG members submit revised ratings based on responses of the proponents at Step 1 Review (Step 2 Review: February 2008).

 

Stage 3: Final Decisions-Making
The APN's 14^th IGM approves which proposals to fund, following recommendations from the SPG (late March 2009). The Secretariat informs proponents of the final decision in April 2009.

OUTLINE OF ELIGIBILITY AND GUIDELINES FOR APPLICATION

 

1. Activities of Interest to the APN for its ARCP and CAPaBLE Calls for Proposals:
The APN is prepared to support activities in the area of global change as relevant to APN's thematic areas and relating to: 

 

The ARCP Programme New research which addresses knowledge gaps in key areas Synthesis and analysis of existing research Research planning/scoping activities The development of policy products such as integrated assessments, impact assessments, climate models, etc.

The CAPaBLE Programme Scientific capacity development for sustainable development Science-policy interfacing Awareness raising activities Dissemination activities

2. Items Not Supported by the APN
The APN will not support:

1. The running costs of institutions;
2. The salaries of administration staffs or researchers who receive or are to receive full-time salary support;
3. The salaries of consultants (project leaders and collaborators should have the expertise to conduct the activities); and
4. The maintenance of long-term observation and monitoring systems.

3. The APN Science Agenda
The APN supports activities that generate and transfer knowledge on the physical and human dimensions of change in the Earth system with a focus on:

1. Climate
2. Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Land Use
3. Changes in the Atmospheric, Terrestrial and Marine Domains
4. Use of Resources (such as food, water, energy, materials) and Pathways for Sustainable Development
5. Cross-cutting Issues and Science-policy Linkages

4. Deadlines

Advisory Service (Voluntary). Submission of Letter of Intent: Friday, 4 July 2008, midnight (24:00) – Japanese Standard Time
 

Stage 1. Submission of Summary Proposal (Compulsory): Friday, 15 August 2008, midnight (24:00) – Japanese Standard Time
 

Stage 2. Submission of Full Proposal by the Successful Stage 1 Proponents (Compulsory and by Invitation Only): Friday, 17 October 2008, midnight (24:00) – Japanese Standard Time 

Please be sure to submit your proposal to the correct email address. ARCP Proposals: ARCP-Proposals@apn-gcr.org CAPaBLE Proposals: CAPaBLE-proposals@apn-gcr.org

5. Format of Letter of Intent and Proposals & Further Information

Guidance on the format of Letter of Intent, Stage 1 Summary Proposal, and Stage 2 Full Proposal is set out in separate guidelines for the ARCP and CAPaBLE programmes: the “ APN 2008 Calls for Proposals Advisory Service” , the “ 2008 ARCP - Guide for Proponents”, and the “2008 CAPaBLE – Guide for Proponents” which give detailed explanations of the advisory service, the two separate calls for proposals, and the criteria against which proposals are judged.