Generic Call for Proposals 2020

The Generic Call for Proposals 2020 (AAPG 2020) is the French National Research Agency’s (ANR) main call. It is directed towards all scientific communities and all public and private players involved in French research. It is designed to give researchers in various scientific fields access to co-funding in a large number of research themes, basic or applied, in addition to their allocated recurrent funding.

Funding instruments

The Generic Call for Proposals 2020 involves four funding instruments, each with its own specific submission and evaluation procedures. These instruments are used to fund either individual research projects coordinated by young researchers (JCJC) or collaborative research projects between public entities in a national or bilateral international context (PRC and PRCI respectively) or between and public and private entities with a potential opening to the world of business (PRCE).

Research themes

AAPG 2020 is divided into 49 research themes, each with its own Scientific Evaluation Panel (CES). When researchers submit a proposal, they select the scientific theme – and therefore the Scientific Evaluation Panel – that most closely relates to the scientific purpose of their research. This choice cannot be changed mid-way through the selection process.

• There are 36 research themes across seven main scientific fields: environmental sciences, energy and materials sciences, digital sciences, life sciences, social sciences and humanities, mathematics and its interactions, and physics of matter, high-energy, Earth and universe sciences.
• There are 13 research themes covering cross-disciplinary challenges and integrating issues from various scientific fields.

In the 2020 edition, the scientific scope of the AAPG research themes has been clarified, and the "Sub-atomic physics, sciences of the Universe, structure and history of Earth" theme has been separated into two scientific themes. In addition, references to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which represent major social challenges to which some research can contribute, have also been added to the relevant AAPG research themes.

Schedule 

• Stage 1 results (PRC/PRCE/JCJC): 13 February 2020
   
• Opening of the submission website for full proposals: 17 February 2020
  Submission Website: https://aap.agencerecherche.fr/
   
• Deadline for submission of full proposals: 20 May 2020 at 1 pm (Paris time)

Registration of PRCI proposals

All “International Collaborative Research Projects” (PRCI) proposals must now be registered in phase 1 of the AAPG 2020, except for PRCIs involving collaboration with Germany (DFG), Austria (FWF) and Switzerland (FNS), for which submissions must be made to these agencies, acting as the Lead Agency. All PRCI proposals registered with ANR in phase 1 are admitted to phase 2 provided that the project in question is eligible. The aim of this measure is to ensure that the PRCI submission and selection process is managed efficiently within the AAPG 2020 process.

Who can submit a proposal?

AAPG 2020 is open to all grant-holding researchers belonging to an organisation, establishment or public or private research laboratory eligible for ANR funding. Applicants can be involved in a maximum of three proposals submitted to ANR under the AAPG 2020 and the bilateral calls for proposals in the Work Programme 2020 (one as coordinator and two as scientific leader for a project partner, or up to three as scientific leader for a project partner). A coordinator of a PRC, PRCE, PRCI or JCJC proposal selected for funding under the AAPG 2019 cannot submit a PRC, PRCE, PRCI or JCJC proposal as coordinator for the AAPG 2020. However, the researcher may act as partner’s scientific and technical leader. In addition, a JCJC project coordinator cannot act as the coordinator for another PRC, PRCE, PRCI or JCJC project while the initial JCJC project is ongoing.

View the eligibility criteria in the text of the AAPG 2020 and the AAPG 2020 Guide.

Evaluation criteria: Panel members and external experts use the same set of criteria to evaluate pre-proposals and full proposals submitted for the AAPG.

• In phase 1, the evaluation process is guided by two key criteria: the quality and scientific aims of the proposal (determining criterion), and how it is organised and implemented, including several sub-criteria.
• In phase 2, the evaluation process is guided by three key criteria: the quality and scientific aims of the proposal, how it is organised and implemented, and what the impact and consequences of the project will be, including several sub-criteria. Note that an evaluation sub-criterion specific to PRCI projects has been included, relating to the project's capacity to respond to the research challenges of the chosen scientific theme.

View the evaluation criteria and procedures in the text of the AAPG 2020.