2019 STRATEGIC PLAN

LINE 1 – RESEARCH AND INNOVATION FUNDING FROM " Projects " FOR INiBICA RESEARCH GROUPS

1.a. Purpose of the aid

This initiative is designed to fund research and innovati Projects s submitted by INiBICA research staff who are members of established or emerging research groups and who serve as principal investigators on the application.

Partner groups may always participate in collaboration with an established or emerging group.

The Principal Investigators (hereinafter, PIs) of the project agree to apply for a project under the national plan (Ministry or ISCIII) in the call for proposals immediately following the project’s completion. Failure to fulfill this commitment will prevent the PI from accessing any of the Action Lines in the next call for proposals under the national plan.

We will promote a multidisciplinary approach at the Team , which we define as collaboration among different specialties in basic and clinical research.

1.b. Amount of the grant and implementation period

The total budget allocated for this initiative is €180,000, and the maximum amount to be awarded per project will be €20,000, distributed over a 24-month period, with a maximum 6-month extension of the project’s implementation period, subject to prior authorization by INiBICA.

Fifty percent of the awarded amount will be disbursed to the beneficiaries at the start of the project implementation period. Once half of the project’s implementation period has elapsed, an interim review will be conducted; a favorable evaluation of this review will be required for the remaining 50% of the funding to be disbursed.

The maximum number of Projects to be funded under the INiBICA program will be three, unless there are remaining funds.

1.c. Application Format and Deadline

Applications must be submitted by the project’s principal investigator (PI). Applications for the “ Projects ” program must be submitted by one or two principal investigators (PI and Co-PI), who must be members of INiBICA groups. Only one application may be submitted per INiBICA group.

Partner groups may only apply as co-principal investigators in collaboration with an established group.

The principal investigator may appear on only one application, and a collaborating researcher may appear on up to two Projects with shared commitment.

The deadline for submitting applications is May 21. Applications must be submitted online at E-mail via the email address planpropio@inibica.es by 11:59 p.m. on the deadline date.

The “ Documentation ” to be submitted with the application is as follows:

Sample Report—Appendix I.
CVA (FECYT Model) for the IP and the members of the research Team .
Request for approval from the relevant ethics committee.

1.d. Requirements for Early-Career Researchers

IPs belonging to established or emerging groups that meet the following requirements will be considered emerging:

Not having led any research project funded through public, national, or international competitive calls for proposals as of the application deadline.
Have obtained a Doctor of Medicine ( Title ) or an official Doctor of Health Sciences ( Title ) degree as a specialist in health sciences after 2005.
Have a minimum scientific output of 3 Publications (articles and reviews) in the last 5 years as first or last author, or as corresponding author, in journals indexed in the Journal Citation Report (JCR) and ranked in the 1st and 2nd quartiles, according to the JCR for the year of publication.

When calculating the number of years of scientific output and the date of completion of the doctoral degree and/or specialty, the following documented interruptions will be considered non-counting: periods of leave for maternity or paternity taken in accordance with the protected situations set forth in the General Social Security System (an extension of 1 year will be applied for each child); serious illness or accident of the applicant, with a medical leave of absence of 3 months or more (an extension equal to the period of justified leave will be applied, rounded up to full months); care for dependent persons, in accordance with the provisions of Law 39/2006 of December 14 on the Promotion of Personal Autonomy and Care for Dependent Persons, for a minimum period of 3 months (an extension equal to the justified period will be applied, rounded up to full months).

1.e. Eligible Expenses

The grants awarded will be used to cover the following expenses:

Goods and services: scientific research materials, consumables, library materials, and external services.
Travel, lodging, and meals shall be reimbursed in accordance with the maximum amounts for service-related allowances established in Decree 54/1989, dated March 21, on service-related allowances of the Regional Government of Andalusia, exclusively for members of the research Team . In exceptional cases, any expenses exceeding these amounts, or for persons other than those listed at Team, must be authorized by the granting body.
Expenses related to hiring technical or research staff necessary for the project's implementation.
Other duly justified expenses necessary for the implementation of the project, such as registration fees for conferences or workshops for the presentation and dissemination of the results.

Entertainment and protocol expenses are excluded.

1.f. Evaluation of Applications

The Evaluation Committee appointed for this purpose will ensure compliance with the requirements for this call for applications. This evaluation committee will be entirely external and independent of INiBICA.

Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

Scientific quality and technical and economic feasibility of the proposal. Up to a maximum of 50 points. The project must score at least 30 points in this section to be eligible for funding.
Team Research. Maximum 40 points:
- CV of the Principal Investigator(s). Assessment of the Principal Investigator’s ( Composition ) qualifications and experience ( Team ) to carry out the project: This criterion is worth a maximum of 20 points, and a minimum of 10 points must be earned in this criterion to receive funding.
- If the PI or Co-PI belongs to an emerging group, they will receive an additional 5 points.
- If the PI or Co-PI meets the definition of “emerging” as detailed in section 1.d, they will receive an additional 5 points.
- Projects s that demonstrate cross-level collaboration among the consolidated, emerging, or associate groups will receive 5 additional points.
- Projects s submitted in collaboration between a clinical healthcare researcher and a researcher from any other discipline will receive an additional 5 points.
Impact and expected results, Publications in Q1, Patents, etc. Up to a maximum of 10 points. A minimum of 3 points is required in this section to be eligible for funding.

1.g. Monitoring and Justification of the Aid

Twelve months after the start of the project’s implementation period, a midterm review will be conducted; a favorable evaluation of this review will be essential for the continuation of the grant. To this end, the grantees must submit a scientific and technical progress report detailing the activities carried out, the objectives achieved, and the results obtained during this first phase of the project.

The final report must be submitted no later than one year after the completion of the research project. In this case, grant recipients must submit the following: Documentation:

Scientific and technical report on all activities carried out.
Results and productivity indicators achieved in the project (Publications, Patents, clinical practice guidelines, links to another project, etc.).

If an extension has been granted, the new schedule of activities and the new objectives to be achieved during that period must have been submitted along with the request for authorization of the extension.

Failure to justify the aid as described above will result in the full repayment of all amounts received.

Principal investigators are required to provide an annual financial justification for the expenses incurred from the project’s allocated budget by submitting to FCÁDIZ supporting documentation for those expenses (invoices, copies of contracts, expense receipts, etc.).

1.h. Obligations of the Beneficiaries

For the final allocation of funds, the PI must provide evidence of approval from the relevant ethics committees.

INiBICA may request and summon interested parties to carry out any actions and monitor the activity as it deems necessary, including in-person interviews with the beneficiaries. Participation in the follow-up sessions is mandatory, and any recommendations made must be followed.

Recipients of these grants will be required to participate in efforts to publicize the research they conduct and to acknowledge INiBICA as the entity funding such research activities. FCÁDIZ will be the recipient and administrator of the funds.

The principal investigators (PIs) of the project agree to submit a proposal for the national plan (Ministry or ISCIII) in the call for proposals immediately following the project’s completion. A copy of the submission confirmation for these proposals ( Projects ) must be submitted to INiBICA as proof of compliance. Failure to fulfill these commitments will prevent the PI from accessing any of the Lines of Action in the next call for proposals under the national plan.

If you have any trouble downloading the file mentioned above, you can access it via the following link.

LINE 2 – FUNDING FOR PRE-DOCTORAL RESEARCH STAFF POSITIONS ASSOCIATED WITH A PROPOSAL
FOR WORK INVOLVING CLINICAL-BASIC INTERACTION

2.a. Purpose of the aid

This initiative is aimed at a competitive call for applications for predoctoral contracts for the training of doctoral candidates, under the predoctoral contract modality, for Research Fellows in Training at the University of Cádiz who wish to pursue a doctoral dissertation associated with a joint research line between clinical researchers and researchers from any other discipline, contributing to the achievement of Projects and the joint publication of results.

This call for applications is aimed at the completion of a doctoral dissertation, with the possibility of an additional postdoctoral year if the doctoral dissertation is defended during the third year.

2.b. Amount of the grant and implementation period

The budget allocation for this line item is €151,302 per year for the first three years and €194,000 for the final year, provided the prerequisite is met (an additional postdoctoral year if the doctoral dissertation is defended during the third year); with this budget, six positions will be advertised (total annual contract cost: €25,217).

For those who earn their Ph.D. ( Title ) during the third year of the contract, they would terminate their pre-doctoral researcher contract and sign a new one as a post-doctoral researcher (with a total annual cost of the contract of approximately €32,283).

Contracts will have a maximum duration of 4 years, calculated from the date the hired researcher begins work.

The renewal of the grant by the Scientific Directorate of INiBICA will be evaluated by the committee designated for that purpose on an annual basis, with a maximum duration not exceeding four years; renewal will be contingent upon the evaluation of the work carried out each year.

2.c. Applicant Requirements

The researchers supervising the pre-doctoral researcher must meet the following requirements:

At least one thesis advisor must be a clinician employed by the Andalusian Health Service or the Regional Ministry of Health.
At least one of the applicants must belong to an established or emerging group at INiBICA.

Pre-doctoral researchers must meet the following requirements:

Applicants must meet, by the application deadline, the general requirements for admission to doctoral studies set forth in Article 11 of Regulation UCA/CG06/2012, dated June 27, 2012, which governs the organization of doctoral studies at the University of Cádiz.
Nationality. There are no specific requirements regarding the nationality or residence status of applicants. However, the hiring of non-EU foreign researchers will be suspended until they obtain a visa authorizing them to work in accordance with the provisions of Organic Law 4/2000 on the rights and freedoms of foreigners in Spain and their social integration, as amended by Organic Law 2/2009 of December 11 (Official State Gazette [BOE] of December 12, 2009) and applicable regulatory provisions.
Individuals who have begun their pre-doctoral training with funding from other grants intended for the same purpose—grants awarded under the 2016–2017 Program for the Promotion and Advancement of Research and Knowledge Transfer at the University of Cádiz —are not eligible to apply for this call. Nor are individuals who have already been awarded a Doctoral Degree ( Title ) from any Spanish or foreign university. Applicants who have previously held a pre-doctoral contract for more than twelve months are also ineligible.

Compliance with the requirements for participating in this call for applications must always be based on the deadline for submitting applications and must be maintained throughout the hiring period for the respective competition.

Only one application may be submitted per research group.

2.d. Application Format and Deadline

Applications must be submitted by one of the thesis advisors. The deadline for submitting applications is June 30. Applications must be submitted via E-mail toplanpropio@inibica.es by 11:59 p.m. on the deadline date.

Applications must be accompanied by the following Documentation:

The candidate's CVN (FECYT model).
A sworn statement affirming that the applicant does not hold a doctoral degree ( Title ) from any Spanish or foreign university, and that all information provided in the resume and application is accurate. The applicant must notify the reviewing body of any changes in the circumstances described in this statement. Any change in the circumstances described in the statement will result in the applicant’s failure to meet the eligibility requirements (Annex I).
A sworn statement certifying that, prior to submitting the application, the applicant has not received any funding for pre-doctoral training as defined in subsection 2.c) nor, if applicable, held a pre-doctoral contract for a period exceeding twelve months (Annex II).
An academic transcript issued by the academic institution, detailing the degrees held or coursework completed as of the application submission date, which qualify the applicant for admission to the doctoral program. The transcript must include the grades obtained and the dates they were earned for the courses that constitute the degree program or coursework listed therein. The application must include a sworn statement confirming that the degrees or coursework referred to in the academic transcript are those successfully completed at the time of application. In the case of certificates issued by foreign institutions, the certificate must also specify the highest and lowest grades within the corresponding grading system, as well as the minimum passing grade. If the academic transcript is issued in a language other than Spanish or English, it must be submitted along with an official translation into one of these two languages.
A copy of a valid passport, only for foreign nationals who are not residents of Spain.
CVA (FECYT Model) of the thesis advisor(s).
Candidate's Report on the Suitability of the Proposal (Appendix III).
A report on the scientific research to be conducted by the candidate and a justification of the host group’s ability to supervise the thesis (Annex IV).

2.e. Evaluation of Applications

It will be conducted by a subcommittee appointed by the INiBICA training committee, which was selected prior to the publication of the call for applications and whose members will be listed at Composition.

Priority will be given to multidisciplinary “ Projects ” that demonstrate clear collaboration between clinical researchers and researchers from INiBICA groups in any other discipline.

Applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria and scoring scales (detailed in Annex V):

Candidate's academic achievements: 30% of the final score.
Academic merits of the recipient group(s), with particular emphasis on their ability to supervise doctoral dissertations: 60% of the final score.
Evaluation of the work proposal: 10% of the final score.

The Evaluation Committee will ensure that there is a balanced distribution among the various INiBICA programs.

Once the applications have been evaluated, the Evaluation Committee will shortlist the applicants; candidates must be notified of this, and they will be required to submit, within a specified timeframe determined by the doctoral program, documentation proving their admission or pre-admission to the corresponding doctoral program. It is the applicants’ responsibility to arrange for their admission; to do so, candidates must meet all the requirements established by the corresponding doctoral program, including the commitment to a thesis advisor.

In their application for admission to the doctoral program, applicants must demonstrate and justify that they have been shortlisted for a predoctoral fellowship. In any case, admission or preliminary admission to a doctoral program is an essential requirement for being awarded a position.

Once the established deadline has passed, the evaluation committee will propose a list of selected candidates, which will be published along with a list of alternate candidates who may replace the selected candidates in the event of their resignation or withdrawal during the first 6 months of the contract.

2.f. Monitoring and Justification of the Aid

A follow-up evaluation will be conducted annually to ensure that the activity is carried out properly. To this end, the beneficiaries must submit a report detailing the activities carried out and the results obtained.

During the first two years of the project, the candidate must have completed at least one stay at a foreign institution lasting a minimum of 3 months. Failure to meet this requirement without a valid reason will result in the funding not being renewed.

In addition, after the first three years of the grant, the achievement of the following milestones will be evaluated to determine whether the grant will be renewed for an additional fourth year:

Having defended a dissertation, if applicable; eligibility for a one-year contract as a recent postdoctoral researcher will be evaluated. This criterion is mandatory.
2 Publications s in the first quartile during the first three years.
The doctoral program must meet the necessary criteria for “international recognition.”

2.g. Obligations of the beneficiaries

Hired Research Fellows must prepare scientific and technical progress reports. One report must be submitted at the end of each contract year, and a final report covering the entire contract period, using the templates that will be sent by the Management Department at Projects of INiBICA. Additionally, the research fellow’s updated curriculum vitae must be attached to the progress reports. The outcome of the evaluation of each annual report, as indicated above, will be decisive in determining whether funding for the contract will continue.
In the event that the grantee earns a Ph.D. Title during the term of the pre-doctoral contract, submission of the document certifying the defense and approval of the doctoral dissertation shall replace the corresponding progress report(s). In cases where the Title degree is awarded prior to the start of the final year of the contract, and funding is authorized for the hiring of the newly minted Ph.D., a final report must be prepared covering the period during which the postdoctoral grant was in effect. This report shall include a description of the work carried out (Publications, visits to other institutions, attendance at conferences, etc.) and the progress of the research line pursued by the grantee.
Hiring. Hiring must take place within a maximum of 3 months from the publication of the final lists of researchers selected for hire; this period may be extended to 6 months for justified reasons and with prior authorization. To be hired, the candidate must be enrolled in a doctoral program.
Publicity. Recipients must acknowledge the source of funding for the subsidized activity, making explicit reference to this call for proposals and the entity awarding the employment contracts, in their doctoral dissertations, Publications, presentations, activities to disseminate results, and in any other actions resulting from the contracts awarded under this call for proposals.

If you have any trouble downloading the file mentioned above, you can access it via the following link.

LINE 3 – FUNDING FOR GRANTS TO SUPPORT THE COSTS OF SCIENTIFIC Publications

3.a. Purpose of the aid

The objective of this initiative is to fund expenses related to translation, writing, and publication in open-access journals indexed in Q1 (Journal Citation Reports), based on the classification for the year of publication.

Articles that have already been accepted but have not yet been published will be considered “ Publications ,” provided they have a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) obtained between May 1, 2018, and April 30, 2019.

3.b. Amount of the grant

The total budget allocated to this program is €15,000, with a maximum of €1,500 per application.

At least 50% of this amount will be allocated to clinical Principal Investigators (hereinafter, PIs) who provide patient care.

3.c. Requirements for Beneficiaries

Only those researchers who, at the time of submitting their applications, do not have funding already awarded for this publication will be eligible for this grant. A sworn statement is attached.

Applicants must be researchers affiliated with an established or emerging INiBICA group.

If there are external calls for proposals to fund these activities, applicants will be required to commit to submitting an application for such funding.

The applicant must be the first or last author, or the corresponding author.

Only one grant may be awarded per research group and per publication/DOI.

3.d. Application Format and Deadline

The call for proposals remains open until May 31; if funds are still available after the selection process, it will remain open until the available funds are exhausted. Reimbursement or payment for the best proposals received, based on the criteria set forth in section 3.e., will continue until the budget for this fiscal year is exhausted.

Applications must be submitted via E-mail to the following address: planpropio@inibica.es, with the following URL: Documentation:

Appendix I: Application Report.
Appendix II: Statement signed by the Principal Investigator (PI) confirming that no funding was received for this activity.

If the invoice for the translation, publication, etc., has already been paid by the group, the amount would be treated as research funds available for payment of any other research-related expenses (consumables, training, travel to conferences, equipment purchases, other translations, etc.).

3.e. Evaluation of Applications

The Evaluation Committee will evaluate the proposals received based on the following criteria:

Rank by quartile/decile.
Journal impact factor.
Publications with the participation of principal investigators from various disciplines, including clinical principal investigators involved in patient care.
Publications in collaboration with international institutions.

3.f. Justification for the aid

Within a maximum of 3 months from the date the grant is disbursed, the following must be submitted: Documentation:

Proof of payment for the activity.

Failure to justify the aid as described above will result in the full repayment of all amounts received.

If you have any trouble downloading the files mentioned above, you can access them via the following link.

LINE 4 – FUNDING TO SUPPORT THE ORGANIZATION OF OUTREACH AND TRAINING WORKSHOPS AND SEMINARS

4.a. Purpose of the Aid

The purpose of this program is to fund outreach and training activities, such as travel expenses for speakers, promotional materials, etc.

The selection of activities to be funded will be based on the number of attendees, scientific interest, quality, interdisciplinary nature, and efforts to secure other external funding.

Funding for activities to be carried out between July 1, 2019, and June 30, 2020.

4.b. Amount of the grant

The amount of this financial assistance will be up to 400 € per application, with a total budget allocation of 4,000 €.

4.c. Requirements for Applicants

Be a researcher affiliated with an established or emerging INiBICA research group.

You may not receive more than one annual grant per group under this program.

4.d. Application Format and Deadline

Applications must be submitted via E-mail to the following email address: planpropio@inibica.es with the following URL: Documentation:

Appendix I.

Applications will be accepted from May 15 through June 4. If funds remain, the application period will remain open until the available funds are exhausted.

4.e. Evaluation of Applications

The Evaluation Committee appointed for this purpose will evaluate the applications submitted based on the following criteria and scoring scales:

Quality and feasibility of the proposed activity in relation to INiBICA’s strategic priorities: Maximum 25 points.
Number of INiBICA groups interested in this activity: Maximum 25 points.
Establishing international collaborations or recruiting high-level researchers: Maximum 25 points.
Scientific merit and impact of the activity: Maximum 25 points.

4.f. Justification for the aid

The grant will be accounted for through the expenses associated with the activity, which must be coordinated with INiBICA’s Finance Department.

If you have any questions regarding this call for proposals, please contact the Projects administrator assigned to your research group.
The application period will end when funds are exhausted.
Applications, complete with all required Documentation , must be submitted via E-mail toplanpropio@inibica.es by 11:59 p.m. on the deadline date.