FAPESP São Paulo School of Advanced Science

• http://espca.fapesp.br/
• http://espca.fapesp.br/detalhe/chamada/12

Introduction

Through the São Paulo School of Advanced Science (SPSAS) FAPESP offers funding for the organization of short duration courses in advanced research in the different areas of knowledge in the State of Sao Paulo.

Proposal Summary:

Timeline

Milestone	Date
Last day for proposal submission	Sep 16, 2016
Announcement of selected proposals	Nov 18, 2016
Initial date for schools start	After March 2017

Proposal Preparation

As a general rule, every proposal to FAPESP is coordinated by a Principal Investigator (PI), and the SPSAS is no exception. The PI must prepare and submit the proposal electronically through SAGE.

• Propostas -> Nova Proposta Inicial
  • Programas Regulares -> Auxílios a Pesquisa -> Organização de Evento Científico -> Escola São Paulo de Ciência Avançada

The proposal submitted to FAPESP must:

• Have the title "São Paulo School of Advanced Science on "
• Make clear the scope, duration and size of the school. Since it is a school, it must be focused on teaching activities on the chosen theme. Duration is to be from 10-14 days, with order of 100 students (50/50 split between Brazilian and foreigners) and up to 12 lecturers of the highest level (again, 50/50 split).
• Have a full-fledged program, with well-defined goals and the methods chosen to achieve them. All activities must be already specified.
  • The program must contain explicit sessions for i) presentations by the students and ii) institutional advertisement by FAPESP.
• Make clear that there is a mechanism in place for the students to do an evaluation / give feedback on the school.
• Already constitute an Organising Committee, presided by the PI of the proposal, and an Executive Secretariat. A model for the "feedback and evaluation questionnaire" for the students is required.
• Have a clear set of guidelines and criteria for selection of the students and of the lecturers.
• List of lecturers, with their resumés and CVs
• Make clear that there is support from the host institution:
  • Presence of a well-staffed Executive Secretariat, particularly for the issues of coordinating travel, lodging, and meals for students and lecturers.
  • Auditoriums. meeting rooms, rooms for poster presentations
  • Audio-video systems
  • Mailing expenses
  • Preparation and advertisement of the website + liaison between organisers and candidates
  • "Coffee-breaks"
  • Support from the International Affairs, particularly w.r.t visa for students
• A document detailing the strategy for funding, including a table for the funding requested / obtained from any other sources.
• A document detailing the strategy for advertisement.

Criteria for Proposal Selection

Essentially, all the itens in the proposal above must be strongly defended. One important point is that priority will be given for subjects not recently covered in the SPSAS program -- bold from FAPESP!

Format for Student's Application

The students must apply by sending the documentation to the Executive Secretariat. The documentation must contain:

• Justification of the student's application, mentioning the importance of the school for their scientific formation, describing their research project, the institution where that project is being perform and their expected date for their degree (BSc, MSc or PhD).
• One-page summary of their research project
• Recommendation letter from their supervisor
• School records
• Summary CV

Format for School Advertisement

The school must be advertised in the following format:

• An official website, kept up-to-date
• Advertisements in high-profile journals, sites of scientific societies, universities (including the host institution) and the FAPESP website. Also, it is important that the announcent is made in a timely manner, such that the announcement of selected students can be made 4 months before the date of the school.

Contact with FAPESP:

• Ms. Regina Costa de Oliveira: chamada_ESPCA@fapesp.br.
  • Subject: "Chamada ESPCA/FAPESP 2016”

Example selected schools

http://www.fapesp.br/en/7800

-- trtomei - 2016-06-21

Comments

Choice of theme

The school has to be on an unusual, focused theme, albeit how focused is a good question. On a sliding scale of "less to more focused":

• High Energy Physics
• High Energy Physics at Collider Experiments (covering possibly also the future accelerators like ILC and the FCC?)
• High Energy Physics at the LHC
• Searches for New Physics at the LHC ---> I prefer this!
• Searches for New Physics with <insert theme here> at the LHC

-- trtomei - 2016-06-21

Suggestion of an immediate todo list:

1. ) Decide on a theme
2. ) Decide on a organising committee. Remember that the host institution must explicitly support the school, so the organising committee must already be staffed with the Executive Secretaries.
3. ) Draft a program. Preliminary contacts with prospective lecturers are already welcome.
4. ) Preliminary estimate of expenses and funding needed. An explicit strategy of funding is required to submit the proposal.

-- trtomei - 2016-06-21