Two major funding news items have been announced this week

1. eLTER has received funding approval from the European Commission for two transdisciplinary projects
2. The 2019-2020 BiodivERsA call for proposals has officially been launched

eLTER: New Projects, Next Steps

With the approval of two projects totalling 14 million euros for eLTER, the EU is opening another important chapter in the development of a permanent infrastructure for long-term ecosystem, critical zone and socio-ecological research in Europe

The Preparatory Phase project, eLTER PPP, coordinated by the Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Germany, will further the operational, technical and strategic development at the existing sites in Europe to meet the current challenges of global change with holistic, systemic observations and analysis of environmental trends. Harmonized methods and research approaches will be applied, access to data will be facilitated and a wide range of user groups, from research to policy, will receive comprehensive support.

The Advanced Community Project, eLTER PLUS, coordinated by the University of Helsinki in Finland, will conduct a performance test of the emerging eLTER RI, challenging, assessing and strengthening its operations. Selected sites and platforms in terrestrial, freshwater and coastal ecosystems will be used to study ecosystem integrity, impacts of climate change, and endangered ecosystem services at a pan-European scale.

Read the full CORDIS press release or the UFZ press release on these projects.

BiodivERsA: Call Launched

As of 3 September, the BiodivERsA international 2019-2020 COFUND Call for transnational research proposals on “Biodiversity and Climate Change” is open.

This call will cover the following four non-exclusive themes:

• Consequences of climate change on biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people
• Climate-biodiversity feedback processes
• Potential of nature-based solutions for mitigating and adapting to climate change
• Synergies and trade-offs between policies on biodiversity, climate and other relevant sectors, and the role of agents of change

Research teams will be invited to form transnational research consortia with eligible partners from minimum 3 countries participating in the call (including minimum two from EU Member States or EU Associated Countries). The deadline for pre-proposal submission is 5 November 2019, 16:00 CET and the deadline for full-proposal submission is 10 April 2020, 16:00 CET.

Learn more on the BiodivERsA call webpage.