CCMAR-SPARC 1st Seed Funding Call

1. Overview and Objectives

CCMAR is proud to announce the first edition of its Seed Funding Call – CCMAR-SPARC (Seed Programme for Advancing Research Careers), aimed at empowering early-stage researchers to advance their careers. This initiative supports the development of innovative, exploratory, and collaborative projects within CCMAR, addressing emerging research themes or grand challenges according to our strategic objectives, and helps generate preliminary data and take decisive steps toward securing larger external funding opportunities, such as the ERC, EIC Pathfinder, or other European or international competitive calls.

2. Eligibility Criteria

• The Principal Investigator (PI) must hold a PhD awarded no more than 8 years prior to the application date. Career breaks due to parental, maternity, or extended sick leave will be duly considered (MCSA-PF rules will be taken as reference, see Annex I).
• The PI must be a CCMAR-integrated researcher, with a minimum 50%-dedication time.
• The PI must hold a contract valid until July 2027.
• Each applicant may submit only one proposal, either as PI or team member.
• Each application must include team members contributing to at least two different CCMAR thematic lines, to foster internal collaboration and a multidisciplinary approach.

3. Funding and Project Duration

• Each selected project will receive funding of €10,000 for a maximum duration of 18 months.
• The total budget available for this call is €30,000, funded by the CCMAR pluriannual FCT budget.

4. Application Process

Interested applicants must complete and submit the designated application form in English, available here (details on ANNEX II), October 1 – 31 (midnight). Any questions regarding this call should be directed to ccmarfunding@ualg.pt.

5. Proposal Contents

Proposals should contain the following information to be considered in the evaluation:

A. Scientific Relevance and Innovative Nature

• Scientific background and identification of the knowledge gap.
• Central hypothesis and main objectives of the project.
• Innovative aspects and timeliness of the proposal.

B. Feasibility and Impact

• Methodology, including 2 – 4 key tasks or activities.
• Budget overview, main costs and rationale for allocation of resources.
• Expected outputs and their impact, anticipating deliverables or proof-of-concept outputs.
• Potential to generate preliminary results, leverage further funding, and regional/social relevance.

C. Team Profile/Capacity

• PI short narrative CV, highlighting major achievements (scientific and societal) and how the project fits in career plan.
• Expertise of each team member, emphasising complementarity and multidisciplinary.

Evaluation criteria will have the following weightings:

6. Evaluation Process

• Proposals will be assessed by three independent national or international reviewers, with no prior affiliation or current collaboration with CCMAR, ensuring unbiased evaluation.
• Scores will be assigned on a 1–10 integer scale (no decimals), according to the scoring reference below.
• The overall score will be calculated as:

Overall score = A*0.5 + B*0.25+C*0.25

For scoring reference, the following table will be used by reviewers.

• Reviewers will produce an individual report for each application assigned.
• Applications will be ranked according to the average final overall score.
• In case of a tie, the priority order will be criteria A > B > C.
• Only applications with an overall score of 7 or higher will be funded.

7. Timeline

* The final report must be submitted by the end of the project period (2nd semester 2027), although the CCMAR Directorate may request intermediate assessments.

ANNEX I

For eligibility purposes, the Principal Investigator (PI) must hold a PhD awarded no more than 8 years prior to the application date. 
This limit can be extended for the following reasons:

• Maternity leave (18 months, i.e., 548 days) per child born after the PhD award date, or exact duration of leave taken, whichever is longest);
• Paternity leave (exact duration per child born after the PhD award date);
• Long-term sick leave (periods longer than 30 days).
   

ANNEX II

CCMAR SPARC | 1st edition | APPLICATION FORM

1. Principal Investigator

2. PhD Completion Date

3. Extension Request: PhD Eligibility Period

• Justification for Extension Beyond PhD Eligibility Period

4. Project Title

5. Team Members

6. Thematics Lines Contribution 
☐ TL1 – Global Environmental Change
☐ TL2 – Ocean Management and Conservation
☐ TL3 – Marine Products and Resources

7. Scientific Relevance and Innovative Nature (2500 characters including spaces)

8. Feasibility and Impact (2500 characters including spaces)

9. Team Tea/Capacity (2500 characters including spaces)

10. References (up to 10 key references)

11. Annex (a one-page PDF annex may be included to optionally present preliminary data, figures, schemes or timeline)
 

ANNEX III

CCMAR SPARC | 1st edition | EVALUATION FORM (for reviewers)

Proposal ID:

Proposal title:

Reviewer: 
 

1. Evaluation Criteria (score each from 1 to 10)

• A. Scientific Relevance and Innovative Nature
• B. Feasibility and Impact
• C. Team Profile/Capacity

Overall score (1 – 10) =  A*0.5 + B*0.25 + C*0.25
 

2. Overall comments (to justify the scores; bullet points are acceptable; 300 characters minimum)

• Strengths:
• Weaknesses / Areas for Improvement: