Finnish-Swedish

Winter Navigation Research Board

Call for Projects

1. Invitation

The Finnish-Swedish co-operation within the Winter Navigation Research Board started in 1972, and is based on yearly funding from the two Administrations. The program is based on bilateral agreement between the Finnish Maritime Administration and the Swedish Maritime Administration.

The Finnish Transport Safety Agency, the Finnish Transport Agency and the Swedish Maritime Administration hereby invite Research Institutions and Companies to apply for financing of projects in the Call Winter Navigation Research 2012.

2. Purpose of the Call

The Maritime Administrations in Finland and Sweden co-operate in research and development in order to promote winter navigation in the Baltic Sea and in adjacent fairways. The R&D work should especially focus in meteorological, oceanographic, technical and nautical conditions. The program announces a call on yearly basis focusing either on parts of the aforementioned subjects, or all of them.

3. Background and Motivation

The Program for winter navigation research is based on the fact that Finland and Sweden have a long lasting co-operation in winter navigation. There is a common vision in the performance of the icebreaking services between Finland and Sweden. As a result of this, the icebreaking capacities nowadays almost work as a common unit. The introduction and further development of the Finnish-Swedish ice class rules is another important topic of the co-operation.

To be able to have an effect on the real development, a continuing concentration on research and development is necessary. The result from earlier projects has played an important role in the development and is still doing so.

Projects financed in this program are comparably small. This gives an opportunity for the administrations to follow the projects more in detail. The program is unique and is influencing international classification societies in their development of ice class rules for merchant ships.

4. Topics of the Call

This call is focusing on the following four areas:
• Meteorological research focusing e.g. on:
o research related to sea meteorology in winter conditions,
o research related to icing,
o climatologic research related to the above mentioned topics,
o development of forecasting and modelling, and
o development of new tools e.g. for presentation of satellite images.
• Oceanographic research focusing e.g. on:
o research related to ice conditions at sea or sea water temperature,
o sea currents, sea water level and sea waves in winter,
o climatologic research related to the above mentioned topics,
o development of forecasting and modelling, and
o development of new tools e.g. for presentation of satellite images.
• Technical research focusing e.g. on:
o hull structural design of ice-going ships,
o structural design of propulsion machinery of ice-going ships,
o development of minimum engine power regulations for merchant ships, and
o winterization of merchant ships.
• Nautical conditions
o research on the effectiveness of icebreaker assistance, and
o research on winter traffic flow in the Baltic Sea area.

5. Requirements on the Project

The project shall be in line with at least one of the areas. The project shall start early 2012, and last between 6 and 24 months. A final report shall be presented in English language. If the project continues for more than 12 months, intermediate reporting shall be performed.

6. Evaluation Process and Criteria

The proposals will be evaluated by members of the Winter Navigation Research Board, and the Board will make the formal decision about financing.

The following criteria with their indicated weighting will determine the decision of financing:
• Relevance, i.e. how well the project fits into the aim of the call (35%)
• Quality, i.e. the ability to contribute to the technical and scientific development (15%)
• Actability, i.e. the possibility to accomplish the project (15%)
• Impact, i.e. how the results can be used (35%)

7. Budget

The budget for the call for projects will be settled on yearly basis, and will add up to maximum 200.000 € per year in total. If approved projects last for more than one year, this will result in a partly limited budget for the coming year. Co-financing is always a positive factor, both from researcher institutions, the industry and other funding organizations.

8. Time plan

Call text available:  August 15th, 2011
Last day for application:  October 15th, 2011
Last day for decision of financing:  December 1st, 2011
Earliest project start:  January 1st, 2012

9. How to apply

Proposals shall be sent by e-mail to the secretariat contact persons given below.

The Application form for research projects shall be used.

Last day for application is October 15th, 2011. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered by the Winter Navigation Research Board.

10. Content of the Application

The following parts shall be described in the General information. Maximum [1] page can be used.
• Project title
• Acronym
• Project summary – Maximum 100 words
• Start and end dates
• Funding
• Project Manager
• Project organization

The following parts shall be described in the project outline. Maximum [5] pages can be used.
• Relevance – Description of needs the project is aiming at the potential
• Quality – A short description of the research front within this area, and the position related to “state of the art”
• Actability – Strategy and methodology
• Impact – A plan how the result will be used and the impact
• Dissemination – How to present the results
• Project plan – Not in detail, but clear enough
• Budget and resources
• Relation to other projects – How and where the project fit into other projects

11. Contact Persons

Further information about the call can be obtained from:

Jorma Kämäräinen, TraFi
Phone: +358 (0) 40 5155 407
E-mail: jorma.kamarainen@trafi.fi

and

Ulf Svedberg, SMA
Phone: +46 708 66 66 62
E-mail: ulf.svedberg@sjofartsverket.se