Approval of 19 projects for NRP 68
The Swiss National Science Foundation has approved 19 projects for the National Research Programme "Sustainable Use of Soil as a Resource" (NRP 68). The overall budget of these projects is approximately eight million Swiss francs.
The funding decisions were taken based on the recommendations of the Steering Committee. In the first place 72 pre-proposals were assessed by a panel of international experts, whereupon 28 project leaders were invited to submit a full proposal. Thereafter the Steering Committee has assessed the scientific and programme-specific criteria of each proposal and appreciated the written external reports which were created during the peer-review process. Furthermore, the project leaders presented their projects and answered questions from the Steering Committee at a colloquium in November 2012.
The presidency of the National Research council has approved the 19 research projects on December 12, 2012. As some aspects set out in the implementation plan are not yet covered, the Steering Committee will launch a second call. This will probably take place during the second half of 2013.