Instructions and Template	
For Base4NFDI Basic Service Proposals 
-	Initialization Phase - 

	
I	A. General Instructions
Proposals for Base4NFDI basic services must be submitted to base4nfdi-office@lists.nfdi.de in PDF format. Further information about the next submission deadline and the whole evaluation process can be found at the Base4NFDI website, which will be updated continuously. Proposals must be written in A4 format, 11 pt Arial font with line spacing of 1.5. The length of the proposal may vary depending on the complexity of the proposed service but may not exceed 15 pages (excluding cover page, financial tables of chapter 6 and appendix). A different font or line spacing may be used in tables, figures, footnotes and the list of references, provided the text is still easy to read. The proposal and appendices are to be written in English. Please use the proposal template contained in part B of this form.
The proposal template provides a mandatory structure and a number of tables to be completed. Apart from that, applicants may decide how to present the content.  All sections of text in grey are intended to provide guidance for completing the proposal and should be deleted in your proposal submission. 
The requested funding amounts should not include programme allowances (for indirect project costs). Budgeted allowances will come from Base4NFDI flex funds and vary by the phase (initialization, integration, ramping up for operation) for which funding is requested. Funding – with the exception of well-argued cases – will be limited to one year and a maximum of €226.500 (corresponding to two post-doctoral and one doctoral researcher as by DFG staff funding rates.
For further information please refer to https://base4nfdi.de or contact Base4NFDI base4nfdi-office@lists.nfdi.de  whenever answers are not available online.

II	B. Proposal Template - Initialization Phase
1.	General Information
▪	Name of proposed Basic Service (in English)
▪	Acronym of the proposed Basic Service
▪	Service "subtitle" explaining key functionality 
▪	Lead institution
The lead institution is the coordinating institute for the Basic Service for the current stage of development. 
Please enter the institute’s name and address.
▪	Name of lead institution principle investigator
The primary contact and coordinator of the Basic Service.
 Please enter the name and e-mail address.
▪	Participating institutions
Principal Investigator	Institution, location	Contact E-mail	Member in [consortium]	
				
	Table 1: List of participating institutions
▪	Planned runtime of the project
Typically 1 year, in well-argued circumstances up to 2 years. 
▪	Summary of the proposal in English and German
up to 1,500 characters each, including spaces
2.	State of the Art of Proposed Basic Service (max 3 pages)
	Background and Motivation
	State of the art
	Own Preparatory Work for the Basic Service 
Preliminary identified requirements, on what basis evaluated, functional/operational gaps - Robustness, security and scalability of intended technologies - Builds on existing technologies/infrastructure - Open licence technology. Coordination and integration of existing standards - Necessity of further development or new development.  Alternatives. Conflicting standards/implementations. Connection to existing consortia. Which consortia currently support the development of the service?  Should also motivate the development phase overview in sections 4.2 - 4.4 … 
	Current Technical Readiness Level /TRL) of the proposed Basic Service (max 0.5 pages)

Briefly specify the current TRL for the proposed basic service (based on existing work). 
The following definitions apply: 
•	TRL 1 – basic principles observed
•	TRL 2 – technology concept formulated
•	TRL 3 – experimental proof of concept
•	TRL 4 – technology validated in lab
•	TRL 5 – technology validated in relevant environment (industrially relevant environment in the case of key enabling technologies)
•	TRL 6 – technology demonstrated in relevant environment (industrially relevant environment in the case of key enabling technologies)
•	TRL 7 – system prototype demonstration in operational environment
•	TRL 8 – system complete and qualified
•	TRL 9 – actual system proven in operational environment (competitive manufacturing in the case of key enabling technologies; or in space).
For non-technical services, please provide analogous information.
3.	SWOT Analysis (max 2 pages)
Please detail strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the table below and provide an explanation and transparent reflection on opportunities and risks, plans to overcome weaknesses and strengthen opportunities. E.g. needs of the consortia.
Internal	Strengths
1.
2.
3.
…	Weaknesses
1.
2.
3.
….	
External	Opportunities
1.
2.
3.
….	Threats
1.
2.
3.
…	
Table 2: SWOT Analysis
4.	Working Concept for the development of the Basic Service (max 2.5 pages)
Describe the overall concept for the development of the basic service with regard to all stages. Describe the initialization phase in more detail.
	Service initialisation concept
E.g. landscape reviews, requirements collection, consortium-specific as well as overarching analysis, gap analysis, exchange with sections, …
	Development and integration outlook
      4.3. Risks and challenges
5.	Work Programme (ca. 6 pages)
This section should describe the structure of your work programme for the initialization phase as it relates to the overall objectives of the proposed Basic service     . 
	Overview of work packages
The work programme for the initialization of a basic service is divided into different work packages, deliverables, and milestones within. Please add all institutes working in a work package and the institute leading the work package. Note that deliverables are tangible outcomes of the work (software, documents, plans, designs, …), while milestones can signify conceptual changes or specific moments in time. Here the achievement of the goals of one of the development phases and the transition to the next phase is considered a milestone. 

Work package	Deliverables (D) and 
milestones (M)	Responsible partner	
1.	content 	D1.1 
D1.2 
M1.1 
…	institution	
2.	other content	D2.1 
D2.2 
M2.1 
…	some other institution	
…	…	…	
Table 3: Overall work programme with work packages, deliverables, milestones, and responsible partner.
	Detailed work programme
Please provide a detailed description of the work packages, using one subsubsection per work package. Please include a Gantt chart summarising the duration, dependencies, deliverables and milestones of the WPs. 
5.2.1 WP1
5.2.2 WP2
5.2.3 WP3

6.	Funding Request

List the task area in the table heading and the individual work packages in the table. Add additional lines as necessary.
	Year 1	Year 2	Total
in €	
Work Package 1				
Work Package 2				
Work Package 3				
…				
Total project funds 				
Table 4: Funding request by work package

List the name of each institution, adding additional lines if necessary.

	Year 1	Year 2	Total
in €	
Institution	Totals in €			
Lead institution				
Participating institution 1				
Participating institution 2				
Participating institution 3				
…				
Total project funds 				
Table 5: Funding request by institution

Please refer to the DFG staff funding rates (see DFG form 60.12) when calculating the staff costs. Any proposed instrumentation funding must be explained separately below the table.
	Year 1	Year 2	Total
in €	
DFG Funding category	Totals in €			
Staff				
Direct project costs				
Total project funds				
Table 6: Funding Request by funding category

List the number of persons for whom funding is requested under the given staff categories.
	Year 1	Year 2	
Staff category	Number of persons		
Postdoctoral researchers
and comparable
			
Doctoral researchers
and comparable
			
Other staff			
Table 7: Funding request by staff category
7.	Required Support Actions from Base4NFDI / NFDI Sections / NFDI consortia (max 1 page)
Please add additional support you explicitly need from the Sections, from Base4NFDI or from single consortia or any other support.  An example is shown in table
Support from	Work package	Contact Person Basic Service	
Base4NFDI	Support in setting up questionnaire for requirement analysis	Lara Musterman, Musterinstitut, lara.musterman@musterinstitut.de	
Section Metadata		max.mustermann@blabalabl.de	
…			
Table 8: Support request

We herewith certify that we have submitted this proposal to Base4NFDI and that the information provided therein is accurate. 

Head of the lead / participating institution

____________________________			__________________________________
First name last name				   		City, date signature

Principal investigator
____________________________			__________________________________
First name last name				   		City, date signature
III	Appendix
The appendix may only include the following information and documents: 
a)	Bibliography and list of references
Please list all sources and data repositories, information infrastructures and software that you have used to describe the status quo in your proposal. Indicate which sources were written or developed by members of the participating institutions (for example, by highlighting the source in bold). 
b)	Letters of support by the consortia supporting the basic service development (cf. section IV of this form)
Here you may attach letters of specific support provided by NFDI consortia or additional partners. Please note that the term partners does not include lead or participating institutions of the proposed basic service. 
IV	Letter of Support Template
If you decide to include letters of support, please provide one letter of support per supporting consortium. Follow the text given below, in your own formatting.
All signed documents must be sent by mail to the Base4NFDI Coordination, in a PDF by the date of the decision round this proposal is seeking. 

To whom it may concern
We hereby confirm that [consortium name] fully supports the goals of the [basic service name] proposal. 
We declare our willingness to fill in the requirement for the proposed service and test the use of the proposed service within the context of our consortium. 

We are able to commit to the measures and tasks outlined in it from [date].
[optional, if you take part in the development of the basic service]
[consortium  name] will in particular contribute in the following places: [optional, if you have some tasks contributing to the basic service already planned in your consortium workplan]. 

The contributions will come from existing resources.

Kind regards,