Divulga Fund Guidelines

The DIVULGA FUND aims to finance the dissemination of scientific work carried out by researchers and inventors belonging to CEDIA member institutions at high-impact scientific events worldwide.

The Divulga Fund is intended to support researchers and inventors in disseminating their creations at international events. In this regard, the fund will cover participation in these events regardless of whether they involve:

• Scientific articles or;
• Patents

CEDIA, through the DIVULGA FUND, invites researchers and inventors from its member institutions to compete for funding to present the results of their research at high-impact scientific events worldwide.

The fund's programming is planned in 3 phases:

• Application Phase: From February 6th to September 13th, 2024; or until funds are exhausted.
• Project Development Phase: This phase includes activities related to managing registration payments, purchasing tickets, and covering travel expenses. This phase will have an execution period of up to 3 months.
• Knowledge Management Phase: Specific activities in knowledge management or dissemination and outreach of results, as appropriate, according to the nature of the project. For this purpose, CEDIA , and each project must undergo a knowledge management assessment.

Table 1: Fund Implementation Deadlines

Proposals for the DIVULGA FUND must comply with the following guidelines and requirements:

a. The application must be registered on the EasyChair platform in PDF format, which must include the application form and attachments available at: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=divulga2024

b cedia and responsibility signed by the legal representative of the participating institution, available at: https://cedia.edu.ec/docs/fondos/FondoDivulga/CARTA%20DE%20COMPROMISO%20Y%20RESPONSABILIDAD%202024.docx

c. The commitment letters of both the Legal Representative and the guardian (when applicable) must be uploaded to the EasyChair platform in PDF format.

d. If the commitment letters have a physical signature, they must be sent to the CEDIA – Cuenca facilities.

e. Researchers who have open projects in the development phase of the project awarded in previous calls for this fund will not be able to apply to the Divulga Fund.

f. Applicants must not owe CEDIA any reports or other documents related to previous calls for proposals, a situation that will be verified by the project management area.

g. The applicant must be registered within the Ecuadorian Repository of Researchers (REDI): https://redi.cedia.edu.ec/ and cedia must be up to date at the time of application.

h. The applicant must include the ORCID code in the Application Form and update their profile information to the date of application.

i. The participant must be listed as the author or co-author of the scientific article to be submitted, or failing that, as the inventor of the patent.

j. The participant must be a teacher, researcher, or student at one of CEDIA's member institutions. If the participant is a student, they must have a teacher acting as their tutor.

k. In the case of a student, the tutor must sign the document available at: cedia as support for the application .

l. The institutional affiliation of the participating author or, failing that, the ownership or co-ownership of the invention, must be of a member institution of CEDIA and this must be stated in the article or patent to be submitted.

m. The congress (for scientific articles) or event (for patents) must have a track record; that is, at least three previous editions must have been held.

n. Submit the acceptance email from the organizers of the event and/or congress, as well as the tentative agenda.

o. Submit the proposal at least 60 days before the date of the event or congress.

p. The congress or event where the scientific articles or patents will be presented must take place in the same year as the call for submissions, no later than December.

Scientific Articles:

q. The conference proceedings, where the articles will be published, must be indexed in high-impact databases (SCOPUS/WOS). Therefore, links must be provided to verify the relevance of the presentations.

r. The article to be submitted must be a full paper. Proposals that correspond to extended abstracts, posters, short articles, etc., will not be accepted.

Patents:

s. Patents must be published and include the complete descriptive report.

a. Funding must be requested for only one author/co-author/inventor per proposal.

b. CEDIA will grant up to:

• $4,000.00 per application for scientific articles
• $5,000.00 per patent application.

c. CEDIA 's contribution will be managed directly. Only in exceptional cases and with prior approval may the proponent make payments for the items financed by CEDIA , and these may be reimbursed according to internal processes.

d. CEDIA will be responsible for purchasing the airline tickets, and will determine the airline, class, and flight dates. The travel dates include one day before and one day after the event.

e. The budget allocated to the project may finance the following items:

1. Registration/Enrollment in the congress or invention fair: No budget restrictions.
2. Travel and Subsistence: According to the following breakdown:

Table 2: Travel Financing

 *If the accommodation includes breakfast, the amount of USD 15.00 allocated for this purpose will be deducted.

3) Booth: For invention fairs, a quote may be requested for the supplies required for the booth. For this purpose, CEDIA through its specialized units.

4) Knowledge Management Plan: a fixed value of USD 400.00 will be allocated to specific knowledge management activities, such as dissemination and distribution of results as appropriate, according to the nature of the project.

In special cases requiring reimbursement, the following must be submitted:

1. Original consumption invoices or other authorized receipts in the name of the proponent who has duly authorized tax documents (the receipts may not contain alcoholic beverages in the description). 
2. When purchases exceed USD 1,000.00 plus VAT, three pro forma invoices and a comparative table must be submitted
3. Reimbursement requests must be made no later than 15 days after the expenditure was incurred.

f. In the event of delays in the delivery of the visa, the applicant may request CEDIA , under his responsibility, to approve the budget execution through the reimbursement mechanism.

However, if for any reason the researcher is unable to travel, CEDIA will not proceed with the refund.

g. The execution of the project budget must be carried out only within the timeframe established in the agreement for each of the phases. Any expenses incurred outside of this timeframe will not be covered by CEDIA.

h. A justified extension of up to 60 days may be requested for the project development phase, the approval of which will be at the discretion of CEDIA.

i. At the end of the project execution, CEDIA will issue an expense settlement report that will be detailed in the Agreement Settlement Act.

j. In the case of the Divulga Fund, the following will not be financed:

k. Proposals that correspond to extended abstracts, posters, short articles, etc.

l. Articles that have been approved based solely on review of the abstract or summary.

m. Previously published articles.

n. Utility models or industrial designs.

o. Patents that have only submitted their application and do not yet have their publication date, and/or that do not send the corresponding technical report.

p. Excess costs for travel requests made days before or after the event.

q. Transfers and accommodation of persons other than the researcher, teacher or student who presents the scientific article or patent.

r. Any additional value in the purchase of tickets, generated by fines, penalties due to cancellations, changes of date or destination.

s. Tickets purchased but not used.

t. Expenses for visa application, illness, medical insurance and others.

u. Cell phones, chips, airtime for minutes

a. All applications will be subject to a formal review by the unit responsible for the Fund at CEDIA, which will consist of verifying compliance with the application requirements, established in section 5 of this document.

b. Within the formal evaluation process, there will be only one opportunity for correction, which will have a deadline of 72 hours from the notification of the process. If the modifications or supplementary documentation requested by CEDIA are not made within the stipulated time, the proposal will be automatically rejected.

c. All applications that meet the formal review requirements will be subject to a substantive evaluation by the Academic and Research Commission of CEDIA.

• In the case of scientific articles, the Academic and Research Commission of CEDIA will evaluate the indexing of the book of proceedings where the articles will be published according to impact factors and the trajectory of the congress.
• In the case of inventions (patents), the Academic and Research Commission will evaluate the quality and significance of the dissemination event, and that, in turn, they are supported by high-level institutions.

a. The Academic and Research Commission will notify the CEDIA unit responsible for the selected applications.

Applications that have passed the evaluation phase and have addressed the observations will be notified about the selection process and the Divulga Fund will be awarded for the amount approved in the application form, according to the distribution and conditions established therein, within a maximum period of 20 days from receipt of the application.

For this purpose, CEDIA will send an adhesion agreement, which will be signed by the legal representative of the institution, or his delegate; provided that there is legal capacity to do so and by the Executive Director of CEDIA.

The agreement signed by the selected institutions must be submitted within a period of 30 calendar days from the date of its dispatch.

Applicants agree to:

• To be responsible for the application they make, and to exempt CEDIA from any liability regarding any claim or damage arising from their application.
• Complete the declarations of responsibility contained in the application form.
• Send all documentation related to the Divulga Fund that is requested by CEDIA.

In the event of being awarded the contract, they agree to:

• To be bound by the terms and conditions of the respective membership agreement and its annexes sent by CEDIA; therefore, they accept that it cannot be modified.
• Comply with the fund's terms and the agreement that is signed.
• Comply with current regulations.
• Do not infringe on the rights of third parties.
• To exempt CEDIA and hold it harmless from any liability arising from a claim made by third parties, whether through administrative, judicial or extrajudicial means.
• Notify CEDIA within 72 hours of any new developments related to the awarded project that may affect its normal progress. The report must include a proposed rescheduling plan, if applicable.
• Submit the report of the results of the presentation at the funded congress within 10 calendar days after the end date of the event.
• Submit the certificate of participation and photographs of the event as requested by the unit in charge of the fund.
• Act ethically and professionally.
• Sign the membership agreement, understanding that no changes can be made to this document.
• Manage the signing of the agreement by the legal representative of the institution to which it belongs and send it within the required timeframe.

a. Awarded projects may be terminated for the following reasons:

1. For compliance with the obligations of the agreement and the objectives of the project.
2. By mutual agreement of the parties: due to duly proven force majeure or fortuitous event that does not allow the continuation of the project.
3. Unilateral Closure: either party may request unilateral closure for breach of any of the clauses of the adhesion agreement, and its enabling documents, as well as the bases of the Divulga Fund.

In the case of CEDIA, it may unilaterally decide to terminate the agreement when:

1. The deadline for the execution of the agreement has expired.
2. Failure to comply in any of the processes related to acquisitions.
3. The proponent will not submit the information requested by the project managers within the agreed timeframes in order to make the acquisitions in a timely manner.
4. The proponent will not submit the results report after 10 calendar days following the event or congress.
5. CEDIA has requested outstanding documents up to three times and the applicant has not submitted them.
6. Due to any legal conflict that prevents the continuation of the project, especially when regulations, permits, or third-party rights have been infringed. In this case, all responsibility will be assumed by the offending party, excluding CEDIA and holding it harmless from any conflict arising in relation to this breach.
7. In the event that the proposing HEI does not have a current Advanced Network contract at any stage of the Fund.

In the case of universities, they may decide on unilateral termination when:

1. CEDIA will refuse to deliver or manage the resources according to the Application Form.
2. CEDIA failed to comply with the financing amounts established in the agreement.

b. For the closing of the adhesion agreement, the participating organizations will sign a settlement and closing act issued by CEDIA; in which the status of compliance with objectives, deliverables generated, budget execution, settlement of expenses and the results obtained during the execution of the same will be established.

The minutes will include an evaluation of the applicant's efficiency and compliance and must be signed by the parties appearing before the agreement.

CEDIA will apply the following sanctions depending on the offense committed by the project participants:

a. Impediment to applying for and receiving funding in future calls for proposals:

1. When CEDIA has determined the early termination of the membership agreement. In this case, the impediment will only apply to the participant who has failed to comply with their obligations.
2. Participants who have not justified the expenses incurred will not be able to participate in future calls for proposals.
3. When an applicant infringes intellectual property rights, they will not be able to participate in any other CEDIAcall for applications.
4. Any act of corruption will be sanctioned with a ban on participation in future CEDIA calls for proposals and will be reported to the legal representative of the respective institution.

The records of these sanctions will be kept by the legal area of CEDIA, which will notify the area responsible for the fund about the impossibility of participation of the institution or one of its members.

It is possible that within each application process, CEDIA may have access to confidential information about the applicant or related third parties. Confidential information will be understood to mean only that which is identified by the applicant as confidential or privileged. Therefore, CEDIA undertakes to apply all reasonable security measures to prevent the unauthorized disclosure, access, or use of the applicant's confidential information.  

Applicants also assume the same commitment regarding any type of information belonging to CEDIA to which they have access. 

In this context, both the applicant and CEDIAundertake to ensure that their employees and related third parties comply with these commitments. Likewise, they agree not to use the information in any way other than as authorized or for their own benefit or that of third parties without express written authorization.  

Information that has been disclosed by any means prior to applying for the fund will not be considered confidential.

The exchange of information arising from any relationship established in connection with this call for proposals shall not be interpreted as the assignment or granting of any ownership rights over the Confidential Information belonging to the Disclosing Party, either before, during, or after the term of the existing relationship. There is also no obligation to purchase or pay for access to such information or for its authorized use within the framework of this call for proposals. 

Specific confidentiality issues will be established in the specific agreement or contract for each fund. 

Any intellectual property rights that may arise as a result of any activity related to the application or execution of the project in connection with its participation in this call for proposals will belong to their creators or to whoever can demonstrate ownership of those rights. The same treatment will be given to property rights over databases generated for the purposes of this call for proposals, meaning that these will belong to whoever provides and manages them in accordance with current and applicable regulations.  

All intellectual creations generated in relation to this call will be protected by current regulations on intellectual property and under no circumstances will they be understood as assigned or transferred to CEDIA unless there is an express agreement.

Applicants, for their part, must guarantee that their applications, as well as any accompanying documents submitted during the fund's execution, do not infringe upon the rights of third parties, in accordance with current regulations. Generally, by applying, applicants declare and guarantee that they are not infringing upon or harming the rights of third parties, and they agree to indemnify CEDIA against any claim that may arise from their participation.

In the event of third-party claims, applicants are obligated to assume the costs of judicial or extrajudicial defense of CEDIA, according to the professionals designated by the latter.

By applying, participating institutions authorize CEDIA to use their institutional logo, which will be used to publicize their participation or the results thereof, without being able to demand any payment or benefit for it.   

In the event that it is necessary to use any distinctive sign owned by CEDIA, the applicant must obtain express written authorization for that purpose. 

Regarding the dissemination, monitoring, and closure of the activities resulting from each fund, applicants authorize CEDIA to use their image and voice in the live broadcast and reproduction of photographs, recordings, as well as the editing and publication of dissemination products in any medium of their participation within the project, as well as the results generated therein, using their image for its institutional purposes (except for information to be kept confidential as a pure object of research), provided that no confidentiality policy is violated.

This authorization will be global, non-onerous, perpetual and respectful of the moral rights of the creators of the generated works, so the participants will have the right to receive a copy of the edited material when they request it from CEDIA. 

All deliverables generated by the project must indicate that the activity was funded by CEDIA. If the material is audiovisual or otherwise intended for publication, a document authorizing its dissemination by CEDIA , respecting intellectual property rights, must be attached. A copy of these documents must be submitted to the relevant department.

The owner of the personal data, as a participant, is informed that the Ecuadorian Corporation for the Development of Research and Academia (CEDIA) with address at Gonzalo Cordero 2-122 and J. Fajardo Cuenca-Ecuador and contact email addresscediais the entity responsible for the processing of personal data that is processed as a consequence and purpose of the management of the fund.

CEDIA takes the protection of your privacy and personal data very seriously. Therefore, your personal information is kept secure and treated with the utmost care.

In accordance with the provisions of the applicable regulations on the protection of personal data, each participant, by accepting these Legal Terms and Conditions, consents to the personal data provided for participation in this fund being processed by CEDIA, to process the participation and to make contact in case of winning.

The legal basis for processing your data is the consent you provide, which is requested and freely given by you. You may withdraw your consent at any time.

Personal data will not be communicated to third parties unrelated to the service/benefit, except when there is a legal obligation to do so, and will be kept by CEDIA for the years necessary to comply with the legal obligations related to the fund, or until its deletion is requested and there are no conflicting conditions determined in the binding regulations.

Personal data will only be shared with the EasyChair web platform for the purpose of evaluating and selecting the winning proposal and alternates by the CEDIAAcademic and Research Committee. Therefore, the management of personal data processing on the platform is subject to EasyChair's terms and conditions. CEDIA disclaims all liability for any unauthorized use of this data by CEDIAparties.

Furthermore, the winner's details and image may be published on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, CEDIAmagazines, and websites as a result of promoting the competition through CEDIA's own media channels. Your consent for this is requested in these terms and conditions.

Participants guarantee that the personal data provided is truthful and that the communication of said data is based on an appropriate legal ground. They are responsible for notifying CEDIAof any changes to this data. CEDIA reserves the right to exclude from this call for proposals any participant who has provided false information or who does not meet the other requirements of the fund. Participants are advised to exercise the utmost diligence regarding Personal Data Protection by using security tools. CEDIA cannot be held responsible for the unlawful theft, modification, or loss of data.

Due to the institutional tools used by CEDIA, whose servers are located outside of Ecuador (including, but not limited to, the USA, Europe, etc.), personal data would be subject to international transfers. However, this international data transfer has all the necessary security safeguards.

The data subject may exercise their rights of access, rectification and updating, deletion, opposition or, where legally applicable, portability, by sending a request to CEDIA at the address referenced above.

cedia please see our privacy policy at the following link
: https://cedia.edu.ec/politica-de-privacidad/