Call for applications (Grants, Awards, Prizes)
- Grand Challenges Africa invites Letter of Intents on Drug Discovery. Deadline is the 18. July
- The UK Arts & Humanities Research Council calls for a highlight notice “to encourage applications exploring innovative ways to enhance engagement with, and impacts from, research funded by the AHRC in one or more countries which receive Official Development Assistance (ODA) and/or which will contribute more broadly to international development.” Deadline is the 25.7.2018
- Directed at entrepreneurs but still: “Energy Access Booster” – a call for projects to support entrepreneurs in the field of energy access in Africa focusing on green mini-grids, sustainable mobility, refrigeration, or energy for drinking water and agriculture. Deadline is the 29.7.2018
- The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences Next Einstein Initiative invites early career African academics of postdoctoral standing to apply for the AIMS Small Research Grants in Climate Change Science. Deadline is the 30.7.2018
- The University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland offers mobility grants for young scientists from the MENA region. Deadline is 31.12.2019
- Swiss ‘REPIC – Renewable Energy, Energy and Resource Efficiency Promotion in Developing and Transition Countries’ invites project proposals. No deadline
Conferences
- The Ninth Forum of the EDCTP has published its program. Lisbon, 17.-21. September 2018.
- The Neglected Tropical Disease NGO Network (NNN) is holding its 9th annual conference in Addis Abeba from 24.-26. September 2018. Proposals for workshops are welcomed through this online form, deadline for registration is the 31. July.
Interesting Reads
- Rwanda launches research and innovation fund to support recently published national research and innovation agenda
- The East African Science & Technology Commission has issued a call for regional multidisciplinary research cooperation addressing the manufacturing sector
- Robert Tijssen and Erika Kraemer-Mbula discuss the policies, perceptions, and performance of research excellence in Africa (open acccess): “To gain a deeper understanding of RE [Research Excellence] in Africa, it is important to take into account the practical challenges faced by researchers and research funding agencies to align and reconcile socioeconomic interests with international notions of excellence and associated research performance indicators. African RE should be customised and contextualised in order to be responsive to African needs and circumstances.”
- In Nature, Jean Lebel and Robert McLean contribute to the debate of how to measure research from the global south with new tools for judging the value and validity of science. The tool RQ+ was developed by the IDRC: “we encourage other funders and institutions to improve their evaluations in three ways: consider research in context; accept a multidimensional view of quality; and be systematic and empirical about evidence collection and appraisal.”
- Vanessa McBride argues why the newly opened largest telescope in South Africa is beneficial for development in Quartz Africa.
- In Science letters, Lars Iversen and Mette Bendixen write how funding agencies can prevent harassment by including code of conducts into their eligibility requirements, sharing the responsibility between the individuals and organizations.