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Unlock PIRA Funding: Apply for Innovative Research Grants to Transform Lives in Africa – Deadline August 14, 2024

Overview

The Alliance for African Partnership (AAP), a consortium of ten leading African universities, a distinguished research network, and Michigan State University (MSU), invites proposals for the Partnerships for Innovative Research in Africa (PIRA) funding program. This program offers tiered funding to support collaborative research partnerships at various stages of development, from exploring new relationships to scaling existing ones.

One unique aspect of these grants is the emphasis on fair and equitable partnerships. Organizations are expected to involve local stakeholders throughout the project, respect their knowledge and expertise, and adapt to the local context. Proposals should outline how such partnerships will be established and maintained, ensuring equitable collaboration among all members, including consortium members if multiple organizations are involved.

Proposals must align with at least one of AAP’s priority areas: agri-food systems; water, energy, and environment; culture and society; youth empowerment; education; health and nutrition; and science, technology, and innovation.

Fields of Eligibility

Proposals are welcome from diverse disciplinary perspectives, provided they address at least one of AAP’s pillars:

  1. Building Bridges: Bringing people and organizations together to work toward common goals. Activities might include thematic symposia, workshops, travel for proposal preparation, network development, digital innovations, or dissemination of knowledge through online journals and forums.
  2. Transforming Institutions: Promoting sustainable and effective partnerships among institutions, enhancing resources, and increasing institutional capacity. Activities could include capacity development at universities or NGOs, improving teaching and learning, and increasing proposal development skills.
  3. Transforming Lives: Supporting research with real-world impact that improves African lives and livelihoods. Activities might involve evidence-based outreach, early-stage impactful research, dissemination of research outputs to practitioners and policymakers, and designing innovative research-into-practice methodologies.

Eligibility Criteria

  • Lead Investigators: Must be from MSU and AAP African member universities. Proposals may also include partners from other institutions globally.
  • Participation: Teams are encouraged to include partners from the private sector, governments, civil society organizations, and pan-African/global institutions.
  • Previous Grant Recipients: Individuals who were principal investigators (PIs) or co-PIs on previous PIRA or AAP strategic partnership grants are not eligible to lead new proposals but may participate as team members.
  • MSU ISP Staff: Not eligible to lead proposals.

Funding Tiers

The program offers two funding tiers to support partnerships at different stages of maturity:

  1. Planning Grants (Up to $50,000): Support for inception and early-stage partnership activities, such as co-developing joint proposals, short-term capacity building, network development, research symposia, and travel (in line with MSU guidelines).
  2. Scaling Grants (Up to $100,000): For ongoing partnerships that can significantly scale their research, capacity building, or outreach activities. This includes broader institutional linkages and other activities aligning with AAP’s themes and strategic objectives.

Application Process

All submissions must include a cover sheet, a proposal narrative, a budget and budget narrative using the provided template, and letters of support. Submit all application materials via the application portal by Wednesday, August 14, 11:59 PM EST.

Required Documents:

  1. Cover Sheet: Including project title, names, institutional affiliations, and titles of all principal investigators, along with a brief (100-word) project summary.
  2. Proposal Narrative: Not to exceed 5,000 words (with one appendix for references), including:
    • Partnership Description: Capacity statements from each partner institution, a brief history of the partnership (if applicable), the rationale for the partnership, and evidence of equitable, sustainable collaboration.
    • Problem Statement: Identification of shared challenges, theory of change, and relevance to AAP’s themes and pillars.
    • Objectives: Clearly defined partnership objectives.
    • Program Activities: Detailed description and logical framework connecting activities with intended outputs, outcomes, and objectives.
    • Timeline: Schedule of activities.
    • Monitoring and Evaluation Plan: Indicators and collection methods.
    • Funding Sources: Identification of potential additional funding sources.
  3. Budget and Budget Narrative: Using the provided template.
  4. Letters of Support: From each partner’s department, institution, or organization.
  5. CV/Resume: For each principal investigator (1-page maximum).
  6. Institutional Buy-in: Letter of support from each PI’s dean or head of department, using the provided template.

Benefits

  • Tiered Funding: Support at different stages of partnership development to foster long-term engagement.
  • Equity and Collaboration: Emphasis on fair and equitable partnerships that respect local knowledge and expertise.
  • Broad Impact: More awards at the planning grant level to ensure wide-reaching impact.

Submit your proposals to harness the power of collaborative research, transform institutions, and improve lives across Africa through the PIRA funding program. For more details, visit the AAP website and apply by August 14, 2024.

Click here to apply

Cite this article as (APA format):

AR Managing Editor (2024). Unlock PIRA Funding: Apply for Innovative Research Grants to Transform Lives in Africa – Deadline August 14, 2024. Retrieved from https://www.africanresearchers.org/unlock-pira-funding-apply-for-innovative-research-grants-to-transform-lives-in-africa-deadline-august-14-2024/

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