Proposals
By Tolu Aiyegbusi
Abuja, March 27, 2018 (NAN) The African Union Commission (AUC) has launched its Second Open Call for Research Proposals under Phase II of the African Union Research Grant (AURG) programme.
This information was released on the website of the Abuja-based African Union Scientific, Technical and Research Commission (AU- STRC) on Tuesday.
The AUSTRC is a specialised institution within the African AU that spearheads the promotion and role of science, technology and research in Africa.
The AURG is one of the programmes initiated by the commission to support Pan African research and development through grants and direct funding.
The commission said the programme provided the needed opportunity to use science and technology as a tool for sustainable development and to build and strengthen Africa’s science and technology capacities.
It said the call was specifically for supports on research on Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA) with particular attention on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition.
It stated that the objectives of the programmes include to support collaborative research and innovation activities that address critical issues facing African countries and contribute to the sustainable development of African countries and the fight against poverty.
“Develop the capacity of the AU to design, implement and monitor research and innovation funding programmes and establish the basis for a credible and reputable African framework programme for research and innovation that could attract additional funds from other sources – that is the AU Member States and other partners and donors.’’
The commission said that the call for proposal responds to its implementation of the Science Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa-2024 (STISA-2024) which addresses the aspirations on Human development of the EU-Africa partnership.
NAN reports that the commission through the support of the EU secured 17.5 million euro under the EU Pan-African Programme to launch two calls for research proposals in Africa in 2016 and 2018.
Nine institutions in Africa have been selected and awarded grants up to one million dollars each in the 2016 Call for Proposals.
STISA-2024 outlines the key socio-economic priority areas that Africa has to collectively address through scientific research and development which responds to the demand for Science, Technology and Information (STI) across various socio-economic and development sectors by embedding STI into these sectors.
According to the commission, application guidelines, form and other supporting documents are available for downloading under the Event Resources Section located on the webpage AUSTRC with a deadline of May 22 for submission of proposals. (NAN)
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Edited by Grace Yussuf