Date:
2012-04-23
Divisions:
KFD
Belmont Forum and
G8 Research Councils Initiative on Multilateral Funding
International Opportunities Fund
National Annex: South Africa
Partners: This call is supported by National Research Foundation.
Notice: Depending on all conditions of eligibility and peer review being met, the budget earmarked collectively by the National Research Foundation for this call will be:
Freshwater Security Theme: up to €250000 (approximately 2.5 Million Rand) (depending on exchange rates at time of funding).
Coastal Vulnerability Theme: up to €250000 (approximately 2.5 Million Rand) (depending on exchange rates at time of funding).
The official national call announcement for South Africa has been published on the National Research Foundation website (http://www.nrf.ac.za/funding_overview.php?fid=121). Details of the call and the application process are provided via the Belmont Forum website (www.belmontforum.org/iof). Applicants are advised to contact their National Contact Point before starting to prepare proposals for application. For South Africa enquiries please see below.
Eligibility and national funding modalities:
This call is open to all South African researchers who meet the general eligibility criteria and requirements for the Global Change Research Programme set out below. Applications should seek to align the objectives of the Belmont challenge to the priorities of the Global Change grand challenge as defined by the Global Change Ten-Year Research Plan in the relevant themes for this call. Applicants will also be required to meet the specific eligibility criteria as spelt out in the call. All applications will be assessed on the basis of these eligibility criteria as well as the selection criteria described in the call.
Country –specific eligibility
In order to qualify for funding, applicants must fulfill the following criteria:
· Full time employees at an NRF recognized research institution1 in South Africa.
· Part-time employees on contract at an NRF recognized research institution in South Africa, but on condition that the appointment is for (at least) the duration of the project applied for in the submission. The length of the contract should be stated in the application form. Salaries must be paid by the research institution and the primary employment of the individual concerned must be at that institution. A contract researcher appointed at a university or university of technology on behalf of a third party to fulfill a very specific function for the latter does not qualify for support.
· Successful applicants will be eligible for funding for the duration of their awarded grant.
· Retired academics/researchers, provided that they meet all set criteria as stipulated below:
o are resident in SA,
o formally affiliated to a South African Higher Education Institution (e.g., appointed as an emeritus professor, honorary research associate/professor, supernumerary/contract employee),
o are active researchers with a distinguished track record in research and postgraduate student supervision, and
o are actively mentoring/training postgraduate students/young research staff.
Eligible researchers involved in successful applications will be funded within the limits of the NRF’s contribution to the call in both thematic areas according to the general principles outlined in the call. Disbursement of the funds and the management and reporting there-of will be according to the principles and guidelines of NRF granting mechanism as stated below.
Country-specific grant conditions
These grants are to be used for research purposes under the auspices of the NRF standard grant and finance policies. The money is released on acceptance of the conditions of grant both by the applicant and his/her employing institution. The funds will be awarded against a number of items such as equipment, running costs, travel costs, student bursaries, etc. Bursaries are awarded as per the NRF rules. Annual Progress Reports, submitted before the end of March of the following year, are a prerequisite for the release of the subsequent year’s funding. Failure to submit the Annual Progress Reports will result in the cancellation of the project. These grants will fall under the NRF audit requirements of beneficiary institutions
It is expected that applications to this call will be Collaborative Research Grants with the consortium composition as defined in the call document, and the National Research Foundation will fund the South African partner(s) of any successful trans-national collaboration.
National Contact Point
Dr Achuo Enow
Knowledge Fields Development Directorate
National Research Foundations
(+27) 12 481 4143
a.enow@nrf.ac.za
A recognized research institution is one that meets all the following minimum requirements:
· Any institution that conducts basic or applied research for the benefit of the long-term knowledge base, whilst being committed to human resource capacity development, including a commitment to equity and redress, the institution ensures that a minimum of reasonable time (6 months minimum) is spent at the facility for the purpose of research and research capacity development. See attached lists of the NRF recognized institutions as at 10 February 2012