Call for Proposals: Inclusive Community-based Research – Science Shops Development

The South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA) in partnership with the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) would like to invite South African universities to submit proposals in response to the grant call for facilitating inclusive community-based research under a science shop model. The grant call is managed by SAASTA, a business unit of the National Research Foundation, which is responsible for the national coordination of the DSI science engagement programmes.

• Grant Description: Call for Grant Proposals for Inclusive Community-Based Research (Science Shops Development)
• Closing Date and Time: Friday, 17 December 2021 by midnight
• Link to the Grant Call: https://www.saasta.ac.za/grants/saasta-grant-calls/
• Project Related Information: https://www.saasta.ac.za/programmes/research-and-development/science-shop/

Background

The science shops initiative is funded by the DSI and forms part of a system-wide science engagement programme that is guided by the DSI’s Science Engagement Strategy (SES). The initiative also intersects with the third pillar of the South African Higher Education system (i.e. community engagement). Science shop projects funded through this call will be community-based research endeavours undertaken by universities within a defined time and scope. All universities will have an equal opportunity to participate in this DSI-funded community-based research and, thereby, contribute to the advancement of the communities where these institutions are based. The university-based science shop entities will endeavour to achieve the following objectives:

1. To contribute to the development of research skills in young people;
2. To provide research support in response to concerns and issues experienced by civil society; and
3. To showcase real-world situations where problems and/or challenges encountered by citizens are addressed through multi-disciplinary research; e.g. interfacing social sciences and/or humanities with natural sciences.

Applicants are invited to submit applications by emailing their proposals to: scienceshops@saasta.ac.za either in PDF or word format on or before closing date. For project content and grant process related queries, please contact:

Mondays to Friday from 08:00 to 16:30

Mr Sizwe Khoza (Project Content)
Tel: 012 392 9347
Email: SC.Khoza@saasta.nrf.ac.za

Ms Maphefo Chauke (Grant Process)
Tel: 012 392 9318
Email: ML.Chauke@saasta.ac.za