Office of Naval Research (ONR) and  Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Funding Opportunities

– Application Process –

1. The applicant’s Institution must hold an active SAM.gov Registry, including a valid Unique Entity ID (formerly known as DUNS number) and an NCAGE number. Verify UTEC registration status with the Office of Research (investigacion@utec.edu.pe) .
2. Applicants must check prioritized research topics in each agency’s “Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)” See AFOSR BAA, ONR BAA, ONR Sponsored Research Areas.
3. Applicants must write a proposal, that addresses any current BAA, in a white paper format (see example here):

→The white-paper proposal format:

• Proposal title
• Your full contact information and position at your institution. Include mailing address, email, phone and fax numbers.
• Specify AFOSR’s or ONR’s BAA topic / name of Program Manager
• A brief project description, problem statement, objectives, and technical relevance.
• Approaches proposed to solve problem
• What resources, human and physical, are available.
• An approximate estimate of the cost (Overhead, Materials, Equipment, Salaries, Travel)

→White-paper should be no longer than 2-3 pages.

• May attach brief résumé scientific personnel involved
• May attach supporting papers/publications

4. Submit your white paper to UTEC Office of research writing to investigacion@utec.edu.pe, indicating “ONR/AFOSR proposal” in the subject line.

5. All white papers from UTEC will be sent to the Southern Office of Aerospace Research and Development (SOARD) where they will be initially reviewed for relevance, academic merit and pertinence (how they match an ongoing agency research interest).

6. The corresponding Agency will contact researchers that pass the first filter to work on a full proposal, to submit to centralized offices for funding, matching UTEC applicants with researchers within ONR / AFOSR.

Tesis de pregrado y postgrado en ciencia, tecnología e innovación tecnológica 2023 

→National Grant

Objective: Promote research in Science, Technology and Technological Innovation in undergraduate and postgraduate students by financing theses, to obtain titles and academic degrees and integrating postgraduate thesis projects into CTI research groups.

Priorities of the call: The proposals presented in this contest must be related to one of the following thematic areas:

Priority areas

1. Adaptation and mitigation to climate change

2. Valuation and sustainable use of biodiversity

3. Circular Economy

4. Health

5. Food safety

6. Renewable energies

7. Information and communication technologies ICTs

Target audiences:

Applicant profile: Students, graduates or high school graduates from Peruvian universities licensed by SUNEDU who must meet the following requirements:

They must meet the following requirements:

A. in the case of students, undergraduate graduates or high school graduates

• Not older than 28 years (counted on the closing date of the application).
• Students must be enrolled in the last year of studies.
• In the case of undergraduate graduates, the graduation date must not be more than three years.
• In the case of high school graduates, the date of the diploma must not be more than three years from the closing date of the application for this contest.

B. In the case of students or postgraduate graduates

• Not older than 45 years (counted on the closing date of the application).
• Students enrolled from the first cycle of studies can apply.
• In the case of postgraduate graduates, the graduation date must not be more than five years from the closing date of the application for this contest.

Deadline: August 25, 2023

RELX Environmental challenge

→International Grant

Each year the RELX Environmental Challenge is awarded to projects that best demonstrate how they can provide sustainable access to safe water or sanitation. There is a $50,000 prize for the first place entry and a $25,000 prize for the second place entry. The winners also receive free access for one year to ScienceDirect, our Scientific, Technical & Medical business’ database of full text, scientific information, including almost 250,000 articles since 2000 in Environmental Sciences.

Projects must have clear practical applicability, address identified need and advance related issues such as health, education, or human rights.

The RELX Environmental Challenge is open to individuals or organisations operating in the not-for-profit and for-profit sectors. Projects must advance sustainable access to safe water where it is presently at risk and/or access to improved sanitation, and include the following criteria:

• Be replicable, scalable and sustainable. and set a benchmark for innovation
• Have practical applicability.
• Address non-discrimination/equity of access.
• Involve and impact a range of stakeholders.
• Have local/community-level engagement.

These are the criteria against which projects will be assessed. Early stage projects are preferred. The winning project in the RELX Environmental Challenge will receive a single payment of $50,000, with the second place finisher receiving a single payment of $25,000.

Deadline: June 18, 2023.

Apply here.

Call for proposals: Managing organizations for regional research networks to foster an inclusive and sustainable future of work

→International Grant

Scope
Under the FutureWORKS initiative, IDRC will support the establishment of regional research networks for up to five years in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and Asia. The hubs will establish, manage and support research networks in their respective region based on a competitive selection process. Each hub will be managed by an institution (or consortia of institutions) based in the region.

Hubs will identify critical issues in the creation of skills development systems that enhance economic mobility and future readiness/adaptability to ensure contextual grounding. They will support high-quality, innovative and gender responsive research that addresses key Future of Work challenges and opportunities to advance skills, strengthen social protection and promote decent work.

Eligibility
This Call for Proposals is open to individual organizations or consortia headquartered in the respective region (MENA, LAC, SSA and Asia), based in low- and middle-income countries, with demonstrated expertise in Future of Work and skills systems. We encourage applications from interdisciplinary teams and consortia.

Only organizations that meet the eligibility criteria outlined in the call document should submit a proposal to host a regional research network.

Deadline: Monday, June 26, 2023 – 23:59

Apply here.

Cuarto Concurso de casos exitosos de innovaciones en Bioeconomía

→International Grant

FONTAGRO announces the Fourth Contest of successful cases of innovations in Bioeconomy.
The objective of this contest is to identify and document successful experiences and lessons learned that contribute to a better understanding of how, through the process of innovation in the bioeconomy, the strengthening and transformation of agri-food systems in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Eligibility
Profiles can be submitted by:
Producer organizations and/or private companies that work together with small farmers that operate in any IDB borrowing country, in Latin America, the Caribbean and/or Spain.
Any public or private research and/or development institution or organization such as universities, agricultural research centers, NGOs, etc. that operates in any IDB borrowing country, in Latin America, the Caribbean and/or Spain and that has developed experiences in those countries, regardless of the source of financing.
Public sector of any IDB borrowing country in Latin America and the Caribbean and/or Spain that has developed experiences in those countries.

Categories
The following categories will be awarded:

1. Category I. Producer associations and other private sector organizations, including NGOs, that work with LAC producers.
2. Category II. Institutions and organisms of Science and Technology of LAC.
3. Category III. Public sector (at all levels) of LAC.

Resource allocation:
Special prizes will be awarded, one for each eligible category. The prize includes an amount of money, participation in the final publication and in the award celebration.

Deadline: June 16, 2023

Apply here.

Opportunities to innovate in mining

→National Grant

1. Mining Lab Challenge 2023 by “Nexa Resources”.
Challenges:

• Regenerative Economy: Circular Economy Solutions for Aripuanã
• Positive legacy: Local and social development
• Productivity and safety:
  -Management of pipelines and tanks.
  -Fleet productivity and availability.
  -Image analysis.
  -Instrumentation of low cost.

Apply to this grant here.
Deadline: june 12, 2023.

2. Poderosa Mining Company Veta Poderosa Challenge
Challenges: circular economy solutions for tailings, end-of-life tires and effluents
More information here.
Deadline: june 16, 2023.

Call for tender: Asia and the Pacific Implementation partner for the Smallholder Economic Empowerment through Digital Solutions Project

→International Grant

IFAD intends to allocate grant funds from the resources under the Supplementary Fund Grant from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA), Republic of Korea for the implementation of the grant Smallholder Economic Empowerment through Digital Solutions (SEEDs).

IFAD invites proposals for the grant by responding to this Request for Proposals and completing the Grant Design Document. This Request for Proposals is addressed to all potential firms, organizations, non-profit Institution or applicants who are interested to apply.

Please note that the deadline for submitting your application is June 16, 2023.

Facilidad de cofinanciamiento MAPE

→National grant

Within the framework of its component “Incorporation of good practices, knowledge and experiences into the global, regional and national dialogue on the Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) sector”, the Responsible Gold Swiss Initiative has an instrument to carry out carry out certain activities through an ASM Co-financing Facility.

The main objective of the “MAPE Co-financing Facility” fund is to incorporate good practices, knowledge and experiences into the global, regional and national dialogue on the artisanal and small-scale mining sector. Through a co-financing of a maximum of 30,000 USD is offered to carry out studies, investigations or surveys related to gold from Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining.

This co-financing is aimed at: Organizations, projects or institutions seeking to carry out studies to generate knowledge about ASM and thus contribute to the development of the sector.

Deadline: June 16, 2023

Read the guidelines here.

Catalyzing Equitable Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use

→International Grant

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Grand Challenges (GC) Partners (including GC South Africa and GC Brazil, with others to be confirmed) have jointly discussed the need for an equitable and responsible approach to the use of AI and specifically Large Language Models (LLMs) in LMICs. This initial call by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation represents an early step towards identifying, nurturing, and catalyzing the creativity, energy, and skills that researchers, implementers, governments, and technical partners have demonstrated in solving specific challenges in their countries and regions through LLMs. We are optimistic that this will lead to more investment from the Gates Foundation, GC partners, and other funders, to ensure that this potentially transformative technology improves the lives and conditions of the most vulnerable communities around the world.

The Challenge: This RFP seeks innovative and safe approaches to the use of Large Language Models (ChatGPT-4, or other credible sources with equivalent capability) to build an evidence base across the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Divisions of Global Health, Gender Equality, Global Growth and Opportunity (including Global Education), and Global Development contexts in LMICs.

We are looking for projects that can be executed over a 3-month period and will achieve at least one of the following objectives:

• Demonstrate how the tool can be used to support decision making (in terms of speed, accuracy, inclusivity, quality) in the following domains.
• Accelerate the pathway from evidence to policy development.
• Accelerate the pathway from policy to implementation.
• Enhance the quality and timeliness of focused communications.
• Improve the quality of resource allocation exercises.
• Decision support for front line workers.
• Achieve a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges related to ChatGPT-4, or other credible sources with equivalent capabilities, use in LMICs and how they can be effectively mitigated.
• Conduct observational research that highlights end-user specific applications of ChatGPT-4, or other credible sources with equivalent capabilities, amongst vulnerable populations in LMICs.

Ideally the proposal will also:

• Work on a specific problem that has been identified as a priority in a country or region.
• Contribute to the body of evidence related to AI use in LMICs across health, gender, financial inclusion, agriculture, and education.
• Foster innovation with AI in the interest of supporting decision makers and affected communities.
• Enable an improved understanding of the potential and risks of AI for LMICs.
• Place a strong emphasis on systematically observing, validating, and documenting the process and outcomes for each proposal.
• Conform with global principles of AI use i) to do no harm ii) to leverage technology against the toughest/most relevant problem iii) ensures that projects are led from LMICs even though there may be a high-income country (HIC) partner iv) local voices and ideas are captured throughout the process, and v) there is a dissemination plan of the outcomes of the projects.

Priority will be given to proposals that have:

• An explicit request for an AI supported project,
• Those projects that have already completed a pilot before this Grand Challenges call, and/or,
• Projects that have lessons/tools that can be transferred to other use cases / situations/ contexts with minimal change.

Funding Level: The funding level is a grant of up to USD $100,000.00, for each project, provided to the organization, with a term of up to 3 months.ii Application budgets should be commensurate with the scope of work proposed. The budget envelope for this Grand Challenge request for proposals is up to $3,000,000.

Deadline: Jun 05, 2023, 11:30 am PDT

Apply here.

Office of Naval Research (ONR) Global Research Opportunity: Global-X Challenge 2023

→International Grant

The purpose of this Global-X Challenge is to discover, and ultimately provide a catalyst through a research grant, for subsequent development and delivery of revolutionary capability to the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, the commercial marketplace, and the public. The expected outcomes of this Global-X Challenge are promising, potentially game-changing, concepts whose technology maturity may be accelerated under separate follow-on technology development efforts.

Award Size: $1,000,0004

Contact: Chelsea Huff Grantor (onrg.grantproposals@mail.mil)
Contact Phone: 1-719-237-4602

• White Paper Submission Date- 21 May 2023
• Full Proposal Submission Date- 21 July 2023
• Grant Awards Date- 8 September 2023

See Broad Agency Announcement N00014-23-S-B001 for full eligibility guidelines.