​The Australian-French Association for Research and Innovation aims at significantly supporting the development of research and innovation collaborations between France and Australia through a set of activities that raise awareness on areas of mutual interest in France and Australia, as well as untapped opportunities, at federal but also locally at regional, state and institutional levels. The Association plays an active role in running events and communication initiatives to support a growing community of members, as well as facilitating bi-national dialogue on research and innovation issues. Many of these initiatives are member-initiated and supported by AFRAN and additional financial resources.

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Call details:

 

This call seeks to empower the AFRAN community by supporting initiatives that complement those already eligible for funding under the suite of cooperation support mechanisms provided by the French Embassy in Australia (e.g. mobility, internships, or workshops). AFRAN will thus fund initiatives or series of smaller, integrated initiatives (e.g. series of network building activities, one-off or series of collaborative research exhibitions or productions, symposia/workshops focussed on community development) designed to federate, build and scale up thematic communities around particular research and innovation areas within the perimeter of AFRAN and/or between France and Australia. There is a particular emphasis on inter-disciplinary and community-building initiatives, including with the social sciences and humanities.

 

Every year, AFRAN offers seed-funding towards logistics and/or travel costs for selected initiatives. To take into considerations the covid restrictions, AFRAN supports online and web-based versions of all feasible activities (including webinars, online workshops, Q&As with community outreach, online hackathon-innovation thinktanks etc). AFRAN may also consider extensions on the date that funding must be spent by, considering global current circumstances.

 

This program only funds projects initiated by members of AFRAN. As a consequence, this program does not consider applications for participation in external conferences and seminars, nor applications for individual travel to a partner’s laboratory, unless it is indispensable for the development of such aforementioned initiatives or activities.

 

 

Objectives and aims:

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1. To create and/or scale up a collaborative research and innovation community within AFRAN perimeters and/or between France and Australia;

2. To foster structured collaborations within the French and Australian research and innovation communities. The preference for this call is for accessible digital events and content, including online Café scientifiques, filmnights with discussion fora, webinars, podcasts, professionally produced videos demonstrating interesting cooperations, and novel online meeting fora (e.g. VirtualReality meetups). In person events for 2021-22 (ideally with additional video links) will also be considered in Australia, France and the French Territories. Larger-scale AFRAN hub initiatives (on one or multiple thematic topics) are also eligible for funding in this round;

3. To involve a broad range of partners and individuals;

4. To structure and provide responses to major societal issues facing Australia and France.

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Eligibility

 

Applications are open to researchers and other professionals of any nationality and seniority level who are members of AFRAN. To be eligible, an initiative must:

• Be open (within reason and depending on the purpose) to all interested members of AFRAN to participate,

• Aim at creating and/or scaling up a collaborative research and innovation community within AFRAN perimeters and/or between France and Australia.

Laureates of this program will not be eligible to reapply for funding for 3 years after the year of the grant awarded.

 

All research fields, including Humanities and Social Sciences, are open and coordinators of eligible projects involving French overseas territories are encouraged to apply.

 

This program targets research and innovation fields based on the strategic priorities of the French and Australian governments.

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Terms of funding

 

​Funding for submitted initiatives must be spent within 12 months after laureate notification. ​

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A selection committee appointed by AFRAN and the Embassy of France will review the applications and select successful applications as per the criteria above. AFRAN will notify each initiative coordinator of the outcome of their applications and the amount allocated to successful initiatives. It is the responsibility of the initiative coordinator to secure any additional funding that may be required to complete the event(s) and/or manage follow-on community activities.

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Upon acceptance of the funding (if selected), the project coordinator agrees to:

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1. Include a mention of the support provided by AFRAN on all communication materials used to promote the event/initiative

2. Provide AFRAN with said communication materials one month before the selected activity date. These materials will be disseminated through AFRAN communication channels with mentions of the procedures required to participate in the planned activities.

3. Provide AFRAN with a short one-page report (press-release style) on the outcome of the initiative no later than 1 month after completion of the main event and/or by 31 August 2022 for ongoing community-building initiatives. These reports will be made public and advertised through the AFRAN communication channels.

 

 

Application process

 

Applications must be submitted by using the application form (below).

The application form and all supporting documents (preferably in PDF format) must be submitted before the application deadline by email to: afran.org@gmail.com

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