AFRAN Call for Initiatives 2019!

Deadline : 15 July 2019

Overview

This year’s call seeks to further 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). In 2019, we 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.

This year, AFRAN will offer funding up to AUD 3,000 (three thousand Australian dollars) towards logistics and/or travel costs for selected initiatives. 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.

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:

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

2. 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.

Current strategic areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Space

• Climate change and biodiversity

• Defence

• Health

• Agriculture and food

• Artificial intelligence, data and society

Future editions of this program may target alternative research and innovation fields based on the strategic priorities of the French and Australian governments.

Selection criteria

Initiatives will be ranked by a selection committee based on the following criteria, presented here in order of highest to lowest priority:

1. Demonstrated potential for the initiative to foster structured collaborations within the French and Australian research and innovation communities. The preference for event location is in Australia, although those in France and the French Territories are also eligible. State-based AFRAN hub initiatives (on one or multiple thematic topics) are also eligible for funding in this round.

2. Demonstrated potential for the project to involve a broad range of partners and individuals. Applications for individual travel to a partner’s laboratory will not be considered, unless the application clearly demonstrates travel is indispensable for the development of such aforementioned initiatives or activities.

3. The ratio of AFRAN investment to community building potential. For this reason co-funding will be viewed favourably and the committee may choose to invest in multiple smaller initiatives rather thana few larger ones.

4. Demonstrated capacity of the initiative to structure and provide responses to major societal issues facing Australia and France

5. Demonstrated academic and/or innovation merit of the initiative, as well as excellence and motivation of the coordinating individuals and preliminary community members.

Terms of funding

1. A total of AUD 12,000 (twelve thousand Australian dollars) is made available for this call. .

2. Funding of up to AUD 3,000 (three thousand Australian dollars) can be requested per initiative. 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.

3. A selection committee appointed by AFRAN and the Embassy of France will review the applications and select successful applications as per the criteria above.

4. AFRAN will notify each initiative coordinator of the outcome of their applications and the amount allocated to successful initiatives.

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

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

7. 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.

8. 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 2019 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. The application form and all supporting documents (preferably in PDF format) must be submitted before the application deadline by email to: science.canberra-amba@diplomatie.gouv.fr Incomplete or late applications will not be considered.

1. Call for projects opens: 17 June 2019

2. Deadline for applications: 15 July 2019

3. Results announced: 31 July 2019

4. Earliest date for project start: 1 August 2019

5. Latest date for project completion: 31 July 2020

Further information

Please contact:

AFRAN

A/Prof Katherine Daniell President, AFRAN Inc. 0419848256 katherine.daniell@anu.edu.au

Embassy of France Ms. Nathalie Simenel-Amar Service Science and Technology 02 6216 0139 nathalie.simenel-amar@diplomatie.gouv.fr