Seed funding for joint projects with CIVIS' African partner universities
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
SEED FUNDING FOR JOINT PROJECTS WITH CIVIS' AFRICAN PARTNER UNIVERSITIES
Application deadline: 15 November 2021
Online application form (CIVIS applicaton portal): LINK
CIVIS website for this call: LINK
Background and aim
Developing partnerships with universities in Africa and the Mediterranean region is a central objective of CIVIS. Our alliance seeks to identify joint interests with these partners and work on joint solutions to problems facing Africa, the Mediterranean, and Europe together. CIVIS currently establishes strategic partnerships with the following institutions, each of which already entertains close relations to individual CIVIS member universities:
- niversité Hassan II de Casablanca (Morocco)
- Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar (Senegal)
- Eduardo Mondlane University (Mozambique)
- Makerere University (Uganda)
- University of Sfax (Tunisia)
- University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa)
Strategic partnerships between these universities and CIVIS will foster joint activities in education, research, outreach (innovation/social engagement) as well as capacity-building. Many of these activities are to be based on (the successful acquisition of) third-party funding and involve academic just as non-academic actors. Apart from the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the five challenges underpinning CIVIS Hubs constitute the core themes of our partnerships:
- Climate, Environment, Energy
- Society, Culture, Heritage
- Health
- Cities, Territories, Mobilities
- Digital and Technological Change
In the pilot phase of CIVIS, until September 2022, our alliance pursues strategic partnership agreements with the universities listed above. Moreover, we seek to encourage and support first initiatives from our community of researchers, scholars and staff that lead to medium and long-term, vibrant, Hub-challenge oriented collaborations with (members of) our African partner institutions. Building on and widening already existing contacts, networks and initiatives will be of central importance in the initial phase of the partnership development process.
Target of this Call for Proposal
Against this background, the Call for Proposals aims at supporting three types of initiatives:
- Initiatives building on already existing relationships and projects with our African partners (see list above) in the realm of Hub challenges, that seek to include further CIVIS member universities (at least three altogether).
- Initiatives that already involve three CIVIS member universities in a joint project on a Hub challenge, now seeking to integrate one or more of the African partners (see list above) in their ongoing activities. This particularly refers to existing Hub initiatives, i.e., those funded by a CIVIS Hub, if the integration of African partners requires further activities not covered by the funding received from Hubs.
- New initiatives with our African partners (see list above), addressing Hub challenges, and with a long-term development perspective (e.g., the joint drafting of a third-party funding application).
Eligible applicants
Academics and staff members belonging to CIVIS universities can apply.
Due to EU funding restrictions, members of African partner universities cannot apply and be the direct beneficiaries of supported activities. However, African partners, if already identified, are highly welcome to join an application of their CIVIS colleagues.
Members of the University of Glasgow (associated CIVIS member university) cannot apply and be the direct beneficiaries of supported activities, but they are also highly welcome to join an application as a partner.
Criteria for eligible projects
In the framework of this Call for Proposals, applicants may seek funding for projects aiming at establishing, widening, or strengthening a longer term collaboration between members of CIVIS and our African partner universities.
Necessary project features:
- Contributes to one or more of the following realms: education, research, outreach (innovation/societal engagement).
- Relates to one or more of the five Hub challenge themes listed above.
- Involves members of at least three CIVIS university and at least one African partner university; see list above. If projects do not feature this membership structure, they must explicitly and concretely aim at establishing a collaboration of such a composition.
Desirable project features:
- Includes or targets at the joint acquisition of third-party (non-CIVIS) funding for ensuring the collaboration’s financial sustainability.
- Involves or targets at the inclusion of even more than three CIVIS and one African partner institution, if not initially then maybe at a later stage.
- Contributes to one or more of the Sustainable Development Goals.
- Involves or targets at the involvement of non-academic partners, e.g., thematically relevant (non-) governmental organisations, firms, museums, etc.
Projects can also involve further partners (preferably also in Africa or the Mediterranean region) that are not among the universities with which CIVIS currently develops a strategic partnership (see list above).
Types of possible activities
Supported projects could include one or more of the following activities:
- Developing and implementing first joint projects, e.g., a joint course or summer school, research project, or outreach activity. These initial projects should hold the potential to be the basis for further collaborations. (Hub initiatives already receiving CIVIS funding for their educational activities would need to demonstrate that the planned inclusion of the African partner/s requires additional measures and funding.)
- Funding staff capacities for writing a joint third-party funding application
- Visiting African partners for exploring or planning a collaboration project
- Organising a joint workshop for exploring or planning a collaboration project
Other activities are eligible for funding, too, if they conform to the necessary project features (see above, criteria for eligible projects) and fall under eligible costs (see below).
Eligible costs
- Travel and subsistence costs for members of CIVIS member universities according to the travel regulations of their home university.
- Staff costs expended at a CIVIS member university.
- The maximum amount granted to an initiative is 8000 Euro.
- The seed funding must be spent by 30 September 2022.
Application process
- Please register for the CIVIS application portal and fill in this online application form, requesting information from you on the following:
- Project title
- Persons and institutions involved
- Project features according to selection criteria (e.g. relationship to Hub themes, plans for third-party funding, etc.)
- Project description (incl. aims, activities, expected outcomes, preparatory steps already undertaken)
- Cost plan
- Application deadline: 15 November 2021
Contact
For questions on this call you may contact the CIVIS project team ‘African/Mediterranean partnerships’ (Work Package 5) at 'civis-wp5@uni-tuebingen.de', respectively its contact person/s at your home university:
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CIVIS university |
Contact person |
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Aix-Marseille Université (AMU) |
Dr. Camille de Garidel-Thoron |
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National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) |
Prof. Nikos Theocharakis |
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Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) |
Xavier Denys |
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Universitatea din București (UB) |
Dr. Simona Corlan-Ioan, |
simona.corlanioan@istorie.unibuc.ro, |
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University of Glasgow (UG) |
Prof. Paul Garside |
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Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) |
Prof. José M. Mella |
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Sapienza Università di Roma (SUR) |
Prof. Carlo G. Cereti, |
carlogiovanni.cereti@uniroma1.it, |
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Stockholms Universitet (SU) |
Johanna Wiklund |
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Universität Tübingen (UT) |
Christian Möllmann |
