Deadline: 31 January 2019
The Nagao Natural Environment Foundation (NEF) has launched out into a new programme entitled “NEF Commemorative Grant Fund for Capacity Building of Young Scientists (CGF)”, for a 10-year period up to 2025, aiming at capacity building of young scientists in developing countries of the Asia-Pacific region; both of the CGF Programme and the ongoing Research Grant Programme (under the NEF Research Grant Scheme) will be simultaneously progressed.
The CGF Programme is directed towards helping young scientists in this region grow up as world-class scientists in the areas of, or related to, conservation of wildlife and ecosystem in their own country or in the Asia-Pacific region. In this programme, research projects with high priority include fieldwork-based studies which are scientifically outstanding and socioculturally sound. Each project should be implemented by a project scientist (PS) from Asia-Pacific developing countries, with adequate support of, and collaboration with, a project coordinator (PC), who has excellent scientific achievements and intends to take responsibilities for the research project.
Target Countries
The target countries in the Asia-Pacific region include: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Kiribati, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federal of), Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Vietnam.
Grant Information
- The maximum grant size is 1,500,000 Japanese yen per project, while additional budget for the PC is available for his/her expenses of travel to the study site of the PS.
- The total annual budget for the CGF Programme amounts to 20,000,000 Japanese yen.
Duration
Basically two years, although, for the cases that the PS is a doctor course student, the funded duration may be extended to the minimum years needed for conferment of doctor degree from the university/college where he/she is enrolled.
Eligible Research Fields
- The research project is expected to contributing to nature conservation of the country where the PS lives, or currently works or studies, focusing on living organisms, especially wildlife and ecosystem, from such standpoints/foci as follows:
- biology, especially ecology, taxonomy, and distribution and current status of wildlife,
- biodiversity (i.e., species diversity, genetic diversity, and ecosystem diversity),
- threatened species, alien species, and restoration of ecosystem, and/or
- relationships between nature and humans (e.g., ecosystem services and sustainable use of biological resources).
Eligibility Criteria
The Project Scientist (PS) must:
- be a national of one of the above-mentioned countries, less than 40 years old,
- be a researcher, who works or studies full-time in a university or research institution in one of the above-mentioned countries, under any of the following three situations:
- having a PhD or Doctor’s degree,
- being/to be enrolled in a doctor (PhD) course of the university/research institution, or
- having at least 3 years of research work experience and sound record of scholarly publications,
- be not a recipient of on-going research or publication project of the NEF nor an applicant of any other grant of the NEF, at the time of application.
Eligible expenses
- travel expenses for field work (e.g., transportation, accommodation, and food),
- expendables necessary to field survey and analyses (e.g., sampling gear and reagent),
- minimum wages and labour costs necessary to the study,
- reference materials (e.g., article and book), if specifically needed,
- costs for public awareness activities, if specifically needed for the research goal, and
- travel expenses of the PC (e.g., transportation, accommodation, and food) to visit the study site of the PS; The amounts of this item should exclude from the budget of “CGF Application Form for Project Scientist” prepared by the PS BUT registered in the budget of the “CGF Form for Project Coordinator”.
Ineligible expenses
- personal expenses for the PS nor the PC,
- versatile equipment (e.g., personal computer, microscope, GPS, and digital camera),
- administrative expenses and overheads of institution where the PS or PC works, and
- participation costs and travel expenses for academic workshops/meetings
Requested conditions for the project
The research project must:
- be planned by the PS with advice/support of the PC, and be implemented by the PS as the principal investigator,
- be a fieldwork-based study in the area within the country of the PS (including the country where the PS currently works or studies), and
- be approved by the head of department, to which the PS belongs; In cases that the PS is registered as a doctor course student or is admitted to a doctor (PhD) course, approval of his/her academic supervisor(s) in the university and mutual understanding for role-sharing between those supervisor(s) and the PC are also indispensable.
How to Apply
Interested applicants can download the application form via given website.
Eligible Countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Kiribati, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federal of), Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Vietnam.
For more information, please visit NEF Commemorative Grant Fund.