Mapping & Diagnosis of Research & Innovation Ecosystems Grant Program

Deadline: 28-Feb-22

The IRD (Research Institute for Sustainable Development), Pacific Islands Association of Non-Government Organisation (PIANGO – Fiji), Pacific Island Development Forum (PIDF – Fiji), Vanuatu Meteorology & Geo-Hazard Department (VMGD – Vanuatu), has announced the applications for the Mapping & Diagnosis of Research & Innovation Ecosystems Grant Program.

In consortium with IRD (Research Institute for Sustainable Development), Pacific Islands Association of Non-Government Organisation (PIANGO – Fiji), Pacific Island Development Forum (PIDF – Fiji), Vanuatu Meteorology & Geo-Hazard Department (VMGD – Vanuatu), will facilitate the implementation of the RERIPA project (“Enhancing Research and Innovation ecosystem to tackle climate change in the Pacific”), funded for 4 years (March 2021 to 2025) by the ACP Innovation Fund’s Research and Innovation Programme, implemented by the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), with funding from the European Union.

The goal of this Call for Proposals (CFP) entitled “Mapping & diagnosis of R&I ecosystems, network facilitation and R&I strategy” is to fund one excellent multi-partner project aimed at improving their knowledge and understanding of R&I ecosystems at the national and regional level, and facilitating R&I interactions throughout the innovation chain to build a shared vision and strategy of R&I for the Pacific Region.

Objectives

• GO: improve their knowledge and understanding of R&I ecosystems at the national and regional level and facilitate R&I interactions throughout the innovation chain, from user to scientists, to build up a shared R&I vision and strategy in the Pacific Region
• SO1: identify stakeholders and their skills, relationships, interests, and activities.
• SO2: determine R&I ecosystems strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
• SO3: boost R&I brokering by bringing stakeholders to exchange and collaborate following open innovation and participatory approaches.
• SO4: contribute to build up a regional strategy in R&I with a special focus on open innovation (living labs) and climate change impact (CCI), among the regional priorities.

Funding Information

Grants it may receive will not exceed in any case 400,000 Euros

Expected Deliverables

• An analysis (map/baseline) of R&I ecosystems (including teaching/training) in the Pacific Region.
• An analysis (map/baseline) of R&I stakeholders (including teaching/training): locations, capacities, expectations, relationships, etc.
• An analysis of local knowledge and perception of climate change impact (CCI).
• An analysis of R&I priorities & strategies in the Pacific Region. ? Report on the shared/co-constructed R&I Strategy (and sub-strategies at national level when relevant).
• Recommendations for structuring the Living Labs and the teaching/training activities (R&I and CCI).
• Assessment of the evolution of the R&I ecosystem/network in the Pacific Region during RERIPA to inform on the impact of the Project (near the end of the project). ? Final activity report.

Eligible Countries

Applicants (legal entities) from the following OACPS Pacific Countries are eligible to apply as Lead Applicant or Partners: Cook Islands, East Timor, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

Eligibility Criteria

• Academic and research institutions/organisations; spin-off companies; VET providers; organisations representing indigenous and local communities; agencies and associations working for gender equality in research and innovation; national science, technology and innovation agencies; non-governmental organisations; innovation support organisations (technology clusters, innovation labs and technology transfer offices); incubators and start-ups; and other similar organisations.
• The Call for Proposals must be answered by consortia of several legal entities (public and private moral persons), and each consortium will have to be coordinated by a legal entity referred to as Lead Applicant, and the Lead Applicant will involve Partner Organisations in its consortium.
• A successful Applicant in this Call will be allowed to apply in other RERIPA Calls for Proposal, as Lead Applicant or Co-applicant, but the cumulative amount of the different grants it may receive will not exceed in any case 400,000 Euros (cf. RERIPA Grants Operations Manual).
• All participating organisations in a bidding consortium must check their eligibility, and the Lead Applicantis responsible for checking and guaranteeing the eligibility of the partners; if one of the partners appears to be ineligible, this may lead to the exclusion of the whole consortium/project during the evaluation process.
• A consortium answering the Call for proposals must include at least 3 Applicants (including the Lead Applicant) established in the OACPS Pacific eligible countries and from at least 2 different countries: at least 1 academic and research institution/organisation and at least 2 other applicants from 2 different types.
• The following entities are eligible for financial support as Lead Applicant or Partners: academic and research institutions/organisations; spin-off companies; VET providers; organisations representing indigenous and local communities; agencies and associations working for gender equality in research and innovation; national science, technology and innovation agencies; nongovernmental organisations; innovation support organisations (technology clusters, innovation labs and technology transfer offices); incubators and start-ups; and other similar organisations with specific experience in the priority areas covered by this Call.
• The Lead Applicant submitting the proposal as well as the Partners which belong to its consortium, should be moral persons.
• Only the Lead Applicants and Co-applicants with their headquarters and activities in an ACP Country from the Pacific region, since 2017 at least, are eligible and can receive a grant under this Call. Organisations or individuals (scientists, researchers, entrepreneurs, policy actors, among others) from outside the ACP Pacific Region can participate as “Collaborators” if their participation is duly justified in the proposal, i.e., if they bring specific skills or added value to the project. However, they will have to provide their own financial contribution to participate in the project, as they cannot benefit from the grant. Collaborators are not counted as part of the minimum of three eligible applicants.
• Lead Applicants applying to this Call must have the financial and technical capacity to manage the grant, and will have to demonstrate this capacity: they must carry out / contribute to research and innovation activities and must have managed at least two
• The Lead Applicant will submit the application on behalf of the consortium (One application per consortium) and will be directly responsible for the preparation, management and implementation of the project funded by the Call.
• Lead Applicants, Partners and Collaborators should not be affected by any of the exclusion criteria. RERIPA will keep records of evidence and supporting documentation that Lead Applicants and their Co-applicants do not meet any of the exclusion criteria.
• Project Partners should have the adequate organisational capacity to implement and monitor the projectin terms of human resources, as well as the ability to share and disseminate the results regionally through their networks.

For more information, visit http://www.pidf.int/call-for-proposals-research-innovation-and-impacts-of-climate-change-in-the-pacific-reripa/