SEARCA Travel Grants Program: Up to US$1,200 each to Agriculture-related Professional

Deadline: 7-Mar-21

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) is currently accepting applications for the Travel Grants Program.

Objectives

To provide opportunities to qualified Southeast Asian nationals to participate and present papers in ATTAIN-relevant scientific conferences and fora, locally or internationally.
To promote the dissemination of scientific knowledge/information vital to agricultural innovation.
To provide the Grantee a venue to discuss with other scientists, researchers, university faculty, and scholars about recent developments in their respective disciplines.
To facilitate linkages, partnerships, and active collaboration between SEARCA, or the applicant’s home institution, with other development organizations and donors.
To produce articles or any publication out of the Grantee’s presented paper, whenever appropriate and feasible.

Funding Information

SEARCA will provide travel grants of up to a maximum of US$1,200 to each qualified agriculture and agriculture-related professional, social scientist, or graduate student in Southeast Asia.

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants who will present scientific papers in international or local scientific conferences and fora are qualified for the Travel Grants. On a case to case basis, paper presentations may not be required if attendance to a conference/forum is expected to result in establishing formal linkages, partnerships, collaborations and strong development impacts to the Center.
Priority 1. Priority shall be given to the following:
- SEARCA fellows (senior, adjunct, and visiting fellows);
- SEARCA Graduate scholarship alumni;
- Researchers of SEARCA-implemented/coordinated projects;
- SFRT grantees;
- Proponents from the University Consortium (faculty, staff, and graduate students);
- SEARCA ongoing scholars; and
- Faculty and staff of universities under the SEARCA’s Institutional Development Assistance Program.
Priority 2. Applicants who are citizens of Southeast Asian countries who are regular staff members of non-profit development-oriented institutions or graduate students of other agricultural universities in the Region may be considered if not enough qualified applications under Priority 1 have been received.
At present, only citizens from the following countries are qualified to apply: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam.

Selection Criteria

Subject Matter
The focus of the paper should be aligned with SEARCA’s priority thrusts under its 11th Five-Year plan (FY 2020/2021 – 2024/2025), as follows:
- Agri-Business Models for Increased Productivity and Income;
- Sustainable Farming Systems and Natural Resource Management;
- Food and Nutrition Security;
- Transformational Leadership for Agricultural and Rural Development (ARD);
- Gender and Youth Engagement in ARD;
- Enhanced ARD towards Climate Resilience;
- EcoHealth/One Health Applications to ARD.
Conference Venue
- Priority will be given to travel within the Southeast Asian region. Grants for travel outside the region may be considered on a case to case basis depending on how well the paper satisfies the selection criteria and the objectives of the Travel Grants.
Concrete Returns to SEARCA
- Other than simply acknowledging SEARCA in the paper presentation (a PowerPoint template will be provided to the grantee), the grantee should be able to provide a version of the paper that can be published as a journal article, policy brief, research notes, or other format deemed appropriate by SEARCA. When possible, the grantee should be able to present in a seminar or a related forum sponsored/organized by SEARCA such as the SEARCA’s Agriculture and Development Seminar Series (ADSS).
Re-applying Grantees
- Previous applicants can re-apply, but must not have been awarded with a SEARCA Travel Grant in the last three (3) years.