Seed Grant for New African Principal Investigators

Deadline: 27-Jul-21

With the support of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) has launched a new Seed Grant for New African Principal Investigators (SG-NAPI) programme to strengthen the capacity of African countries lagging in science and technology.

The new programme is aimed at young scientists who are getting established in their country or about to return home to an academic position. Under this scheme, grants are awarded to promising high-level research projects in Agriculture, Biology, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Information Computer Technology, Mathematics, Medical Sciences and Physics carried out in African countries lagging in science and technology identified by TWAS.

Subject Areas

Scientists working in the following research areas can apply for an SG-NAPI

• Agriculture
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Earth Sciences
• Engineering
• Information Computer Technology
• Mathematics
• Medical Sciences
• Physics

Components

• Scientists can apply for several or all of the following components of the programme:
  • equipment start-up grant: up to USD 20,000; allowing scientists to equip their laboratories.
  • consumables grant: up to USD 15,000; allowing scientists to acquire consumables for specific research projects.
  • MSc. training grant: up to USD 10,000; allowing scientists to train and teach M.Sc. students within their research group.
  • international conference grant: successful candidates will be provided with up to USD 3,000; for participation in an international conference.
  • industrial link grant: up to USD 4,000; to cover travel and incidental expenses as well as laboratory bench costs of scientists who cooperate with industrial partners.
  • South-South and South-North collaborative mobility grant: worth up to USD 10,000; to cover travel to the collaborative laboratory, accommodation during the visit and laboratory bench costs.
  • open access international publication grant: each successful candidate will be provided up to USD 2,000 to cover fees for publication in reputable open access journals.
  • skills-building workshop grant: each successful candidate will be provided with an opportunity to participate in a workshop which provides advice and guidance on a range of soft skills, such as: writing research proposals, presentation and communication, sustainable development, plagiarism, etc.
• The programme has an additional component which seeks to enhance the productivity of female scientists returning to academia after a maternity leave:
  • female “scientist-after-child” grant: support for a research assistant (up to 12 months) may be offered to women scientists in the following cases:
    • Scientist with a child up to 12 months of age;
    • Scientist going through a pregnancy at the time of the application.
• One award may include several or all of the components outlined above: it is granted for a period of 36 months, however a final report will be required a year after receiving the last item of equipment/consumables.

• Research Grants to research units amount to a maximum of USD 67,700.
• The grants, which are normally provided for a period of 24 months.

• be 40 years of age and under;
• obtained their Ph.D. within the last 5 years in a country other than their home country;
• returned to their home country (see list below) within the last 36 months;
• hold, be offered or be in the process of accepting a position at an academic and/or research institution (including international research centers) in their home country;
• be nationals of an eligible African country that is lagging in science and
• technology, as follows:
  • Western Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo.
  • Eastern Africa: Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mauritius, Reunion, Rwanda, Sudan, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda.
  • Central Africa: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, São Tomé, Principe.
  • Southern Africa: Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Eswatini (Swaziland), Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
• Applications from women scientists are especially encouraged.

For more information, visit https://twas.org/opportunity/seed-grant-new-african-principal-investigators-sg-napi