Deadline: 15 May 2019
The Embassy of the United States of America in Kosovo has announced the 2019 University Support Grants Program.
U.S. Embassy Pristina’s Public Affairs Section will award a series of small grants to support higher education institutions to better address social and economic development challenges through research, development, and extension services. Programs include, but are not limited to, applied research, community outreach, and service delivery. The University Support Grants Program awards grants on a competitive basis.
The University Support Grants Program welcomes proposals that support the below objectives:
- Improving resources that support teaching and research in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).
- Improving resources to prevent plagiarism and protect copyright and intellectual property.
- Training of trainers focused on soft skills including academic writing, public speaking, critical thinking, and problem solving.
- Strengthening connections between U.S. and Kosovo institutions of higher education in order to help faculties and departments in local institutions meet international standards.
- Establishing cooperation with universities in the region, sharing best practices, enhancing engagement of younger professors within departments and creating opportunities for them to network with colleagues from the region and/or initiate networking and collaboration through academic staff and students representatives from student councils.
- Other activities that promote the development and advancement of the higher education sector in Kosovo.
Funding Information
The maximum grant amount is USD 24,000.
Criteria
- Higher education institutions and/or NGOs working on education programs are eligible for grants under this program.
- The application requires a detailed description of the activity for which grant funds are being requested and a detailed budget proposal broken down by expenditure category; otherwise it will not be considered.
- Grants are made on a one-time basis. A successful applicant may re-apply for a second grant, but the second proposal must be for a distinctly different project than the project(s) funded by other grants from the U.S. Embassy in Pristina or the U.S. Government.
Evaluation Criteria
The University Support Program committee will assess the following when evaluating grant proposals:
- The project proposal demonstrates that the organization/institution has sufficient expertise, skills and human resources to implement the project.
- The organization demonstrates that it has a clear understanding of the underlying issue that the project is aiming to address and is able to articulate it with specificity and clarity.
- The organization has consulted relevant resources, experts and potential partner organizations during the project’s design phase.
- The organization has identified appropriate beneficiaries or target groups in a way that maximizes project outputs and outcomes and the project has a clear focus and manageable scope.
- The project’s idea and approach are innovative, yet capable of being completed with the program period. Proposed project activities must be concrete, detailed, and supported by a reasonable work plan.
- The project’s budget is well organized, detailed and reasonable. There are no budget lines labeled “miscellaneous expenses.” Entertainment and alcoholic beverage expenses are not included in the budget. The budget demonstrates that the organization has devoted time to plan for and assess actual expenses associated with the project instead of providing rough estimates.
- The organization has clearly articulated how it will assess and measure its own performance throughout the project implementation phase using concrete quantitative and qualitative assessment tools.
- The project proposal describes clearly the approach that will be used to ensure maximum sustainability of the project’s results after its completion.
- Past performance, including U.S. government funded grants indicates reliability, responsible use of resources, and an ability to follow through with project aims.
How to Apply
An electronic version of the application should be e-mailed at the address given on the website.
For more information, please visit https://xk.usembassy.gov/universitysupport/