Deadline: 16 March 2018
Applications are now open for the USAID Partnership for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) Women in Science Mentoring Program. The program receives applications from across the globe, with the numbers varying regionally by gender.
The PEER Program has received more than 2,500 applications in six years, with fewer women applying from the Sub Saharan Africa region (just 18.4%, 11.7% lower than the UNESCO statistics) and the Arab States region (just 26.7%, 10.1% lower than the UNESCO statistics).
Reasons for fewer applicants from these regions may include:
- lack of experience applying for international research awards
- insufficient time due to other work/life responsibilities
- lack of confidence, lack of role models that have won international research grants in the past, and/or
- few mentors to guide them through the process.
The PEER Women in Science Mentoring Program has been created to help retain women in science, build self-confidence, and teach early career scientists to write successful international research awards. This new mentoring program will allow time and space for cohorts of mentees (postdocs and junior faculty) and mentors (senior faculty) to build personal and professional development in topics such as work-life balance, networking, research proposal writing, and publishing research papers.
Following the mentoring program, the participating mentees (junior faculty and postdocs) will be eligible to apply for competitively reviewed awards that will provide funds for them to conduct a pilot research project.
Funding Information
- Mentors will receive a $2,000 USD honorarium (paid to the individual) for creating and following the mentor plan for mentees as created during their mentor training. Mentors will receive $1,000 after the mentoring plan is submitted following the COACh workshop.
- Mentors will receive final $1,000 after the final report is submitted at the conclusion of the year-long program.
- Receive mentor/mentee training by COACh Global. COACh will also recognize and feature the mentors during the training in panels/conversations about successes in funding and publishing.
- Mentors will be recognized for their successful mentorship with a certificate and may be highlighted in blogs and other public facing media throughout the year.
- Receive mentee/mentor training by COACh Global.
- Opportunity to compete for small seed grants ($10,000 USD) following their participation in the year-long mentoring program.
- Terms of Seed Funding for Mentees:
- Mentees will be invited to submit a proposal for a hypothesis-driven, one-year long research project and a plan for mentoring two postdocs, graduate students, or undergraduate students with a maximum budget of $10,000 USD, to be paid to the higher education institution where the mentee is employed.
- Funds must be managed by the institution in accordance with standard regulations governing the use of USAID funds.
- The research project should be a pilot, using existing equipment at the university. The funding can be used for supplies and other small expenses but not large pieces of equipment.
- Mentees should draw heavily on their new, collaborative networks for a successful pilot project.
- Data collected during the pilot project should be used as leverage when applying for larger international and national grants and funding.
- Mentees are encouraged to think about how to best showcase their pilot research at an international research conference following completion of the award.
How to Apply
Applicants can submit applications via given website
Eligible Countries: Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, West Bank/Gaza.
For more information, please visit this Link.