Request for Proposals: Risk, Response, and Responsibility in Latin America and the Caribbean

The PEGASuS VI call solicits proposals from transdisciplinary teams in Latin America and the Caribbean addressing the theme of Risk, Response, and Responsibility. The goal of this call is to support approaches that advance decision making and planning capabilities through integration of multiple sciences with lived experience from stakeholder groups, including but not limited to community and government representatives, planning councils, disaster response and humanitarian aid organizations, insurance and reinsurance companies, and communications partners. Because of the many human elements in both the management, recovery, and reduction of risk, all proposals must include a social scientist or public health expert. Other knowledge holders and experts may come from a breadth of other disciplines and professions depending on the risk being addressed.

Funding for this program is provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

Funding Information

• The program plans to award 2-4 successful proposals in this call. Projects may request up to $250,000 USD and have to be completed by December 31, 2025.

Expectations of PEGASuS Grant Recipients

• PEGASuS VI awards will be administered by the Future Earth US NGO. Successful projects will need to sign a grant agreement with Future Earth and comply with its awardee policies. Any products or publications resulting from this award must acknowledge Future Earth and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
• Awarded teams will be notified in March 2024. At least 3 participants from each project will be required to attend a kickoff meeting in June 2024, and annual meetings each year after for the length of the project. Travel expenses for those 3 participants will be paid for by the PEGASuS program and do not need to be included in the project budget. Additional project participants may join the events online. These events will allow for the creation of an awardee cohort to exchange lessons learned and network more broadly within the region and the globe.
• Annual reports must be submitted to Future Earth. PEGASuS award recipients will be required to provide these reports and adhere to open data standards. A template will be provided to guide this process once awards are made.

Eligibility Criteria

• Each proposal must be submitted by a transdisciplinary team from at least two institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean. Non-academic partner institutions or stakeholder groups are welcome (e.g., government institutions, aid and development organizations, business including insurance/reinsurance, resilience and planning councils and more) to form part of the transdisciplinary team. Applying institutions must have an established organizational bank account to receive funds.
• Diversity of background, nationality, institutional rank, gender, and expertise among the team are highly recommended and will be strongly valued in the review process. Stakeholders participating in the project should be equal partners in the development and implementation of the project. Funds for their participation should be included in the budget, as appropriate.
• The project should have outputs and outcomes with broad relevance and accessibility. Outputs must include academic and/or research products as well as communications, tools, or decision support documents targeted towards non-academic partners involved in the project. Outputs and products are not required to be in English.

Evaluation Criteria and Review Process

• Proposals received will be first reviewed for compliance with call requirements related to region, team composition, budget, and relevance to the call theme. Eligible proposals will then be submitted for anonymous external review against these criteria:
• Technical excellence and feasibility of planning and executing the project description within the proposed budget and timeline.
• The transdisciplinary design and strength of the team, depth and breadth of collaboration across disciplines, the region, and sectors of society.
• The potential for research to contribute to informed decision making, reducing risk and/or improving response.

For more information, visit Future Earth.