TWAS Research Grants for Interdisciplinary Research: Collaborative Grants Programme

TWAS Research Grants Programme for Collaborative Grants was established in response to the need of researchers in developing countries to link with each other in the context of interdisciplinary projects combining their skills and expertise. Each grant supports a collaborative project jointly carried out by two Principal Investigators (PIs) in the science-and-technology-lagging countries (S&TLC) identified by TWAS.

Aim

• The TWAS Research Grants Programme for Collaborative Research aims to:
  • Reinforce and promote interdisciplinary scientific research in developing countries;
  • Strengthen developing countries’ endogenous capacity in science;
  • Enable scientists from developing countries to tackle complex problems through collaborative research projects;
  • Build and sustain collaborative links of scientific excellence in S&TLC to help them combine their complementary skills in addressing real-life problems facing their countries.

Focus Areas

• The Collaborative  Grants  programme provides  support  for inter  disciplinary  research projects  that combine and integrate skills from multiple disciplines.

Funding Information

• The Collaborative Grant amounts to a maximum of USD 35,000 per Principal Investigator (with up to USD 30,000 for equipment and consumable supplies).
• The grants, which are normally provided for a period of 24 months, may be used to purchase scientific equipment and consumables. They do not cover salaries of researchers and/or students, field expenses, or travel expenses. In addition, the purchase of laptops, tablets, drones and laboratory animals is not supported.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applying Principal  Investigators must be two renowned researchers who are nationals of a developing country, who hold a PhD and have good research experience. The grant should operate within a university or a research institution in one of the S&TLCs and should include a minimum of two Principal Investigators submitting one combined application. The PI may choose to include additional members such as researchers or PhD and MSc students, technicians, etc. There is no age limit for the PIs.
• A collaborative grant application must comprise of two previous TWAS Research Grant award recipients (for Individual or Group). One Principal Investigator (PI) must be from an LDC and the other from any other country from the STLC list of countries.
• Both PIs must be in two different countries (either both from an LDC or one from an LDC and the other from the remaining list of STLC).
• Both PIs must choose two different fields to ensure the research project is interdisciplinary across two different subject areas.
• TWAS would give priority to applications showing gender balance where one PI is female and the other male.
• Applicant must at the time of application should not have an active research grant with TWAS or OWSD Early Career Women Scientists (ECWS) Fellowship.
• You must submit a strong Research Proposal.
• Both Principal Investigators must have completed and submitted a satisfactory final report on their previous grant.
• Please be advised that applicants may apply for only one programme per calendar year in the TWAS and OWSD portfolio. Applicants will not be eligible to visit another institution in that year under the TWAS Visiting Professor programmes. One exception: The head of an institution who invites an external scholar to share his/her expertise under the TWAS Visiting Professor programmes may still apply for another programme.
• Applicants are strongly encouraged to upload a quotation from a suitable supplier for each piece of equipment above 5,000 USD. In case of equal scoring, priority will be given to applicants who upload a valid quotation for instruments above USD 5,000.

For more information, visit UNESCO.