NRF Call for Applications 2019

NRF / INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR THEORETICAL PHYSICS (ICTP)

 Joint Collaboration for Science Advancement

For support of travel / events taking place between January and December 2018.

(Retrospective funding will be considered)

UCT’s internal closing date: Friday, 27 July 2018 @ 09h00

Please direct all queries to Robyn Udemans (Robyn.Udemans@uct.ac.za).

ICTP Framework  ICTP Funding Guide

The principal objective of the collaboration is to facilitate access for South African researchers and PhD students to ICTP research infrastructure, programmes and short courses; and to provide support for hosting ICTP researchers.

A. THERE ARE 3 GRANT CATEGORIES:

1. Mobility Support for SA Researchers

The applicants in this category are the individual South Africa-based researchers intending to travel to the ICTP laboratories for visits of not more than 6 months. The objectives are a) training South African researchers in theoretical astrophysics; quantum physics; material sciences; renewable energy; computational physics; chemistry; biology; mathematics; big data; high performance computing; and collaboration on any other fields of the ICTP; and b) providing South African researchers access to the research infrastructures available at the ICTP.

• The NRF will make funds available to support mobility and access support for SA-based researchers wishing to undertake visits to the ICTP in Italy (any time between January and December 2018). Retrospective funding will be considered;
• Interested SA researchers are requested to refer to the ICTP calendar of scientific events and indicate/motivate for the activity/event they would like to participate in.
• The applicant must be in possession of a Doctoral degree and must clearly indicate their preferred theme of research aligned with the above mentioned themes and activities.
• Grants to be awarded under this category will only cover costs relating to travel, accommodation and living expenses of the SA researcher.

2. Mobility Support for Doctoral Students

The applicants in this category are registered doctoral students who wish to travel and access the ICTP infrastructure to advance their research in the specific research fields, which include: renewable energy, quantitative biology, high performance computing, astronomy, and mathematical sciences.

• The PhD student’s supervisor must apply on behalf of the student (applications submitted by the PhD students will not be accepted);
• Support will be provided for PhD students to undertake visits of no longer than six months to the ICTP campus any time between January and December 2018;
• Students should be SA citizens or permanent residents and not hold any Visa for temporary residency in SA;
• The proposal should be aligned to the PhD project and ICTP areas of expertise.

3. Grant for Hosting ICTP Experts

The applicants in this category are South Africa-based researchers requesting funding to host ICTP expert(s) for a short period (up to three weeks) in South Africa in order to enrich local expertise in their field; promote collaboration; and/or strengthen existing collaborations.  Please note:

• The ICTP expert can be hosted for up to a maximum period of six (6) week at any time of the award of the grant up to December 2018;
• The invited expert must be a leader in their field of research which must align to the research area of the applicant;
• Awarded grants under this category will only cover costs relating to travel, accommodation and living expenses of the ICTP expert visiting SA.

B. ELIGIBILITY

• UCT researchers are eligible to apply as the Principal Investigator. If on contract, the contract must be for the duration of the grantletter from the Head of Department confirming that the contract is likely to be extended, should the funding be awarded, must be attached to the application.
• Supervisors must submit applications on behalf of their PhD students for the third category of funding (Travel grants for Doctoral Students).
• Applicants must be in possession of a PhD degree.

C. FUNDING AND REQUIRED SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

C. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION PROCESS

• Applications must be submitted online via https://nrfsubmission.nrf.ac.za. Register / Login using your ID / passport number and password;
• Go to the menu on top left of the screen and hover over ‘My applications’ to click on ‘Create application’;
• Click on the plus (+) sign next to ‘NRF/ICTP Joint Collaboration for Science Advancement;”
• Please ensure that you update your student supervision record, research outputs, and other details, as required. This is very important step as the CV is considered during the assessment process, and incomplete or outdated data will disadvantage your application;
• Complete the application (compulsory fields and sections are indicated by a red asterisk *). The NRF has used a generic online application template so please consult the attached funding guide for the correct selections to make in the ‘Details of Funding Request’ section.
• Please attach in PDF format the supporting documents applicable to your application as noted in the table above.
• Please click on the submit button once your application has been completed. Applications will be reviewed internally and reopened for amendment, if required, before submission to the NRF.
• Kindly note that applications missing the required attachments and/or incomplete applications will be disqualified.

It is of utmost importance that applicants consult the attached call guide and frameworks documents for more detailed information about this call, including the panel review scorecard and budget exclusions.

Please be advised that the UCT Research Office may not review applications that are submitted after UCT’s internal closing date – Friday, 27 July 2018 at 09h00.

Note that the NRF system will close on Tuesday, 7 August 2018 and no applications can be submitted after this date.

2018 NRF Call for Applications

Equipment-related Travel and Training Grants 2018/19

UCT’s internal closing date: Monday, 23 July 2018 at 09h00 

Please direct all queries to Robyn Udemans (Robyn.Udemans@uct.ac.za)

A. SCOPE

The Equipment-Related Travel and Training (ERTTG) grants support the broader science research community to access state-of-the-art equipment that is not available at the home research institution, regionally and nationally and to access natural science collections such as those located at museums. This includes access to synchrotron facilities and other Global Research Infrastructure. It also provides for the facilitation of workshops that focus on on-site training of instrumentation specialists, technicians, operators, researchers, and postgraduates (masters and doctoral) students. The grants are divided into two categories, namely:

1. EQUIPMENT-RELATED TRAVEL GRANTS:

1. General Equipment Travel Grants makes funds available to researchers, technical staff and postgraduate students (Master, Doctoral and Postdoctoral fellows only) requiring access to specialised research equipment that is not available at the institution, regionally or nationally. The grant will cover national or international travel and subsistence costs as required, as well as contributions towards the cost of equipment utilisation. Supervisors must apply on behalf of their students/fellows.

2. Travel grants to Access Global Infrastructure (AGI); which includes travel to access:

• Outbound Global Infrastructures located outside of South Africa such as Joint Institute of Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, Russia, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland and European Synchrotron Radiation Facilities (ESRF), Grenoble, France. Currently research cooperation agreements between SA and JINR, CERN and ESRF respectively are in place. However, access to other synchrotron radiation facilities and global research infrastructure will also be considered for support.

• Inbound Global Infrastructures located in South Africa such as the South African Large Telescope (SALT), MeerKAT, the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biology (ICGEB) and the National Facilities (NFs).

There must be a clear indication that the equipment the applicant proposes to access is not available in the applicant’s own institution, nor at other institutions regionally or nationally. This may include letters from other institutions explaining that similar equipment will not be able to support the research activities of the applicant.

2. THE EQUIPMENT-RELATED TRAINING GRANTS:

This intervention makes funds available for:

1. Researchers to host or attend workshops focussed on training technical staff, postgraduate students and other users of:
   • Specialised and state-of-the-art equipment; or
   • Feeder equipment that complements the capabilities of state-of-the-art research equipment.

Such equipment must have been acquired either through public funds or high-end equipment donated by the private sector.  This type of intervention may include practical training and short courses on the use of such research equipment. The training programme must have regional and/or national benefit.

2. Institutions that have been awarded NEP/NNEP grants, and require skills training from expert instrument scientists on the sustainable management of the research equipment. These institutions may apply for funding to host a visiting instrument scientist. The instrument scientist may be for a minimum period of one (1) month to a maximum period of six (6) months due to his/her scarce skill in the use of a specific instrument that has been acquired through NRF and/or DST funds. 

B. ELIGIBILITY

All applicants must be full time staff members employed permanently, or on contract, for 2 – 5 years.

The travel and training grants are aimed at:

• Full-time postgraduate (masters and doctoral only) students that require training and/or access to infrastructure for the completion of their dissertations. (Please note that the supervisor must apply on behalf of the postgraduate student)
• Postdoctoral fellows (Please note that supervisors must apply on behalf of the postdoctoral fellow)
• Technicians, instrument specialist and operators;
• Researchers (including those who request to send samples to international institutions; or access the software for data analysis that is imperative to their research).

Priority will be given to black and female researchers and applicants based at historically disadvantaged institutions (HDIs).

C. FUNDING AMOUNTS & PERIOD

Activities taking place in 2018 until March 2019 will be funded under this call which means that retrospective funding that spans a period of six (6) months can be considered for this funding instrument.

Table 1 - Budget Guidelines: Maximum NRF Investment per Activity

Important Note:

• Applications that exceed the maximum values for national & international must be accompanied by a formal letter of motivation providing reasons for the required additional funds. Motivation letters must be must be endorsed by the Research Office.
• Applicants hosting a workshop or scientist must clearly demonstrate that additional funding has been secured if the full costs exceed the maximum amounts per category.

D. APPLICATION PROCESS & COMPULSORY SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

• Applications must be submitted online via https://nrfsubmission.nrf.ac.za. Register / Login using your ID / passport number and password;
• Go to the menu on top left of the screen and hover over ‘My applications’ to click on ‘Create application’;
• Click on the plus (+) sign next to ‘Equipment-Related Travel and Training Grants 2018/19’;
• Please ensure that you update your student supervision record, research outputs, and other details, as required. This is very important step as the CV is considered during the assessment process, and incomplete or outdated data will disadvantage your application;
• Complete the application (compulsory fields and sections are indicated by a red asterisk *). The NRF has used a generic online application template so please consult the attached funding guide for the correct selections to make in the ‘Details of Funding Request’ section.
• Please attach in PDF format the supporting documents applicable to your application – see table 2 below.
• Please click on the submit button once your application has been completed. Applications will be reviewed internally and reopened for amendment, if required, before submission to the NRF.
• Kindly note that applications missing the required attachments and/or incomplete applications will be disqualified.

Table 2 – Required Supporting Documentation

It is of utmost importance that applicants consult the attached call guide and frameworks documents for more detailed information about this call, including the panel review scorecard and exclusions.

Please be advised that the UCT Research Office may not review applications that are submitted after UCT’s internal closing date – Monday, 23 July 2018 at 09h00.

Note that the NRF system will close on Tuesday, 7 August 2018 and no applications can be submitted after this date. 

ERTTG Application and funding Guidline for 2018-2019

ERTTG Framework 2018-2019

Call for Applications

Faculty of Health Sciences Research Committee (FRC)

Start-up Emerging Researcher Awards

Deadline for Submission: 23 July 2018

Download Application Form

Emerging researchers up to the level of Senior Lecturer or equivalent, who have been appointed in the Faculty of Health Sciences within the last 12 months, are invited to submit applications for a Faculty of Health Sciences Start-up Emerging Researcher Awards.

The Faculty has made available funding for eight (8) awards of R100,000 each.

The purpose of the award is to support such emerging researchers to start up their research. Supported activities include generation of preliminary data, fieldwork, consumables, purchase of equipment, incentives for research participants, and statistical advice.

Interested staff members are required to submit the following:

1. Completed application form,
2. Research proposal (max 1 page) and a budget not exceeding R100,000,
3. List of publications, and
4. Record of postgraduate student supervision.

Applications need to be endorsed by the Head of Department of the applicant.

Completed and endorsed applications must be submitted as a single pdf file to the Faculty Research Office by email to research.health@uct.ac.za by 23 July 2018. Hard copies will not be accepted.

Emerging researchers who are not eligible but feel that their application should be considered need to submit a letter of motivation with their application.

It is envisaged that awards will be made available by 24 August 2018.

Conditions:

• Applicants must hold at least a Master’s or MBChB degree.
• Applicants must hold an academic or joint appointment.
• Awards may not be used for student scholarships.
• Awards may not be used for conference travel and attendance.
• A brief report of the activities supported by the award and a financial report needs to be submitted to the Faculty Research Office to Committee by email to research.health@uct.ac.za by 30 June 2019.