Objectives These grants help PhD students and postgraduate research assistants to meet the costs of specialist field training courses and to network and publicise their research by presenting their work at workshops and conferences. Deadline Our second round of funding for 2021 is now OPEN with a deadline of 17:00 (BST) Friday 10 September. Training and Travel Grants are awarded on a first come, first serve basis, therefore once all of the funding has been allocated, we are no longer able to accept applications. If the meeting you wish to attend is between January and the end of June, you must apply to the first round. If the meeting is after June, you should apply to the second round. (Please note that awards may take up to 2 weeks to be processed, therefore events taking place in the first two weeks of July are eligible for application within the first round).  To Apply REGISTER ONLINE When applications open, register/log in to our online grants system, complete your contact details, and navigate to ‘Your Applications’. Virtual Events and Courses Applicants can now use these grants to attend a virtual conference/course, to cover registration fees up to £250. In these circumstances, the applicant must provide proof of registration on acceptance, and meet the standard eligibility and criteria as outlined below. If you are unsure that your event meets the BES criteria, contact Siri McDonnell. Eligibility and Conditions All applicants are required to: be a BES member. have at least a B.Sc. or equivalent degree. use an institutional email address in order to apply. Any exceptions must be discussed in advance of submission with Grants & Events Officer, Siri McDonnell for approval. be a PhD student, postgraduate research assistant (within 3 years of completing relevant degree) or equivalent (Postdoc researchers are therefore not eligible to apply). work or study at a university or research institution (including field centres, NGOs, museums, etc.) that provide research facilities. work in scientific areas within our remit (the science of ecology) and of relevance to the training course or meeting they are applying to attend. give a presentation if attending a meeting. no retrospective claims for funding will be considered. no applicant may receive more than two Training & Travel Grants in any five year period. There must be at least three years between grants. There is no application deadline; instead, there are two opening dates within a 12 month period (January and July). Once funding for one round has been allocated, the round will close until the next opening date. If the meeting you wish to attend is between January and the end of June, you must apply to the first round. If the meeting is after June, you should apply to the second round. (Please note that awards may take up to 2 weeks to be processed, therefore events taking place in the first three weeks of July are eligible for the first round).  Our website will be updated when the funding for each round has been allocated.Our Training and Travel grants are awarded on a first come first serve basis; submitting an application does not guarantee funding. If you want to attend an event/training that falls within our remit, please email our Grants & Events Officer, Siri McDonnell. A maximum of two places per training course may be funded on a first come first serve basis. No more than two applicants from the same institution may attend the same meeting/conference. The applicant is responsible for booking to attend the course/event/workshop and as the grants are paid in retrospect, must pay the relevant institution/organiser the required fee at the time of booking as well as all monies additional to the award amount i.e. single supplements. Successful applicants are bound by the booking conditions of the organisation running the event, course or workshop and non-attendance on a booked course or event will result in the applicant being personally liable for the cancellation fee. It is a condition of all of our grant schemes that applicants submit a report within three months of the end date of your award. Reports will be submitted via our online grants system. Our Events We offer significant student registration discount on the costs of our own events, including our symposia and majority of our Special Interest Group (SIG) events. Therefore, Travel Grants are not available for these meetings. Grants may be considered for SIG events if the meeting is taking place outside the country in which the applicant resides. We have a limited number of grants available to attend our Annual Meeting and Symposia if you are a student, postgraduate research assistant, and a citizen of/working in a ‘low-income economy’ or ‘lower-middle-income economy’ country according to the World Bank categorization. Annual Meeting Deadline: Applications will open later in 2021. We are pleased to be able to support a limited number of students/postgraduate research assistant who are a citizen of/ and working in a ‘low-income economy’ or ‘lower-middle-income economy’ country according to the World Bank categorization to attend our Annual Meeting each December. These will be awarded on a first come first serve basis. Grants of up to £1000 are available. If you wish to apply for a Travel Grant to attend our Annual Meeting, please note the same conditions apply as the standard Training & Travel Grants (please see above). In summary you need to: Be a student/postgraduate research assistant Be a citizen of and working within a ‘low-income economy’ or ‘lower-middle-income economy’ country according to the World Bank categorization. Have a talk or poster presentation accepted at the meeting Be a member of the BES This counts as a standard Training & Travel Grant, therefore the following applies: no applicant may receive more than two Training & Travel Grants in any five year period. There must be at least three years between grants. Please note: applicants who are awarded a grant to cover registration fees for the Festival of Ecology 2020 will still be eligible to apply for all of BES Travel Grants in 2021, including those to our 2021 Annual Meeting. When applications open, register/log in to our online grants system, complete your contact details, and navigate to ‘Your Applications’. Value Unless the applicant is self-funded, it is expected that their organisation will provide at least £150 of support towards the costs of the event. a maximum of £250 is available to cover the cost of registration fees for virtual conferences/courses. a maximum of £300 is available for events and courses being held in the applicants’ country of residence. a maximum of £500 is available for events being held outside the applicants’ country of residence. grants of up to £1,000 are available to attend our Annual Meeting if the applicant is a citizen of and working in a country that is classified as ‘low-income economy’ or ‘lower-middle-income economy’ according to the World Bank. the grant will be paid after the event has taken place, on receipt of a brief report, certificate of attendance and any appropriate receipts. all costs must be clearly justified within the budget section. Costs that are not justified will not be considered. Please ensure all costs are clearly calculated in GBP (British Sterling). Learn more: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/funding/training-travel-grants/?utm_source=RUFORUM+Mailing+List&utm_campaign=d18db56afe-RUFORUM+Weekly+-+Vol.3+No.25_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcfbb8a0b-d18db56afe-346973753&ct=t()&goal=0_1fcfbb8a0b-d18db56afe-346973753&mc_cid=d18db56afe&mc_eid=d95cf18a8d  Read more

The Humanities and Arts Research Program (HARP) Development program provides funds to support faculty who are conducting important research leading to creative and performance projects or activities in the arts and humanities. This limited funding is designed to support faculty in the development of projects that seem likely to enhance the reputation of the faculty member and the university.  Within the Development program, there are two panels that conduct the reviews: the Humanities Research panel and the Exhibition and Performance panel. The Humanities Research panel will review applications that are supporting research projects and scholarship broadly related to the humanities. The Exhibition and Performance panel will review proposals that support scholarship and creative activities leading to an exhibit or performance. See the FAQs for clarification. The deadline for HARP Development applications will be in early-October, with awards announced in February. Funding will be available for a two year period beginning on March 1.  What types of projects are eligible? HARP development projects should: produce results or a product that is likely to receive external recognition (e.g., through a publisher's interest or through available distribution or exhibition venues) or be used beyond MSU. ultimately lead to a scholarly or creative product (e.g., book, CD, musical composition, play, artwork) with the potential for significant impact in the discipline or related areas.  Who is eligible? Tenured and tenure-track faculty Faculty with uninterrupted, multi-year, fixed term appointments Faculty with one-year appointments who are able to obtain written confirmation from their department chair of pending appointment through the duration of the grant (letters from the chair should be uploaded as part of the project description) Academic specialists in the continuing appointment system who have the majority of their effort in the research category Part time faculty who 1) have had an appointment for two consecutive years prior to the date of their submission, 2) have a commitment from their department chair indicating that their appointment will continue through the duration of the granting period, and 3) have an appointment of at least 50% with MSU Faculty from Arts and Letters, Communication Arts and Sciences, James Madison, Lyman Briggs, Music, Social Science, and the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities are eligible to apply for HARP funding. NOTE: Faculty emeriti are not eligible to apply for HARP funding. NOTE: Faculty rank and proximity to promotion and tenure decisions will not be considered in the evaluation of proposals. All applications will be evaluated on the merit of the work being proposed.  For more information or to apply, visit the MSU Research and Innovation website Read more

TWAS offers fellowships to young scientists in developing countries to enable them to spend three to 12 months at a research institution in a developing country other than their own. The purpose of these fellowships is to enhance the research capacity of promising scientists, especially those at the beginning of their research career, helping them to foster links for further collaboration.   Eligibility The fellowships are for research and advanced training. They are offered to young scientists holding at least an MSc or equivalent degree. Eligible applicants for the fellowships are young scientists working in any area of natural sciences who are citizens of a developing country and are employed by a research institution in a developing country. There is no age limit. However, preference is given to young scientists at the beginning of their research career and those working in Least Developed Countries. Lists of possible host institutions divided by field are available here. These lists are only a suggestion and institutions that are not included are acceptable as long as they are in a developing country. Institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China, are not eligible host institutions under this programme. Applicants interested in conducting a fellowship in China are required to check whether their chosen host is a CAS institute. For a complete list of CAS institutes, see: english.cas.cn/institutes/. Applicants wishing to attend a CAS institute should either apply to the CAS-TWAS President’s Postgraduate Fellowship Programme or consider the CAS Fellowships for Postdoctoral and Visiting Scholars from Developing Countries (http://english.cas.cn/cooperation/fellowships/201503/t20150313_145274.shtml). Deadline: 1 October each year. Terms of the Fellowships The fellowships are offered for a minimum of three months and a maximum of twelve months. TWAS covers international low-cost airfare plus a contribution towards subsistence amounting to a maximum of USD 300 per month. No other costs will be provided by TWAS. The host institution is expected to provide accommodation and food as well as research facilities. Fellowships are awarded by the TWAS Fellowships Committee on the basis of scientific merit. Submitting your application Applicants must complete the online application form by clicking on the 'Apply now' button at the bottom of this page. While filling in the online application, applicants also need to upload the following documentation: scanned copy of your passport, even if expired (page with your name and surname); CV, maximum five pages including publications; Supporting Statement from Head of Home Institution; two reference letters of senior scientists familiar with your work. Please note that the Head of your Home Institution cannot be one of your referees; MSc certificate and relevant university transcripts; Official invitation letter from the  Head of the Host Institute;   IMPORTANT Note that the Fellowships are provided for South-South visits only, i.e. for visits by researchers from developing countries to institutions in other developing countries. 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 Professorprogrammes. 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.   Contact email:  exchanges@twas.org Read more

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=334586  Issue Date: July 6, 2021 Deadline for Question: July 16, 2021, 4:00pm Washington, D.C. time Closing Date: September 17, 2021 Closing Time: 4:00pm Washington, D.C. time   Subject: Notice of Funding Opportunity Number: 7200AA21RFA00018 Program Title: Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Soybean Value Chain Research Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 98.001   Ladies/Gentlemen: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is seeking applications for a five year Leader with Associates cooperative agreement from qualified entities to implement the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Soybean Value Chain Research program. The estimated total program amount of $30 million includes $10 million in Development Assistance funding, $10 million in Associate awards and $10 million in mission buy-ins. Eligibility for this award is restricted to qualified U.S.-based Title XII universities. See Section C of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for eligibility requirements. Subject to the availability of funds, USAID intends to make an award to the applicant who best meets the objectives of this funding opportunity based on the merit review criteria described in this NOFO, subject to a risk assessment. Eligible parties interested in submitting an application are encouraged to read this NOFO thoroughly to understand the type of program sought, application submission requirements and selection process. To be eligible for award, the applicant must provide all information as required in this NOFO and meet eligibility standards in Section C of this NOFO. This funding opportunity is posted on www.grants.gov, and may be amended. It is the responsibility of the applicant to regularly check the website to ensure they have the latest information pertaining to this notice of funding opportunity and to ensure that the NOFO has been received from the internet in its entirety. USAID bears no responsibility for data errors resulting from transmission or conversion process. If you have difficulty accessing the NOFO, please contact Kyle Davis via email at kydavis@usaid.gov for technical assistance. USAID may not award to an applicant unless the applicant has complied with all applicable unique entity identifiers and System for Award Management (SAM) requirements detailed in Section D.IV.f. The registration process may take many weeks to complete. Therefore, applicants are encouraged to begin registration early in the process.   Please send any questions to Kyle Davis at kydavis@usaid.gov. The deadline for questions is shown above. Responses to questions received prior to the deadline will be furnished to all potential applicants through an amendment to this notice posted to www.grants.gov. Issuance of this notice of funding opportunity does not constitute an award commitment on the part of the Government nor does it commit the Government to pay for any costs incurred in preparation or submission of comments/suggestions or an application. Applications are submitted at the risk of the applicant. All preparation and submission costs are at the applicant’s expense. Thank you for your interest in USAID programs.   Sincerely,   Rachel Baltes Agreement Officer   Read more

by Richard Raber   Nokoko, the journal of Carleton University’s Institute of African Studies, is preparing a special issue on the theme “Shifting Geopolitics and Militarization in Africa.” We invite abstracts for research articles addressing the issues presented below. We also welcome book reviews, and briefings from scholars, public intellectuals, and activists.    Widespread assessments within International Relations suggest a transformation is underway from the post-Cold War order characterized by American supremacy, towards a new multi-polar world. In Africa, this follows thirty years in which the Washington Consensus entrenched a liberal international order across the continent. In that time, governments rewrote constitutions to protect private property and foreign investment, diverted state expenditure from social goods, while facilitating widespread (and ongoing) privatization. Over the same period, US Africa Command (US-AFRICOM) sought hosts for US troops. The result has been a surge in US military presence across the continent, with American troops working alongside as well as training and equipping African forces. In turn, the United States gained interoperability agreements and a network of “lily pad” bases throughout Africa. This expansion occurred with little public scrutiny, and relied on regimes of legal immunity that may exceed those of colonial regimes.   There are reasons to focus beyond the US, even as the US exceeds other states in the scale and extent of its presence. Since the 2008 financial crisis, there has been a marked geopolitical recalibration in Africa. China, Russia, middle-powers, and former colonial countries have established military relations in ways reminiscent of colonial era canton systems in China and India. While unclear if troop placements reflect trade and commercial interests, China, Russia, India, Saudi Arabia, the UK, France,Canada, Italy, Japan and Turkey are present.    Meanwhile, smaller powers such as India and Saudi Arabia have emerged as major sources of arms across Africa as both Egypt and South Africa ramp up arms production with the hopes of expanding exports on the continent.  China’s formal military presence on the continent commenced with ground troops in 2011 with the aim of withdrawing its citizens during the war in Libya. Chinese arms sales to Cameroon, Congo DRC, Ghana, Sudan, Tanzania, Morocco, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe increased 55% between 2013 and 2017. Algeria is the third-largest buyer of Chinese weapons after Pakistan and Bangladesh. China’s 8,000-member standby force with the UN is ready to take part inpeacekeeping, training, and operations.   Russia’s role is a fraction of China’s, yet the country signed nuclear energy deals and support agreements with the Central African and Mozambican militaries. Likewise, Russian natural gas and arms interests have built ties across the continent. In addition, Russia vies for a base in Sudan and in October 2019 held the first Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi, Russia as part of renewed efforts to bolster its influence in the continent (Mwangi and Fabiano, 2020).   For its part, Djibouti has come to host a wide range of foreign bases. Italy, France, Japan, and China, all have bases a mere 10km from the US base. Together, these bases host another seven allied forces, which begs the question of whether its strategic importance offers added stability and strength or volatility and weakness in international relations, especially given the current drift toward war in neighbouring portions of Ethiopia.   The UK, France, and Canada increased their presence under the pretext of counterterrorism. In Kenya, the UK’s (and the US) training of government troops has coincided with a massive rise in extrajudicial killings. Under UN authority, and led by French troops, forces from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger formed the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). Their objective? Prevent “terrorism” in the Sahel. In September 2019, West African governments pledged to commit a billion dollars to the effort. All this, despite the fact that known “terrorist” groups are in fact “embedded in local dynamics, and have some degree of political authority and legitimacy as they find support in criticisms of and protests over bad governance and lack of justice.” (Bruno Charbboneau, 2018)   European Union countries have ended humanitarian rescue patrols of the Mediteranean coasts and instead work to harden borders and fund the detaining of migrants in camps in North Africa. Europe’s interventions constitute a militarized response toward people who are already victims of war, thus further traumatizing them. And yet in many instances it is a militarized response to nonmilitary problems caused by failed economic policies, poor governance, ecological stresses, and persistent or growing poverty.    Several important questions stem from the presence of foreign militaries in Africa. How much does militarization relate to the economic and strategic interests of the intervening countries, of what Padraig Carmody termed “The New Scramble for Africa” (2016)? Might Africa again be a site of proxy wars—a conclusion suggested by the wars in the Sudans? What are the implications for governance and security forces within Africa? How do foreign troops support or constrain civil society and counter-hegemonic forces in Africa? How does their presence impact military and police cultures within host states?   For example, in Kenya and beyond, extrajudicial killings rose and a culture of impunity emerged among national forces, leaving local police to often appear as occupying forces themselves. This is certainly consistent with the recent, heroic, and historically unparallelled opposition to SARS forces in Nigeria. In Ghana, the enormous levels of military aid from the US, UK and EU donors has made the army a privileged institution. The military has wide business interests —including a bank and arms industry— and allows senior officers and “VIPs” of their choosing to use sirens and escorts to push luxury SUVs through local traffic, adding one more burden on regular citizens suffering inadequate infrastructure.    Of course, the expansion of foreign military involvement in Africa does not result in unidirectional dynamics, raising the question as to how African leaders respond and fashion state policies? What are the benefits to playing different countries off one another in collaborative arrangements, aid agreements and procurement contracts? Similarly, in light of shifting geopolitical dynamics, how have local coalitions responded? What kinds of local opposition and protest movements emerge, and what are their successes or failures? Similarly, what political changes are occurring within the African Union?    How do outside interventions exacerbate existing tensions within and between countries? In which ways do such interventions give life to new forms of class structure, class alliances and class struggle? What is the relationship between class structure and alliances to the distribution of natural resource wealth? What are their interactions with shifts elsewhere (e.g., the Caribbean and Latin America)? How does this transformation refract larger historical shifts? How do sites of intervention illuminate a new order and the re-calibration of power in Africa (and beyond)? What are the impacts of rhetorical efforts to build new alliances of African countries with BRICS and other rising powers?   We welcome research articles on the above topic any of the following sub-themes: Militarization and natural resources Militarization and strategic positioning, e.g. Indian Ocean, Somalia, Egypt, Algeria, and Sudan Militaries, popular struggles, and training of police and military for civil unrest Occupation forces such as in Western Sahara, Diego Garcia, and foreign military bases Migration and militarization Borders, borderlands, and changing notions of space and place Militaries and humanitarianism Militaries and gender violence Militaries and popular culture Surveillance and constitutional rights Contemporary military infrastructures Weaponization of the media Militias, mercenaries, paramilitaries, and the privatization of violence Militaries and indirect rule Militaries and ethnicity The business of war Flows of military aid Africa’s position in the arms industry Race, Gender, Imperial Knowledge and the afterlives of Empire in International Relations theory Shifting relations of power between and within African states Scholars whose abstracts are approved by the editors will be required to submit papers that critically engage with any number of these issues. Submissions should be no longer than 9,000 words. We also welcome shorter contributions as well as photo essays. Articles should follow Nokoko’s submission guidelines. We encourage potential authors to discuss articles in progress if they seek advice on preparing a successful submission. Please contact us if you wish to propose a particular book for review(s) and we will assist in finding a review copy. Book reviews have a 1000 word limit, although extended book reviews of two or more books may be longer (see, for example, the extended review by Heffernan in Issue 7). Policy briefings and agitations for new research agendas are welcome in the range of 4000 words. We also continue to accept articles outside this theme-specific area.   To submit use this link:  https://carleton.ca/africanstudies/research/nokoko/call-for-papers-nokoko/ Read more