|
Dear colleagues
The purpose of this announcement is to keep members of the UCT research community informed about news and funding opportunities in the research space. All new funding opportunities can also be found on the current funding opportunities page of the Research Support Hub. For research-related enquiries, visit the Research Support Services page.
In this newsletter, new entries have been included in purple for easy reference:
Funding opportunities and funder announcements
Noticeboard
Funding opportunities and funder announcements
Visit the current funding opportunities page on the Research Support Hub to view all open funding opportunities.
Call for applications: National Research Foundation (NRF) evaluation and ratings are open
The evaluation and rating of individuals is based primarily on the quality and impact of the research outputs of the past eight years, 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2024. The evaluation is undertaken by national and international reviewers who are
requested to critically scrutinise the research published during the assessment period. Re-evaluants and prospective new applicants are invited to submit applications by one of the internal deadlines.
Applications are made either by “established” researchers with a solid track record (categories C, B and A), or by “younger” researchers who show potential of becoming established within a five-year period (Y) or becoming future leaders in their
field (P).
The Research Office will host seminars for rating applications:
When: 3 December, 12:30 – 14:00
Where: Seminar Room, Research Office, Level 2, Allan Cormack House, 2 Rhodes Avenue, Mowbray
To attend the session, register by email to Amanda Raman [email protected]
For more information about the call including important deadlines, click here.
Call for nominations: 2024/2025 National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF)-South32 Awards
The call for nominations for the 27th NSTF-South32 Awards for recognition of outstanding contribution to science, engineering and technology in South Africa is open. These prestigious awards focus on Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) and
Innovation in the country. The call targets emerging and established researchers and teams that have made outstanding contributions to SET and Innovation under 14 different award categories.
Each call round has an annual theme. The special annual theme for this round will be about Quantum Science and Technology. The call includes nominations in two new award categories:
- The NSTF-ARC [Agricultural Research Council] Award for contributions to sustainable agricultural management, knowledge generation and solutions
- The Annual Theme Award for contributions to Quantum Science and Technology in South Africa.
Existing details are available here.
Reminder: Call for applications: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions-Staff Exchanges 2024/5
Funder deadline: 5 February 2025
UCT Intention to submit deadline: 4 December 2024
The Actions-Staff Exchanges fund short-term international and inter-sectoral exchanges of staff involved in research and innovation activities of participating organisations.
The aim is to develop sustainable collaborative projects between different organisations from the academic and non-academic sectors, in particular mall and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), based in Europe and beyond. Exchanged staff benefit from new
knowledge, skills and career development perspectives, while participating organisations increase their research and innovation capacities. Staff Exchanges are open to international consortia of universities, research institutions, businesses, SMEs
and other non-academic organisations.
The call for applications is available here.
Staff eligibility:
- Includes researchers (doctoral candidates to postdoctoral researchers) and administrative, managerial, or technical staff.
- Staff must be engaged in research and innovation activities for at least one month before secondment.
Direct queries to the International Grants Hub [email protected]
Reminder: Call for applications: Long-term Europe-Africa WEF [water, energy and food] Nexus (LEAWEF) Multilateral Research Programme
UCT internal deadline: 6 February 2025
The long-term Europe-Africa WEF-Nexus Multilateral Research Programme (LEAWEF) is an international initiative focusing on the interconnections between water, energy and food (WEF) within the framework of sustainable development. Using the WEF nexus
approach, the programme aims to manage and optimise the complex interdependencies between these sectors. This is critical to achieving security, inclusiveness, and sustainability in the supply and distribution of water, energy and food globally.
The focus of this call aligns with the objectives of the programme while focusing on two sub-themes:
• Climate Change Adaptation
• Just Energy Transitions
Application information, including eligibility criteria and details about the submission process is available here.
Direct queries to Prince Khoza [email protected].
Reminder: Call for applications: NRF-AXA [National Research Foundation of South Africa and the AXA Research Fund] African Scientific Progress Award
UCT internal deadline: 15 November 2024
The NRF and the AXA Research Fund collaboratively launched the African Scientific Progress Award (ASPA). ASPA will support sustainability research activities for early career
research in Africa through the Future Earth Africa Hub. Central to the grant is the generation of timely and regionally relevant research insights, as
well as career growth. The grant aims to help researchers establish themselves in their respective fields, build their research profiles, and work towards developing independent and impactful research programmes in collaboration.
This grant will consider research projects exploring one or more aspects within the following areas:
• Analyses of Health Impacts of Climate Change
• Strategies for Mitigating and Adapting to Health and Climate Change Impacts
• Governance and Financing Considerations
Application information, including eligibility criteria and details about the submission process, is available here.
Direct queries to Prince Khoza [email protected].
Noticeboard
On the Research Announcement noticeboard, we share news and items of interest from the UCT Research Office.
Planning your deadlines around the holiday season
The eRA internal approvals process involves various UCT staff across faculties and departments; budget reviewers, finance approvers, final faculty approvers and Research Contracts & Innovation (RC&I). During December and January, many staff
members will be on leave and faculties will be operating at limited capacity.
For international funding applications due between mid-December 2024 and mid-January 2025 researchers must plan their budget reviews and internal approvals in advance. Click here to find out how to plan your
deadlines around the holiday season.
Invitation: Annual Research Celebration – Elevating Ideas: Empowering Futures
Deadline to RSVP: 25 November 2024
Event date: 4 December 2024 | 16:00 for 17:00
Acting DVC: Research and Internationalisation, Professor Jeff Murugan, and Executive Director: Research, Dr Linda Mtwisha, invite you to the 2024 University of Cape Town Research Celebration. While we hosted a conversation between some of our
Emerging Researchers and UCT Greats (or Established Researchers) last year, this event highlights the university’s research achievements while recognising our mid-career researchers. They are forging their own unique paths, overcoming challenges and
exploring new opportunities through their work.
By etching out new avenues for themselves and not following a singular path – these midcareer researchers, who are part of the research pipeline, are pivotal to sustaining scholarly excellence at UCT. Their creativity and dedication have led to
groundbreaking approaches and initiatives that not only advance their fields but also enhance the wider research community – entrenching UCT as a top-tier hub where globally relevant expertise are cultivated within our local context.
We invite you to meet a selection of midcareer researchers who are each writing their own research stories and embracing the diverse opportunities available to them. The Research Office is proud to support and nurture these exceptional individuals
in their journey toward excellence.
Venue: UCT Neuroscience Institute
View draft programme here. Seats are limited.
RSVP here by 25 November 2024.
Expression of interest: DSI-NRF [Department of Science and Innovation-National Research Foundation] - South Africa Collaboration
with Palestine
Deadline: 15 November 2024
Millions of people around the world are affected by humanitarian crises such as armed conflict, forced displacement, natural disasters and major disease outbreaks. The frequency, intensity and complexity of these crises has steadily increased over
the past few decades often with devastating impact on the higher education and research sectors of the affected countries.
It is one of the tenets of South Africa’s foreign policy to assist vulnerable, oppressed and communities at risk. The DSI would like to initiate a programme of solidarity with and in support of the research and innovation of communities in
Palestine. The first step is to gauge the state of existing collaboration between South African researchers and their Palestinian counterparts, as well as to determine the possible uptake of funding to be made available for future collaboration. The
NRF invites all interested parties to complete the online survey here.
Note: This is not a funding call for research proposals, but rather an information gathering exercise to take stock of existing initiatives and determine interest for future cooperation, to enable an evidence-based decision formulation of new
cooperation initiatives with Palestine.
Direct queries to Prince Khoza [email protected]
Call for peer reviewers: Evaluation of Creative Research Outputs and Innovations for Subsidy
Application deadline: 10 December 2024
The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) oversees the Policy on the Evaluation of Creative Outputs and Innovations produced by South African Public Higher Education Institutions (2017).The
revised policy is available here.
Universities submit subsidy funding claims annually. The department allocates research subsidies based on approved creative research outputs.
DHET invites local and international experts and practitioners, researchers and experienced scholars, from the identified sub-fields, to volunteer to serve as peer reviewers in:
- Sub-Field 1 Fine Arts and Visual Arts
- Sub-Field 2 Music
- Sub-Field 3 Film and Television
- Sub-Field 4 Literary Arts Sub-Field 5 Design
- Sub-Field 6 Theatre, Performance and Dance
Apply to be a peer reviewer here.
More details and relevant documentation are available here.
Direct queries to Dr Idah Makukule [email protected] and Tiisetso Mampane [email protected] or call 012 312 6241 / 012 312 5531
Reminder: Call for applications/nominations: UCT’s Distinguished Social Responsiveness Award
(2024)
Submission deadline: 29 November 2024
In the context of UCT’s Vision 2030, social responsiveness shines a bright light on the university’s transformative agenda which supports staff and students to “unleash human potential for a just and fair society”. UCT’s ‘Distinguished Social
Responsiveness Award’ provides a clear institutional signal to the university community that social responsiveness is an important core institutional activity.
It is against this backdrop that the Research Office is inviting staff (academic and PASS) and students to submit or nominate candidates for the 2024 Social Responsiveness award.
Eligibility criteria and details about the submission process are available here.
Submit nominations and applications to Sonwabo Ngcelwane [email protected].
The Research Announcement is produced by the Research Office, University of Cape Town. |
