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Mellon HIV/AIDS Node Call For Grant Proposals
HIVAN
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With the support of the Mellon Foundation, the Population and Poverty Studies Programme at UKZN has established a small grants programme to support social science research on HIV/AIDS.
The aims of the small grants programme are to:
* Reach out to good scholarship in South and Southern Africa
* Foster collaboration and communication among those engaged in research and training in demography/population studies in the region
* Stimulate and facilitate research expertise in key areas that are critical to population policy in the region.
Three categories of grant are available:
* Team grant, which offers support to research teams that should include senior and junior researchers working at different institutions and should demonstrate mechanisms for capacity-building at an institutional and individual level.
* Individual "Sabbatical" grant, which offers support to established researchers to spend sabbatical leave at a Southern African institution during which they can complete work-in-progress or can prepare for new research.
* Individual grant, which targets younger researchers to enable them to spend time working at a Southern African institution and receive mentoring support from established experts.
RESEARCH THEMES:
Preference will be given to proposals that advance our understanding of behaviour associated with high or low risks of HIV/AIDS infection. Specific themes identified as priorities are:
* The development and evaluation of methods for collecting data on sexual behaviour
* Individual, household and community responses to HIV/AIDS.
* Comparative analysis of high- and low-prevalence groups to understand both intended and unintended protective factors against HIV/AIDS.
* The role of faith-based institutions in reducing risk of AIDS and support for people living with AIDS
* The circumstances and treatment of HIV+ pregnant women and babies born of HIV+ women.
Interested researchers should submit an abbreviated three-page "pre-proposal" to Andisha Maharaj, School of Development Studies, UKZN, before 31 July 2002. Successful applicants will be notified by 31 August 2002 and will be required to submit a full proposal before 30 September 2002. Funding will be made available from 01 November 2002 and must be used by 01 January 2004.
APPLICATIONS:
Interested researchers are invited to submit a brief pre-proposal that should focus on the research concept, method and significance of the study to be undertaken of a minimum of, but not exceeding, five pages excluding Curricula Vitae, the budget and letters of acceptance and recommendations. Proposals will be short-listed and team projects will be awarded a planning grant of R5000. Final acceptance will depend on a full proposal that should detail data quality and methods, the workplan and allocation of activities.
The "pre-proposal" should include:
* Introduction: the issues addressed
* Logic: design and time frames
* Methods and data to be used
* Significance/impact
* Future research
* One-page budget and rationale for each line item (including budget for planning/liaison)
* Curricula vitae (of research team members and mentor if applicable)
* Capacity-building activities
* Letter of recommendation (for individuals) from institutions/referees
* Proof of acceptance of the concept by all team members, mentor and host institution (if applicable)
DETAILS OF EACH GRANT:
Team grant:
* Team projects should be initiated by established researcher/s.
* Research activities should be multi-site - involving more than one institution, with field research, analysis and supervision in different locations and a number of participants.
* The team would be made up of multiple layers in mentor-student relationships collaborating on a particular area of research as part of a network.
* Grants will not exceed R325 000 and will not be renewed.
* One or more published article(s) in peer-reviewed journals.
* The aim would be to produce article(s) for publication and, if appropriate, preparation for Doctoral research.
* A substantial report on findings and recommendations for policy change, if appropriate.
* One or more PhD proposal by and for junior team members, if appropriate.
The exact nature of the outputs should be stated in both the pre-proposal and fuller proposal document.
Individual "Sabbatical" grant:
* Available for tenured researchers wishing to spend time at a Southern African institution working with a leading researcher in their field.
* "Sabbatical grants" should be initiated by the researcher.
* Grantee should hold a full time position to which they expect return.
* Grants will not exceed R170 000 and will not be renewed.
Individual non-affiliated grant:
* This is similar to the above but is not restricted to tenured researchers. Agreement must be obtained from the mentoring researcher
* Preference will be given for proposals that are for preparation for Doctoral research.
* Grants will not exceed R110 000 and will not be renewed.
CONDITIONS:
Projects with existing funding would qualify for a grant if the funding would expand the range of the research and the grant would develop a clearly definable Mellon grant contribution within the existing project.
Funding is not available for international travel.
This invitation is open to permanent members of staff and senior students at all universities, technikons and non-profit research institutions in South Africa. Preference will be give to proposals in which there is a partnership with a "lesser-resourced" institution that focuses on research and training. Private sector "for-profit" institutions will not qualify for funding.
Funds will be paid in two equal tranches.
SELECTION COMMITTEE:
A selection committee comprising South African and international researchers will short-list projects from the pre-proposals submitted. Successful applicants will then be invited to submit a full research proposal and if this proposal is judged to be adequate, the funds will then be released.
The members of selection committee are:
Professor R. Dorrington (UCT); Dr S. Gregson (Imperial College, University of London & Biomedical Research and Training Institute, Zimbabwe); Dr M. Makiwane (University of Transkei); Professor J. Menken (University of Colorado); Dr L. Ndlovu (Population Council, SA office); Professor E. Preston-Whyte (UKZN); Dr J. Ssekamatte-Ssebuliba (Makerere University, Uganda); Professor S. Watkins (University of Pennsylvania) and Professor B. Zabia (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. |
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