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ACP Science and Technology Programme

• Background
• Purpose
• Activities
• Implementation
• How to Apply

The Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP - Secretariat) is pleased to announce the launch of the Call for Proposals of the “ACP Science and Technology Programme” and invites interested parties to participate herein.

The deadline for submission of project proposals is 27 February 2009 at 16:00 hours (Brussels time).

Background

The ACP Science and Technology Programme is an ACP-EU co-operation programme in the field of science and technology. It is funded by the European Union (from the 9th European Development Fund and the European Union’s General Budget BL 21.031700) and implemented by the ACP Secretariat.

The ACP Science and Technology Programme is developed against the background of the 2002 “Cape Town ACP Ministerial Forum on Research”, the Johannesburg “World Summit on Sustainable Development” and the “EC's Strategy for Sustainable Development”.

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Purpose

The Programme shall contribute to achieving the Millennium Development Goals 1, 7 and 8 by targeting poverty eradication, focusing on building and enhancing strong scientific and technological capacity to support research, development and innovation in the ACP region, and enabling the identification and formulation of activities or policies that are critical to sustainable development. It will serve the following purposes:

• Coordination and networking in applied research
• Strengthening of the ability to design instruments (or reinforce the existing ones) for collaborative research through cooperation, networking and dissemination of knowledge (through multi stakeholder approaches)
• Management of research activities and reinforcement of research quality

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Expected Results and Activities

The Programme aims at achieving the following five results:

1. Networks established or consolidated at intra ACP-level with linkages to international networks
2. Capacity increased to assess research needs to facilitate the formulation and implementation of research policies
3. Capacity and incentives increased to research network partners to prepare and submit project proposals to funding
4. Research results better capitalized and disseminated
5. Quality of research results improved

The expected activities of the Programme are:

• Co-ordination and networking in applied research:
  • Promote and strengthen networks inter-linking research institutes, researchers, civil society, business sectors and policy makers as well as “Centres of Excellence” and S&T consortia,
  • Establish research frameworks with the aim of achieving a greater and more market-oriented use of ACP research resources
  • Assess research and innovation needs on S&T at regional and sub-regional level and design dynamic databases indicating available expertise
  • Organise public debates and consultations on research needs in relation with indigenous knowledge and interests (survey, focus groups, citizens’ debates etc.) including capacity building for civil society groups on research issues
    
• Instruments for collaborative research:
  • Establish or consolidate intra ACP advisory or observatory bodies on research and innovation for sustainable development in order to collect, share and analyze information on the latest developments in S&T and their potential applications and provide advice to the policy makers and relevant S&T non-state actors
  • Define and implement technical instruments for example design tax incentives for firms engaged with universities and research institutions, review and strengthen legislation relating to property rights, etc.
  • Benchmark good practices and design ‘models of research instruments’ in order to promote the best modalities of industry-academia links and co-operation
• Management of research activities and reinforcement of research quality:
  • Define and promote peer review and evaluation procedures and indicators in order to increase quality and efficiency in regional and national S&T programmes
  • Implement multi-stakeholder activities (publications, database building, ICT development, information management, consulting seminars, short-term training, etc.) in order to capitalize, disseminate and implement knowledge and innovations including target debates with civil society groups concerned
  • Organise short-term training sessions at regional, sub-regional and country levels in order to strengthen and upgrade the competencies of the scientific community in the following areas: research methods, research fund management, managerial research capacities etc.

Focus

• Quality health care with special attention both to traditional and biodiversity dependent community medicines and to the development taking place in biotechnology;
• Environment research activities addressing climatic variability, loss of biodiversity deforestation, desertification and rising sea levels as well as issues associated with upgrading and mainstreaming of appropriate indigenous technology and establishing efficient mechanisms for access to and the adaptation of appropriate foreign technology;
• Energy with special attention to renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind, hydro and biomass energy;
• Transport addressing transport congestion, air pollution and accidents;
• Agriculture and agro industry addressing food productivity and security, adding value to agro products and encouraging a stronger participation by farmers in production and post-harvest management;
• Sustainable trade in order to increase investments, encourage development in the private sector and improve the trading capacity of ACP Member States

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Implementation

The ACP Science and Technology Programme will facilitate the creation or strengthening of frameworks for regional and sub-regional co-operation and of inter-institutional co-operation in the ACP region in the field of science and technology.

The Call for Proposals is now open and Project proposals can be submitted until 27 February 2009 at 16:00 hours (Brussels time) by filling in the Grant Application Form that can be downloaded here.

This Call for Proposals is open to all 79 countries of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), the 27 EU Member States, the 3 EU Candidate countries, and the 3 European Economic Area -European Free Trade Association (EEA EFTA) States.

The proposals must consist of partnerships between various organizations, which can be:

1. ACP national and regional science and technology organizations, research institutions, universities, government ministries and public institutions dealing with research policies, ACP national research networks, relevant civil society and private sector actors and similar EU actors working in partnership with ACP counterparts;
2. Regional science and technology institutions, with separate legal status, not belonging to any national system but formally recognised by one of the eligible countries;
3. Established ACP science and technology networks provided that: all network members and the network headquarters are located in eligible countries; the network has a legal status; the network is applying in its own right; and the network has been registered for a minimum of two years;
4. The Commission of the African Union and regional or inter-State bodies to which one or more ACP States belong, including bodies with non-ACP State members, which are authorised by those ACP State.

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How to Apply

Please use the following documents for submitting a proposal:

• Guidelines for Grant Applicants (PDF, 336 kB: EN, FR, PT)
• Grant Application Form (DOC, 876 kB: EN, FR)
• Annexes to the Grant Application Form:
  • Budget (XLS, 84 kB: EN, FR)
  • Logical Framework (PDF, 8 kB: EN, FR)
  • Standard Grant Contract including Special Conditions (DOC, 64 kB: EN, FR)