This call for proposals invites consortia composed of at least three research organisations (and/or private and public practitioners) from three different countries (i.e. South Africa, Japan and an SGCI African country) to submit project proposals for research and innovation on designated fields of science in the countries concerned. The proposal development and execution should be driven by local demand and include an approach that contributes to enhancing impact.

Objectives

• AJ-CORE seeks to:
  • Build and connect knowledge to increase the impact of research;
  • Explore new development paths;
  • Enhance human capacity development in Science, Technology and Innovation;
  • Find new ways to accelerate transitions to sustainable development;
  • Contribute to SDGs.
• AJ-CORE aims to bring together partners in society to co-develop the knowledge needed to support decision makers and societal change at all scales and in diverse contexts, by focusing on the research area contributing to resolving common problems in Africa.

Focus Areas

• Applications should pursue a holistic (system) approach to finding integrated solutions that can be implemented in the relevant context and should address the following aspects:
  • Solving of complex economic, ecological and social challenges to improve lives in a sustainable way using comprehensive system-oriented approaches;
  • Expected impact of research and likelihood of uptake contributes to solutions and evidence for policy change to significantly improve economies, wellbeing and resilience;
  • Research and innovation projects with potential impact at national or regional scales;
  • Contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Funding Information

• The total budget for this call amounts to 1 957 000 USD.
• Botswana:
  • Total funds available for the call: P 3,450,000.00
  • Maximum funding per project: P1,150,000.00
• Ethiopia
  • Total funds available for the call: 25,000,000 ETB
  • Maximum funding per project: 5000,000 ETB
• Japan:
  • Total funds available for the call: 109,200,000 JPY
  • Maximum funding per project: 18,200,000 JPY
• Kenya:
  • Total funds available for the call: 90,000USD
  • Maximum funding per project: 45,000 USD
• South Africa:
  • Total funds available for the call: R12,240, 000
  • Maximum funding per project: R2,040, 000
• With the available total budget, the partners aim to fund a maximum of around five large collaborative consortia projects for not more than 36 months (3 fiscal years).

Eligible Costs

• The following general categories may apply:
  • Research-related costs
  • Mobility costs (travel and subsistence expenses)
  • Short-term research placements for postgraduate students
  • Costs related to organisation and attendance of seminars and workshops within the project
  • Costs for attending the kick-off and final workshops of all funded projects
  • Acquisition of material and small-scale research equipment
  • Capacity building costs (training, module presentations, etc.)
  • Postgraduate scholarships/bursaries
  • Knowledge sharing and dissemination

Eligibility Criteria

• For a consortium to be eligible it should consist of researchers from at least:
  • One South African institution,
  • One Japanese institution,
  • One Institution in an SGCI African country.
• African countries participating in the SGCI:
  • Botswana, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
• Please note that a proposal submitted by only South African and Japanese researchers will be considered ineligible.
• The submission of an AJ-CORE proposal is only possible by consortia of at least three partner Principal Investigators (PI) from three different countries. At least two African institutions (from two different African countries – one from South Africa and the other from any of the SGCI African countries) and one Japanese institution must be part of the consortium.
• Next to these three required project partners, additional consortium partners from other public and/or semi-public sectors and/or industry are allowed as Associated Partners (AP). Associated Partners cannot request financing from the NRF and JST, but could be funded by other Funding Agencies, either national, regional or international, including Development Banks such as the World Bank.
• South African-based Principal Investigator:
  • For South African applicants, the NRF eligibility criteria apply as follows:
    • Only working researchers/scientists residing in South Africa and affiliated with a recognised South African public higher education or research institution such as a university, university of technology, science council or other research institution as declared by the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) and the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) are eligible to apply.
    • South African applicants and the HDI based co-PIs must be in possession of a PhD.
    • Private higher education institutions are not eligible to apply under this programme.
    • The SMEs, private companies/industries, and NGOs cannot serve as a principal investigator but can form part of the research consortium.
    • South African applicants will have to submit an application to the NRF.
• Japanese-based Principal Investigator:
  • For Japanese applicants, the JST eligibility criteria apply as follows:
    • Any independent researcher personally affiliated with (and actively conducting research at) a domestic Japanese research institution, regardless of nationality, is eligible to apply.
    • 'Domestic Japanese research institution' refers to universities, independent administrative institutions, national/public testing and Research Institutions, specially authorized corporations, public-service corporations and enterprises, etc. that satisfy requirements predetermined by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).
    • The Japanese applicants must also complete a research ethics training program conducted by the research institute with which the PI is affiliated, and then declare the completion of the program to JST. If it would be very difficult for the Japanese PI to undertake a program provided by his or her own affiliated institute, they should contact JST. Please note that unless applicants complete a research ethics program, his/her application will be deemed ineligible.

Evaluation Criteria

• The fundamental principles governing the evaluation of project proposals are:
  • Transparency. The process for reaching funding decisions will be clearly described and available to any interested party.
  • Equality of treatment. All proposals shall be treated alike, irrespective of where they originate from or the identity of the proposers.
  • Ethical considerations. Any proposal that contravenes fundamental ethical principles of a funding organisation may be excluded from being evaluated and selected at any time.

For more information, visit SICORP.

https://www.jst.go.jp/inter/english/program_e/announce_e/announce_aj-core_5th.html