Call for Proposals 2012: Research projects on Information Societies and Information & Communication Technology for Development

Posted by Unknown Thursday, September 29, 2011 0 comments
The SIRCA Programme establishes and brings together the endeavours of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC, Canada) and the Singapore Internet Research Centre (SiRC, Singapore) to identify future research leaders, particularly emerging researchers who are relatively new to ICTD/Information Society research and to facilitate their development through the support of research grants.

In the first instance, the Strengthening Information & Communication Technology for Development (ICTD) Research Capacity in Asia (SIRCA I) programme was initiated to build the social science research skills of emerging Asian scholars in the Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICTD) space. The programme was managed by the Singapore Internet Research Centre, based at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada.

Having successfully groomed and trained 15 junior researchers in the region over the past three years, with tangible results in the form of multiple academic publications and invitations to present at international conferences, the programme has gained significant traction among the academic community. In keeping with these continuous efforts to build capacity, the next phase, the Strengthening Information Society Research Capacity Alliance (SIRCA II) aims to improve the inter-disciplinary research skills of emerging scholars in the Global South.

Learning from the experience of building capacity in the ICTD field in Asia, SIRCA II will include researchers from Africa, Latin America as well as Asia, in order to address the very lack of scholars from developing regions.

The objectives of the program are to:

i. Build scientific and critical research skills and capacity among emerging researchers (PIs) in Africa, Latin America and Asia;
  • Create opportunities for collaboration between established international researchers (Collaborators) and grant recipients (Principal Investigators or PIs);
  • Provide spaces at a regional and international level for PIs to share experiences and knowledge in face-to-face settings;
  • Provide training to PIs on key information societies issues.
ii. Establish network connections between African, Latin American and Asian researchers; and

iii. Disseminate findings locally and internationally in order to strengthen the body of methodologically sound, inter-disciplinary and theoretically-based research.

The programme will be managed by the Singapore Internet Research Centre, based at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa, and the Instituto de Estudios Peruanos (Institute of Peruvian Studies – IEP), Peru. The SIRCA II Programme will be supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada.

Call for Proposals

Proposals for research projects on Information Societies and Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICTD) carried out in the Global South will be accepted.

Eligibility

You may apply for research funding as the Principal Investigator (PI) of the research project, only if you are:
  • An emerging scholar in the Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICTD) field of no more than 45 years old; if you are a PhD holder, then you are only eligible if you have no more than seven years of postgraduate teaching/research experience;
  • Affiliated with an academic, government, research or civil society institution, consortium or institution based in Africa, Latin America and Asia; funds will be disbursed to your organisation of employment and not directly to you;
  • To remain in the country or region of research throughout the grant period/research project.
NB: The PI is accountable for the project and is expected to be involved actively in it.

Applicants must register by 14 October via e-mail at sirca2@ntu.ed.sg prior to submitting a proposal application.

The email subject header should read ‘SIRCA II Registration’, and the body should include the following details:
  • Full name of principal investigator;
  • (Tentative) research Title (this can be changed at the time of filling in online application form);
  • Country of Research.
NB: Applicants should note examples of previously funded projects and check that their intended project does not duplicate one of those already funded in previous calls.

Details of the successful awards are available on the SIRCA website @ www.sirca.org.sg/current-projects.

Funding Information

Each selected grant recipient will be provided with:
  • Up to SGD$24 000 for a maximum period of support of 18 months to conduct a research project;
  • Least-cost travel and per diems covered to attend training workshop and final research dissemination conference;
  • One assigned senior-level collaborator to supervise and guide you through the research project.
Applicants are expected to provide a detailed research budget, indicating clearly their expected costs.

Research timeline

Applicants are expected to provide a detailed research timeline, indicating clearly their project milestones and completion times (in terms of months).

How to submit a proposal?

Applications will only be accepted through the online application form available at the SIRCA website. Required information includes:
  • Literature review;
  • Clearly articulated research question(s);
  • Potential impact/application;
  • Project beneficiaries: the individuals and groups that would benefit from the research;
  • Long and medium term sustainability (how the impact continues after the end of the project);
  • Research methodology (including elements of multidisciplinary);
  • Expected results;
  • Ethical procedure;
  • Dissemination plan for project results;
  • Risk management;
  • Project budget;
  • Implementation schedule (project timeline);
  • Qualifications of the Principal Investigators;
  • Past research project grant(s) applied and its status;
  • Three referees’ name and contact information, and two suitable senior collaborators for nomination although the final decisions on collaborator assignment will be made internally by the Grant Review Committee based on availability and matching of interests.
Key dates
  • Deadline for interest registration: 14 October 2011;
  • Deadline for proposal submission: 1 November 1 2011.
Form More Informations:
http://www.sirca.org.sg/

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