Association Burkinabè de Fundraising

This sixth edition of the Small Grants Programme (SGP VI) aims to support early and mid/late career African researchers to undertake operational or implementation research aligned with the goals set out in the London Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases. SGP VI has two small grant funding streams:

• Small grants for young researchers
• Small grants for mid-career and/or senior researchers.

Objectives

Increase Africa's leadership, involvement and visibility in NTD operational research and implementation, including direct engagement with national NTD programmes;

• To contribute to improving the research capacity of an existing cadre of African researchers on NTDs and to strengthen African research institutions in the process by supporting locally sourced and African-led operational and implementation research on NTDs;
• Improve communication and South-South collaboration between researchers, policy makers and implementers, and community participation in research and programming;
• To provide young, aspiring researchers with the opportunity to gain experience not only in research, but also in grant writing and management;
• To complement a clearly defined aspect of ongoing research or to answer a new question related to ongoing research by mid-career/senior researchers;
• Encourage a model of North-South collaboration that fosters engagement between Southern researchers and their monitoring programmes, and improves local leadership and ownership of initiatives and activities.

Scope

• In order to be considered for funding, the proposed research must be informed by existing evidence and identified gaps. Proposals must demonstrate significant potential to inform or develop other research activities.
• The duration of the programme for this edition is 10 months . Applicants must therefore provide clear evidence of specific variables that will ensure the completion of projects within the 10-month programme timeframe. Applications should address the five NTDs of preventive chemotherapy (PC) (lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, soil-transmitted helminthiases, schistosomiasis and trachoma).

Eligible proposals may cover :

Implementation and/or operational research to improve the effectiveness of NTD programmes. This may include :

• Identify factors that impede the equitable delivery of the NTD programme interventions to vulnerable groups.
• Develop, test and scale up evidence-based, adaptive and context-specific practical solutions.
• Identify ways to improve the adoption, adaptation and uptake of existing evidence-based strategies and tools to achieve elimination and control objectives.
• Studies to develop or validate new and innovative diagnostic technologies to support MTN programme implementation and operational improvements.

Areas of intervention African small grants

This edition of the Small Grants Programme includes several new areas of intervention:

• Test new models for post-validation surveillance or integrated surveillance strategies for trachoma and lymphatic filariasis. As NTD programmes become more successful and reduce mass drug administration, the implementation of surveillance as part of programme monitoring and evaluation to ensure that programme objectives are maintained has become a priority.
• Development of scalable solutions for the integration of Morbidity Management and Disease Prevention (MMDP) services into the national health system.
• Develop and test cost-effective and scalable community-based strategies for vector collection and xenosurveillance in onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis hotspots.
• Testable solutions to improve equitable access to NTD interventions for vulnerable populations (e.g. nomads, groups in conflict areas, hard-to-reach areas, refugees, etc.)

Information on financing

• Maximum funding per grant: USD 30,000.

Types of grants (African small grants)

• Specific to applicants for young researchers' grants
  1. Must be an early career researcher, defined as a basic biomedical scientist, clinically qualified researcher or public health researcher, who has not previously competed successfully as a principal investigator for a major research grant (i.e. ≥ 200,000 USD).
  2. Must have at least a Master's degree or be actively enrolled in doctoral studies. Applicants with a PhD (e.g. PhD, DrPH, DSc) must have graduated within the last five years. Clinicians (e.g. MBChB, MBBS, MD, DVM) who have not completed a Master's degree must have specialist training (e.g. membership, fellowship) or be able to demonstrate relevant research training / experience.
  3. Must not currently hold positions above the level of lecturer / assistant professor or equivalent
  4. Must be able to provide written evidence of commitment to provide mentorship and supervision of a principal investigator with a track record and ongoing commitment to NTD research.
• Specific to mid-career/senior fellowship applicants
  1. Must be a mid-career/senior researcher, defined as a basic biomedical scientist, clinically qualified researcher or public health researcher, who has previously competed successfully as a principal investigator for a major research grant, but who is not more than 15 years away from his/her highest degree
  2. Must hold a PhD (e.g. PhD, DrPH, DSc). Clinicians (e.g. MBChB, MBBS, MD, DVM) who have not obtained a PhD must have undertaken specialist training (e.g. Fellowship) or be able to demonstrate relevant research-related training (e.g. MSc, MPhil) or experience
  3. Must hold a position not below the level of Senior Lecturer / Senior Scientific Officer or equivalent
  4. Must demonstrate a track record and ongoing commitment to NTD research
  5. Must demonstrate that the proposed project is a clearly defined aspect of ongoing research or is intended to answer a new question related to ongoing research.

Target group African small grants

This call for proposals is aimed at outstanding researchers - particularly junior researchers - and academics based in research institutes or universities in Africa. Applicants will need to demonstrate that the proposed research or activity is aligned with the interests of the country/programme and has a potential impact on institutional/individual capacity building. Small grants for junior and senior researchers at Masters or PhD level will provide grants ranging from USD 10,000 to USD 30,000. Applications are accepted in English, French and Portuguese. However, shortlisted applicants will be required to submit full proposals and supplementary materials in English in order to be eligible for the award.

Eligibility criteria African small grants

• Must be currently employed or enrolled as a student in an academic, health or research institution in Africa for the duration of the grant
• Must demonstrate a commitment to research related to NTDs and the skills and experience required to carry out the proposed work
• Must be able to provide evidence of research results, including publications and/or presentations at scientific conferences
• Applications are accepted from all African countries. They particularly encourage applications from the following countries that have not yet had a candidate: Algeria, Cabo Verde, Comoros, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Guinea, Lesotho, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles and Tunisia.
• They particularly encourage female researchers to apply.

For more information, please visit COR-NTD.