BCFN Foundation Young Earth Solutions YES! Grant Competition

The BCFN Foundation is a private non-profit apolitical institution, with the objective to produce valuable scientific content that can be used to inform and help people to make conscious choices every day about food and nutrition, health and sustainability.

Issues such as the irresponsible use of resources, food waste, and the prevalence of malnutrition need concrete interventions along the food chain. The BCFN Foundation supports the active role of young researchers, who can contribute to healthier food system.

The 2016 edition of the Young Earth Solutions YES! contest has just been launched. The YES! Research Grant Competition is open to PhD and postdoctoral researchers under 35, from any country and background. The first prize is a 20 000 € research grant, in favour of a one-year project to promote the environmental, economic and/or social sustainability of the agri-food system. Research proposals may be submitted by July 27th, 2016.

Finalists, who can participate as individuals or as a team, will be invited to present their project in front of a panel of experts at the Seventh International Forum on Food and Nutrition in Milan, at the Bocconi University, on November 30th and December 1st. On this occasion, the winner will be selected and awarded. For details regarding registration and application please visit BCFN.

All finalists become part of BCFN Alumni, global network to share resources and experiences, and continue the dialogue on these issues.

Grants for Communities Connecting Heritage Program

ECA-ECAPEC-16-047
FY 2016 Communities Connecting Heritage Program
US Department of State
Bureau Of Educational and Cultural Affairs

In support of U.S. Department of State foreign policy objectives, the FY 2016 Communities Connecting Heritage program is an international people-to-people exchange program that engages communities and empowers people through the exploration of cultural heritage issues. The program brings together U.S. and international communities, especially youth, women, ethnic minorities and other underserved groups, through collaborative exchange projects that focus on cultural heritage and may also include social issues, such as social inclusion, interfaith tolerance, women’s empowerment, and/or youth development. The program will include six to eight international exchange projects that develop and showcase new partnerships between U.S. and foreign cultural organizations and the communities they serve, while advancing cultural heritage through community outreach and public education. Communities Connecting Heritage is a new initiative. For more information, please see the full announcement.

CFP Creative Europe Refugee Integration

Call for proposals EACEA 12/2016 – “Support for refugee integration
Deadline: 28 April 2016

One of the main objectives of the Creative Europe programme is to foster, safeguard and promote European cultural and linguistic diversity. At a time when Europe is receiving an extraordinary number of refugees, supporting European Union Member States in tackling this situation is a key priority of the EU. In November 2015, the Education, Youth, Culture and Sports Council of Ministers have reaffirmed that intercultural dialogue through culture and the arts plays an important role to integrate refugees. Culture and cinema can bridge gaps and improve mutual understanding between the population of the host country and the refugees. In this context, the European Commission has revised its work programme for 2016 to include specific measures supporting the integration of refugees and encouraging mutual understanding between refugees and host populations in Europe. For the purposes of this call for proposals, the key protagonists will be creative and cultural operators.

The general objective of this call for proposals is to support cultural, audio-visual and cross-sectorial projects aiming at facilitating the integration of refugees in the European environment, enhancing mutual cultural understanding and fostering intercultural and inter-religious dialogue, tolerance and respect for other cultures. The specific objectives of this call are to establish transnational cultural and audiovisual projects that can:
• help refugees socialise and express themselves without necessarily speaking immediately the host country language.
• be learning platforms in a wider sense, fostering respect and understanding for diversity, intercultural and civic competencies, democratic values and citizenship.
• give EU citizens the opportunity to discover, learn from and understand the values and cultures of refugees and – in the process rediscover and enrich their own.
• support the showcasing and co-creation of cultural and/or audiovisual works across Europe.
• offer the possibility of collaboration with organisations in other sectors in order to stimulate a more comprehensive, rapid, effective and long-term response to this global challenge

The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of projects is estimated at EUR 1,6 million. Each grant will amount to between EUR 100.000 and EUR 200.000 representing maximum 80% of the eligible budget. The remaining amount of at least 20% of eligible costs must be secured by the applicants (partnership). The Agency expects to fund around 8 to 12 projects. The Agency reserves the right not to distribute all the funds available.

Grants for Conflict Mitigation and Reconciliation (USAID)

FY 2016 Conflict Mitigation and Reconciliation Programs and Activities (Global Reconciliation Fund)
Agency for International Development
Deadline: April 25, 2016
Amount: Upper $1,500,000USD, Lower $100,000USD

The United States Government, as represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance (DCHA), Office of Conflict Management and Mitigation (CMM), invites applications for funding from qualified entities to carry out activities that mitigate conflict and promote reconciliation by bringing together individuals of different ethnic, religious, or political backgrounds from areas of civil conflict and war in the following countries: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burundi, Colombia, Liberia, Macedonia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal (including cross-border programming with Guinea, Guinea Bissau, and The Gambia), Sri Lanka, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

see also:
US Aid People-to-People Peacebuilding

CFP WFI Student Grants for Social Justice

Call for proposals
Villanova University’s Waterhouse Family Institute for the Study of Communication and Society (WFI) is pleased to ANNOUNCE OUR NEW STUDENT GRANT PROGRAM for 2016/17, and OUR INAUGURAL CALL FOR PROPOSALS (DUE APRIL 22, 2016).

The WFI—endowed by Lawrence Waterhouse, Jr., and housed within Villanova University’s Department of Communication—was founded on the principle that students, scholars, activists, and practitioners of communication have an important role to play in the creation of a socially just world. In addition to our WFI Research Grant program, which supports the work of Communication scholars engaging questions of social justice, we are pleased to announce the creation of a program geared to undergraduate students interested in engaging Communication and social justice!

This program was inspired in the Summer of 2014 by a proposal designed and directed by three Villanova undergraduate alums (who, at the time, were ineligible for our existing faculty research grant program). Moved by the proposal, the WFI provided a grant of $12,660 to Lauren Colegrove, Andrew Balamaci, and Nashia Kamal to assist them in continuing to build on the relationships they had established through Villanova’s (WFI-funded) Social Justice Documentary Film Program. They proposed to teach journalism and reporting skills to the high school students at Heritage Academy in Essiam, Ghana, and, further, to help the school establish a newspaper for their students. Going even further, two of these remarkable young Communication activists are now working on a project in Bangladesh for Summer 2016!

So if you know of any students who are innovative, creative, and passionate about social justice—and who would be able to do great things if only they had the budget and opportunity—then please encourage them to submit a proposal to the new WFI Student Grant Program. Proposals are due no later than Friday, April 22, 2016.

Beginning in 2016-17, the WFI will award up to $10,000 to support an undergraduate student-driven project that demonstrates an innovative connection between communication and social justice.

These projects:
–       must center upon undergraduate (not graduate) students in Communication, although faculty may be involved as advisors and/or instructors of record;
–       must meaningfully connect Communication students to the creation of social justice;
–       must be primarily carried out during Fall 2016 and/or Spring 2017.

Although we do not limit our grants to a specific area of Communication, or particular kind of communication advocacy, all projects supported by the WFI have two things in common: they draw upon and engage topics central to the study and practice of Communication, and they specifically engage communication in terms of its impact on the world around us, its ability to create social change.

WFI Student Grants are available to project leaders who are full-time undergraduate students enrolled in good standing at any US institution of higher education. Awards will be no greater than $10,000 for the 2016-17 academic year. These funds may be applied to the acquisition of resources or equipment, technology, travel, event planning, and/or any other appropriate project related expenses. However, these funds may not be used to provide or supplement faculty or student salaries. Funds will be available beginning in July 2016, for use throughout the 2016-17 academic year; again proposals are due no later than April 22, 2016.

For more details on the WFI and this grant program—including specific information on the grant application requirements and proposal submission—please visit: http://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/artsci/communication/wfi/studentactivities.html

Questions concerning eligibility, or the nature of projects we support, please contact the Director of the WFI, Dr. Bryan Crable.

CFP Civic Education Homestay Small Grants (US DOS for Bosnia & Herzegovina)

Civic Education Homestay Small Grants Program
Department of State
U.S. Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina

This small grants competition will support projects designed explicitly to promote interaction and the development of tolerance between the ethnically, religiously, and geographically diverse communities of Bosnia and Herzegovina through home-stay exchange programs. In addition to the core exchange program activities, the proposals should include a component in which participants will stay in the homes of fellow participants from different ethnic or religious backgrounds, and engage both youth and their families in volunteer projects in both communities. Priority will be given to innovative programs that bring together youth (ages 12-24) from communities across ethnic, geographical, and administrative lines and engage large numbers of youth in community improvement activities in each host town. The deadline for submission of proposals is April 08, 2016. To receive application forms and/or more information, please contact DOS at SarajevoHomestayBiH@state.gov, by phone +387 33 704 285 or by fax: + 387 33 704 432.

Amount
Upper $15,000USD Lower $1USD
Up to $15,000 may be available.

Eligibility
Only non-profit organizations, educational and cultural institutions, and independent media that are based in and legally registered in Bosnia and Herzegovina are eligible to apply.

Countering Violent Extremism and Interfaith Programming in Tanzania Grant (US DOS)

Countering Violent Extremism and Interfaith Programming in Tanzania
US Department of State
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
DRLA-DRLAQM-16-055
Due: March 29, 2016

Project Description
The U.S. Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) announces an open competition for organizations interested in submitting applications for projects that mitigate religious tensions between communities in Tanzania.

DRL’s goal is to mitigate tensions between communities and address drivers of marginalization that exacerbate religious tensions and may contribute to conditions that could lead to violent extremism in Tanzania. Proposals should address and mitigate community tensions, religious or otherwise, and address the drivers of marginalization especially with regards to countering violent extremism. The program approach should seek a durable political process as a solution, including, but not limited to: (1) support at the civil society level including religious leaders and youth on ways to bring together diverse constituencies to promote messages of peace, coexistence, and (2) assisting the implementation of legislation that promotes tolerance and religious diversity.

Projects should have the potential to have an immediate impact leading to long-term sustainable reforms, and should have potential for continued funding beyond DRL resources. DRL prefers innovative and creative approaches rather than projects that simply duplicate or add to efforts by other entities. This does not exclude projects that clearly build off existing successful projects in a new and innovative way from consideration. DRL also strives to ensure its projects advance the rights and uphold the dignity of the most vulnerable or at-risk populations.

Activities that typically are not considered competitive include:
• The provision of large amounts of humanitarian assistance;
• English language instruction;
• Development of high-tech computer or communications software and/or hardware;
• Purely academic exchanges or fellowships;
• External exchanges or fellowships lasting longer than six months;
• Off-shore activities that are not clearly linked to in-country initiatives and impact or that do not relate to security concerns;
• Theoretical explorations of human rights or democracy issues, including projects aimed primarily at research and evaluation that do not incorporate training or capacity-building for local civil society;
• Micro-loans or similar small business development initiatives;
• Activities that go beyond an organization’s demonstrated competence, or fail to provide clear evidence of the ability of the applicant to achieve the stated impact;
• Initiatives directed towards a diaspora community rather than current residents of targeted countries.

The authority for this funding opportunity is found in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (FAA).

B. Federal Award Information
DRL anticipates having approximately $600,000 available to support successful applications submitted in response to this NOFO, subject to the availability of funding.

Applications should not request less than $300,000 and no more than $600,000. Applicants should include an anticipated start date between June 2016 – August 2016 and the period of performance should be between 18-24 months.

CFP Minerva Research Initiative Grants (US, DoD)

Just as the Cold War gave rise to new ideas and fields of study such as game theory and Kremlinology, the challenges facing the world today call for a broader conception and application of national power that goes beyond military capability. The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) is interested in receiving proposals for the Minerva Research Initiative, a university-led defense social science program seeking fundamental understanding of the social and cultural forces shaping U.S. strategic interests globally. The Minerva Research Initiative (Minerva) emphasizes questions of strategic importance to U.S. national security policy. It seeks to increase the Department’s intellectual capital in the social sciences and improve its ability to address future challenges and build bridges between the Department and the social science community. Minerva brings together universities and other research institutions around the world and supports multidisciplinary and cross-institutional projects addressing specific topic areas determined by the Department of Defense. The Minerva program aims to promote research in specific areas of social science and to promote a candid and constructive relationship between DoD and the social science academic community. The Minerva Research Initiative competition is for research related to the five (5) topics and associated subtopics listed below. Innovative white papers and proposals related to these research topics are highly encouraged. Detailed descriptions of the topics can be found in Section IX, “Specific Minerva Research Initiative Topics.” I. Identity, Influence, and Mobilization Culture, identity, and security Influence and mobilization for change II. Contributors to Societal Resilience and Change Governance and rule of law Migration and urbanization Populations and demographics Environment and natural resources Economics III. Power and Deterrence Global order Power projection and diffusion Beyond conventional deterrence Area studies IV. Analytical methods and metrics for security research V. Innovations in National Security, Conflict, and Cooperation Proposals will be considered both for single-investigator awards as well as larger teams. A team of university investigators may be warranted because the necessary expertise in addressing the multiple facets of the topics may reside in different universities, or in different departments of the same university. The research questions addressed should extend across a fairly broad range of linked issues where there is clear potential synergy among the contributions of the distinct disciplines represented on the team. Team proposals must name one Principal Investigator as the responsible technical point of contact. Similarly, one institution will be the primary recipient for the purpose of award execution. The relationship among participating institutions and their respective roles, as well as the apportionment of funds including sub-awards, if any, must be described in both the proposal text and the budget. The Minerva Research Initiative is a multi-service effort. Ultimately, however, funding decisions will be made by OSD personnel, with technical inputs from the Services.

Program Objectives
The Minerva Initiative is a Department of Defense (DoD)-sponsored, university-based social science research initiative launched by the Secretary of Defense in 2008 focusing on areas of strategic importance to U.S. national security policy.

The goal of the Minerva Initiative is to improve DoD’s basic understanding of the social, cultural, behavioral, and political forces that shape regions of the world of strategic importance to the U.S. The research program will:
• Leverage and focus the resources of the Nation’s top universities.
• Seek to define and develop foundational knowledge about sources of present and future conflict with an eye toward better understanding of the political trajectories of key regions of the world.
• Improve the ability of DoD to develop cutting-edge social science research, foreign area and interdisciplinary studies, that is developed and vetted by the best scholars in these fields.

The Minerva Initiative brings together universities, research institutions, and individual scholars and supports interdisciplinary and cross-institutional projects addressing specific topic areas determined by the Secretary of Defense.

University Research Grants
The Minerva Research Initiative primarily funds social science basic research by university-led research teams.

R-DEF: Research for Defense Education Faculty
The R-DEF Mission is to increase DoD social science expertise by investing in the defense experts who teach our future military and national security leaders at PME institutions and military service academies. R-DEF awards range from $1,000 to $80,000 to offer existing PME teaching faculty the resources and time (e.g., via course buyouts) to conduct scholarly research in topics of Minerva interest.

CFP Transatlantic Collaborative Digital Humanities Projects

Transatlantic program for collaborative work in the field of digital humanities – Call 2016
Deadline : 16 May 2016

The Fondation Maison des Science de l’Homme has published the third call of its grant program in digital humanities. Thanks to a generous grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, FMSH will co-finance transatlantic collaborative projects in the field of the digital humanities.

To strengthen its activity in the broad sphere of Digital Humanities, the FMSH seeks at present to implement a new international program of “digital philology”. To date, funded interactions in this area have been limited to exchanges within Europe. The purpose of this proposal is to create a formal organizational and funding structure for collaboration between the US and Europe in “digital literary studies”. For too long, Europe’s major projects in the digital humanities have been on a different track, as it were, from American projects. The present initiative is intended to help US and European researchers work together in an entirely new way in the field of digital literary studies, to share knowledge and methods, disseminate common practices and tools, and publicize their works.

The Program will support only research projects whose goal is to set up or to strengthen collaborations between US and European universities. It will co-finance up to 80% of the total cost of the research project per year.

Deadlines:
Applications due –  16 May 2016
Notification given – September 2016
Grant period commences – October 2016

Before submitting a proposal, potential applicants are encouraged to contact the FMSH.  Applications must be submitted electronically via the online application form

Moscow American Center Program Grant 2016 (Russia)

FY 2016 Moscow American Center Program Funding

The U.S. Embassy in Moscow (PAS Moscow) invites proposal submissions for a cooperative agreement to assist in providing administrative, technical and programmatic support for the American Center program. The American Center at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, is one of approximately 700 American Spaces supported by the Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP) of the U.S. Department of State. The American Center is a technology-forward, welcoming, and engaging environment where Embassy personnel, U.S. visitors, and implementing partners connect with Russians, especially young leaders and young professionals, to inspire dialogue on issues that matter most to U.S.-Russia relations. All applications must be submitted on or before Friday, January 29, 2016, 6 p.m. Moscow Time. Emails that show a time stamp produced by the Department of State system as having been received after 6 p.m. will be ineligible for consideration.

Sponsor: United States Department of State (DOS), U.S. Mission to Russia
Sponsor ID: DOSRUS-16-GR-002

Amount: Upper $350,000
One award is expected

Applicant type: Nonprofit