2nd call for research proposals USAID-AUCA “Building the Future project”

September 6, 2017

2^nd call for research proposals

USAID-AUCA “Building the Future project”

University-based research capacity is a vital component not only in the supply of policy-related knowledge, but also potentially in the generation of demand for that knowledge. Whereas NGOs and other commercial and semi-commercial suppliers of policy relevant knowledge depend on the existence of a market for their products, universities have a key role to play in the generation of demand by virtue of their unique role in the education of decision-makers. As a consequence, the lack of a strong academic research base not only compromises the quality of university-based research. It also undermines Central Asia’s capacity to generate a critical mass of consumers who have a commitment to evidence-based policy.

Nowadays AUCA is mostly an undergraduate level teaching than a research based university. It implies the low visibility of faculty research activities and very small number of publications in worldwide renowned databases. There are only 17 publications of AUCA faculty/staff in Scopus/Elsevier database for the last five years. However, the successful participation of AUCA in Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Emerging Europe and Central Asia (EECA) ranking requires at least 100 publications in Scopus/Elsevier for the last five years. AUCA is already in the list of top QS EECA University Ranking, occupying the 106th place in 2015, the only university from Kyrgyzstan to be listed in this ranking. In order to improve its position in QS EECA ranking AUCA needs to intensify the publication activity of faculty members and that requires an increased finding of research projects within a coherent research development policy.

In order to produce the articles that could be published in high impact international reviews and, by this way, contribute to the international academic attractiveness and visibility of AUCA an additional funding to research projects have to be allocated.

The research projects will be funded by AUCA from USAID grant and realized mainly by faculty/researchers of AUCA. External experts could be involved in particular cases in order to strengthen the capacities of internal researchers. All research outputs realized within this funding will be published under the name of AUCA and USAID.

Research fields

The research projects will be conducted in following fields: sustainable development, energy, security, business, investment, democracy and rule of law.

Duration and cost

Duration of each research project is 6-9 months and budget for each research project should be from 5,000 USD to 10, 000 USD with maximum 6-7 projects per year.

Deadline

The call will be open from 1^st of September to 15th October each academic year (project period 2016-2019).

Eligibility Criteria

All AUCA full time faculty and researchers are eligible to apply to USAID research grant. Individual as well as group consisting of 2-6 AUCA researchers/faculty can apply to one research grant. Researchers and faculty of AUCA can take part maximum in two research projects at the same time.

Submission

Applications must be submitted to Research Office via email research@auca.kg following the announcement of the Call for Proposals, and must meet the following format requirements (fill in separate application and budget form Annex 1 and Annex 2) and send research proposal (Annex 3.)

Research Office announces a call for proposals during an academic year among faculty and researchers of AUCA. Research Office is responsible for collecting research proposals and spreads proposals to Expert Council members 7 days before discussion during EC meeting. A member of the EC within three days prior to the meeting of EC is entitled to make remarks.

Research Office organizes EC meeting in order to select faculty/researchers to carry out research. After discussions, EC members approves faculty/researchers’ project to be financed by vote. Decision is made by simple majority. Research Office informs faculty/researchers about the decision of EC via email or phone. Expert Council assesses and accepts /rejects the final outputs of research grants.

Outputs

The USAID “Building the Future” project’s research component must have four research outputs: research report, case study, policy brief and social and personal impact paper. At least one article must be published within one year in international journals and reviews. Authors are strongly expected and encouraged to publish in journals indexed in Scopus (Elsevier) or Web of Science data bases.

Research reports will be printed in form of journal and be spread via postal mails, emails, Internet resources to all academic community of Kyrgyzstan and abroad. Research report must be prepared in two languages – English, Russian. (Annex 4 Methodological guideline on writing research reports)
Case studies will be used during classes by faculty/researchers in order to improve quality of education at AUCA. Case studies also will serve as unique teaching material. Faculty/researchers having done research within USAID project will have to tell about their research methodologies, experiences to the students of AUCA in order to improve research capacity of AUCA students and young researchers. Maximum 3 pages (Annex 5 will be spread after nomination).
Policy briefs will be spread among Kyrgyz public organizations, researchers and students. All these research outputs will be published and posted in AUCA web sites (Research Office – CASI, TSPC web pages; PR Office web page, Academic Offices, etc.) in order to augment visibility of USAID Building the Future project. Maximum 2 pages (Annex 6 will be spread after selection). Policy Brief must be in two languages – English, Russian.
Social and personal impact paper (success story) - reflection paper on how USAID grant changed the life, helped you to achieve your goal, how your research project will change the society, help people in your society, what impact your research had? Maximum 2 pages (USAID document/requirements in Annex 7 will be spread after selection).

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