National Research Foundation - Managements of Collaborative Grants - NEW Covid 19 Africa Rapid Research Fund National Research Foundation - Hantering av forskningsmedel National Research Foundation (NRF) Sydafrika har hos Sida ansökt om 15,1 miljoner SEK för att administrera finansiering av och tillhandahålla kapacitetsstärkande och nätverksbildande aktiviteter för afrikanska forskare som beviljats anslag inom ramen för 2018 års Belmont Forum Collaborative Research Action (CRA) utlysning "Transdiciplinary Research for Ocean Sustainablity" under perioden 2020-02-01 till 2023-06-30. Av ovannämnda beloppet kommer ca. 11,6 miljoner SEK att vidarebefordras till sex afrikanska forskare som deltar i fyra transnationella forskningskonsortier som har ansökt om Sidafinansiering och beviljades anslag i utlysningen efter expertgranskning.

Syftet med partnerskapet mellan Sida, NRF och Belmont Forum är att stödja och öka deltagandet av forskare i låginkomstländer i Afrika söder om Sahara och andra länder i området där Sverige har bilateralt utvecklingssamarbete i transnationella forskningsprojekt som ska generara kunskap för att förstå, förebygga och begränsa globala miljö- och klimatförändringar och anpassa samhällen till sådana förändringar. Belmont Forum är ett partnerskap mellan ett antal internationella forskningsfinansiärer, forskningsråd och regionala konsortium som har utvecklat CRA instrumentet för öppna utlysningar. Sida kommer att samarbeta med NRF för att administrera finansieringen av partners från ovannämnda afrikanska länder som har fått forskningsanslag beviljade i Belmont Forum CRA utlysningar.

2018 lanserade Belmont Forum, i samarbete med Future Earth och Joint Programming Initiative Healthy and Productive Seas and Oceans (JPI Oceans), CRA utlysningen "Transdisciplinary Research for Ocean Sustainability" med syftet att föra samman forskare och annan expertis från hela världen för att hitta innovativa lösningar för ett uthålligt användande av havsresurser och anpassning till havsrelaterade klimat- och miljöförändringar. I utlysningen samlades 16 forskningsfinansiärer från 14 länder för att finansiera transnationella forskningsprojekt. Finansiering tilldelades 13 projekt med totalt 14,3 miljoner Euro (ca. 149,4 miljoner SEK); Sidas bidrag på 1,1 miljoner euro (ca. 11,4 miljoner SEK) motsvarar 7,4% av den totala finansieringen.

Tidigare erfarenheter från att stödja forskning genom Belmont Forum visar att CRA utlysnignar är baserade på etablerade och tillförlitliga utlysnings- och granskningsförfaranden, att utlysningarnas innehåll är mycket relevant för hållbar utveckling och att finansierade projekt har en stor påverkanspotential. The National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa has applied to Sida for funding of 15.1 million SEK to provide grant management services plus additional capacity building and networking activties for African grantees funded in the frame of the 2018 Belmont Forum Collaborative Research Action (CRA) call  "Transdiciplinary Research for Ocean Sustainablity" during the period 2020-02-01 until 2023-06-30. Of the 15.1 million SEK, approx. 11.6 million SEK will be forwarded to six African researchers participating in four transnational research consortia that have applied for Sida funding and were granted funding after expert review.

The purpose of the proposed partnership between Sida, the NRF and Belmont Forum is to facilitate participation of researchers from low-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa and other sub-Saharan countries where Sweden has bilateral development cooperation in transnational research projects addressing challenges related to understanding, mitigating, and adapting to global environmental change. Belmont Forum is a partnership of funding organizations, research councils and regional consortia working with open CRA calls. Sida will partner with the NRF for administration and management of funding to African research partners selected through Belmont Forum CRA calls. 

In 2018, Belmont Forum, in collaboration with Future Earth and the Joint Programming Initiative Healthy and Productive Seas and Oceans (JPI Oceans), launched the CRA call for proposals on "Transdisciplinary Research for Ocean Sustainability" with the aim to bring together researchers and other expertise across the globe to find innovative solutions in order to accelerate sustainable use of oceans and minimize the effects from global change. In this call, 16 funding organizations from 14 countries went together to fund transnational research projects. Funding was allocated to 13 projects with a total sum of 14.3 million Euro (approx. 149.4 million SEK) with Sida's contribution of 1.1 millio Euro (approx. 11.4 million SEK) representing approx. 7.4% of the total funding.

Previous experience from supporting research through the Belmont Forum framework shows that Belmont Forum CRAs follow a well-established robust call and review process, research themes are highly relevant to sustainable development and funded projects have a great potential for impact. The overall objectives of the intervention are to generate new knowledge, strengthen research capacity and promote transdisciplinary research to find solutions to global challenges.

We fund transdisciplinary research within the sustainability area through the Belmont Forum. This is done in the form of Collaborative Research Actions (CRAs) where we join forces with other funders to fund international research groups. These research groups should consist of researchers from at least three different countries where the researchers (in most cases) apply for funding from their own national research council.   

For the administration and management of funds to African research partners selected through Belmont Forum CRA calls, Sida partners with the National Research Foundation (NRF).

The agreement with NRF currently covers two different initiatives and the plan is to expand the collaboration as new calls are added to the portfolio. Currently this contribution covers a call on ocean sustainability through Belmont Forum and a call to support research related to the Covid-19 pandemic on the African continent. A call of Migration and Mobility is being added. 

The specific objectives of the Ocean Sustainability programme are:

to administer CRA grants in Somalia, Kenya, Mozambique and Madagascar;

to provide technical assistance to selected institutions to support the design, implementation and monitoring of innovative approaches and interventions for the CRA project;

to manage capacity building or networking activities to support effective delivery of the CRA programs;

to follow up on projects and reporting;

to document, process and develop a learning model capable of facilitating continuous learning, increased impact and sustainability of the funded CRA projects.



The specific objectives of the Covid-19 Africa Rapid Grant Fund are: 

to contribute to the African regional and continental response to the COVID-19 pandemic;

to support knowledge generation and translation to inform diagnostics, prevention and treatment of COVID-19 on the continent;

to Strengthen African regional and continental science engagement efforts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; and 

to leverage existing, strong multilateral collaborations in support of Africas consolidated response to the COVID-19 pandemic and attract new collaborations from international partners.