Deadline: 31 May 2015
The African Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO/AFRO) and the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) are currently inviting applications from African researchers, NGOs and health workers for its Joint AFRO/TDR Small Grants Scheme (SGS) for implementation research in infectious diseases of poverty.
Focus Area: WHO African Region
Funds: Up to US$ 15 000 per grant
Study duration: One year
Research priorities
- To foster research on infectious diseases of poverty that leads to health improvement, strengthens research capacity of the individuals and institutions in developing countries, and develops implementation strategies and solutions that respond to health needs of these countries. Also aims at translating research results into policy and practice.
- Proposals should include the collection of evidence on best approaches to service availability, functionality and readiness assessments of health systems for outbreaks of infectious and neglected tropical diseases, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable populations.
- The programme aims in conducting a system diagnosis to identify key bottlenecks across each of the health system building blocks is one of the major priorities for the African Region. This grant supports implementation research for infectious diseases of poverty in the context of health systems strengthening.
Eligibility Criteria
- Health care workers and researchers in WHO African region are eligible to apply for this grant. It can include African institutions in national tropical/communicable disease control programmes embedded within ministries of health, academic institutions, research institutes; and non-governmental organizations (including professional societies and civil service organizations involved in tropical disease research activities).
- Qualified young researchers, female researchers and under-represented countries are strongly encouraged to apply.
Selection process
- Proposals will be selected on a competitive basis by external reviewers and WHO staff in the WHO African Region (AFRO) and TDR. Scoring is based on scientific merit and the public health impact of the project.
- Funding will depend on obtaining ethical approval for the proposed research from relevant research ethics committees in AFRO and the target country. AFRO staff, in collaboration with international experts, may assist the principal investigators in finalizing their protocols (if required).
- The principal investigators of selected proposals from different countries will be invited to a workshop where one protocol will be agreed to be used by all to collect and analyze the data.
- Principal investigators must submit a report to AFRO at the end of the project ̶ sharing of results is encouraged. A joint publication of the findings from different countries is expected. In addition, investigators could also publish results of their study separately and data are required to follow the WHO open-access policy, and should clearly refer to the Joint AFRO/TDR Small Grants Scheme support indicating grant number.
How to Apply?
- The completed application form should be signed by all investigators and submitted by e-mail. Document needed to attach are-
- Curriculum vitae of the principal investigator (PI) (not exceeding one page) which should clearly indicate the PI’s affiliation and complete address (including telephone number and e-mail), as well as affiliated institution(s). The costing of the project must be included and expressed in US dollars.
- Both the proposal and PI information can be submitted in English, French or Portuguese.
- All documents (proposal, ethical approval, budget, CV) must be combined into one file in PDF.
For more information, please visit WHO Africa.
