Deadline: June 30, 2016

The AAU is pleased to announce the 2016 session of its Small Grants for Theses and Dissertations Programme. In line with the Association’s aim of promoting the core functions of higher education institutions, the Small Grants Programme aims to facilitate timely completion of post graduate research.

Grants

• Small grants research budgets are limited to USD3,500 for PhD students and USD2,000 for Masters students;
• Small grants budgets may not include indirect costs (e.g. accommodation, field trips outside the country where the research is being conducted.

Eligibility

• Applicants should be post graduate students enrolled in AAU member institutions that are in good standing on payment of their annual subscriptions. Post graduate students who are lecturers in AAU member institutions, and female candidates are especially encouraged to apply.
• Research topics should fall within any of the following broad themes:
  • Agriculture and Food Security;
  • Conflict, Peace and Security;
  • Environment and Climate;
  • Health;
  • Higher Education.

Review Process and Criteria

• The review of the applications takes approximately 2 months after the deadline date.
• Applications will be reviewed based on the following criteria:
  • Relevance (the extent to which the proposed research aligns with the selected theme and addresses African development issues);
  • Innovation (the extent to which the proposed activity suggests and explores creative and original approaches); and
  • Feasibility (whether the project is feasible in terms of the proposed methodology, work plan and budget)

• Award of grants will be based on merit – i.e. on the strength of the application
• Applicants will be notified on the status of their applications two months after the expiration of the deadline.

Application Process

• Applications should be submitted online.
• Applicants will be required to register and login afterwards, so they can access their applications and make necessary revisions until submission before the deadline.
• The form has been divided into four (4) sections. Applicants are required to save each section SEPARATELY by clicking on the “Apply Change” button at the bottom of the section.
• Information relating to Personal Data, Project Description and Project Details will also be required
• Under Project Details, applicants will have to paste the components of their proposals (research hypothesis, literature review, methodology, expected results, work plan and time table) in the appropriate spaces.
• Applicants will also be required to attach a letter of institutional support to the online application.

For more information, visit AAU Grants.