RUFORUM Community- Based Field Attachment Programme Award for Graduate students – (USD$4,000 grant) 2018

Application Deadline: November 30th 2017

The Community-Based Field Attachment Program Award (CFAPA) is a competitive grants program designed as graduate student placement in rural community to apply, scale-out and disseminate thesis research findings which can contribute to the increasing of the sustainability and resilience of small-scale agriculture, improving livelihoods and reducing rural poverty. The purpose is:

1. To provide an opportunity for the student to link academic work with the experience of rural community and engage in knowledge exchanges with local farmers;
2. To provide a local implementing agency (local government, rural institutions, farmers groups, NGOs etc) with the specialized knowledge of the student to scale out the research findings and promote new approaches for improving livelihoods and reducing rural poverty;
3. To provide the student with practical skills to apply research findings in development-related field projects, engage with local communities and generate innovative solutions.

Eligibility Requirements:

• RUFORUM will invite students to send their applications with project proposals.
• The placements will be selected based on the quality of their project proposals. Academic merits and relevant previous experiences will also be taken into account.
• The submitted project proposals have to be linked to one or more of these themes: Rural income-generation, Best practices for sustainable agriculture, Gender and Agri-entrepreneurship for rural youth for reducing rural poverty.
• All projects have to take place in rural communities, preferably where the student may have done the initial research for his/her thesis, and offer strategies and approaches to bring benefits at the community level. Provision of supervision should be included in the proposals.

What is expected from the Applicant?

1. The Call is open to all RUFORUM sponsored MSc and PhD students who have recently graduated, or who have submitted their thesis for examination
2. The attachment must be linked to one or more of four themes indicated above, and related to the dissemination, application and/or scaling out the research results carried out during the MSc and PhD studies,
3. The University, through the Dean, must provide a letter of support to the application
4. There must be proof of acceptance of the attachment by the host organisation or a representative of the local implementing agency
5. Evidence of demand for this attachment from the local rural community will be an added advantage

Requirements

Please refer to the Competitive Grants System (CGS) Grants Manual (Competitive Grants System (CGS) Grants Manual General Information and Guidelines), especially Appendix 1 for general information and guidelines. The key requirements are:

• Evidence of recent degree award or a letter from the Dean confirming that the thesis has been submitted and the student is awaiting the examination process.
• Completed an on-line Application Form that includes a summary of the applicant’s research work, a short motivation of why they should receive the award and an outline of what they propose to achieve during their attachment.

Benefits:

• There are ten awards available to MSc and PhD students who have recently graduated, or who have submitted their theses and are awaiting results.
• These grants are for a maximum of $4000 over a period of six months, and is meant to provide support for dissemination activities, materials, transport, and up keep during the attachment. For the preparation of submissions, all applicants should refer to the Competitive Grants Manual (Competitive Grants System (CGS) Grants Manual General Information and Guidelines).

TImeline:

1. Deadline for Proposal submission to RUFORUM Secretariat by 30th November 2017
2. Compliance Review finalized 3rd December 2017
3. Secretariat to compile proposals for review by Technical Committee by 10th December 2017
4. Technical Committee meeting to be held 14th December 2017
5. Results from the selection will be communicated to applicants by end of December 2017

Inquiries and more Information

For inquiries and more information email h.massa@ruforum.org copy p.nampala@ruforum.org andcgs@ruforum.org

For More Information:
Visit the Official Webpage of the RUFORUM Community- Based Field Attachment Programme Award