AGNES-BAYER Science Foundation Research Grant for Biodiversity                

                       Conservation & Sustainable Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa

1. BACKGROUND

With great pleasure, we present the “AGNES-BAYER Science Foundation Research Grant for Biodiversity Conservation & Sustainable Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa” Call for Applications. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH), Federal Republic of Germany, is collaborating with the BAYER Foundation to fund this project. The grant, which is intended to support PhD students who are junior researchers, intends to improve the scientific aptitude of young African scholars.

2. programmes

Doctorate students from sub-Saharan African nations can carry out exceptional research in biodiversity conservation and sustainable agriculture with the AGNES-BAYER Science Foundation Research Grant for Biodiversity Conservation & Sustainable Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The AGNES-BAYER Grant is intended to assist African doctoral candidates in carrying out activities related to their doctoral research, such as fieldwork, data collection, laboratory work, and other exceptional research projects in the fields of sustainable agriculture and biodiversity conservation. Junior researchers who meet the eligibility requirements must show how their work will advance the development of their sub-Saharan African home nations. The maximum grant amount for each successful application is EUR 7,000.

3.Eligibility And Application process

Young researchers who have published at least one scientific paper in a non-predatory journal are eligible to apply directly for this scholarship. Only applicants with excellent academic records and notable publications in international peer-reviewed journals included in SCOPUS or Web of Science (WoS) indexes will be taken into consideration by AGNES. It is mandatory for candidates to furnish the URL or SCOPUS link for every publication. The candidate ought to be employed in the fields of sustainable agriculture or biodiversity conservation. The candidate MUST be a national of a sub-Saharan African nation and must be formally registered for a PhD degree at a university or other postsecondary institution in that region. The originality of the idea and its relevance to the development of sub-Saharan African nations must be amply demonstrated by applicants.

4. Required Documents (Maximum size= 15Mb)

Complete applications MUST include the following:

a)A brief, original research proposal (no more than five pages, MUST be in English) from the junior scientist (application) that includes a timeline for accomplishing the project’s goals as well as a brief synopsis of the suggested work activities. Every proposal will be subjected to a plagiarism check.

b)  A standard CV of the applicant (use the AGNES template, MUST be in English). The AGNES CV template can be obtained from here: Download AGNES-BAYER 2024 CV Template.

c) Completed PhD work will not be accepted; only doctoral students currently enrolled in a sub-Saharan African university or tertiary institution are eligible to submit official proof of registration for the postgraduate degree.

d) A copy of the official transcripts from school, showing the grades earned during undergraduate and graduate studies. If your transcript is in a language other than English, kindly include the official English explanation of the grading method.

e) An electronic copy of the first page with the title, authors, and abstract should be included in the list of published articles in non-predatory journals, together with links (URLs) to each publication from SCOPUS or Web of Science.

f)  A detailed budget of the planned activities.

5. How To Submit your Application

To submit your application, you have to fill the online application form by clicking on the link below:

https://forms.gle/yKVkXff41Y1bhKFY7

6.Deadline for application

The deadline for online application submission is August 30, 2024, at 00.00 GMT. Applications that do not adhere to the specified rules or do not include the necessary paperwork will be immediately rejected. Applications that arrive late won’t be approved.

7.  Amount and Use of the Grant

The grant has a maximum budget of 7,000 euros. You cannot get a reimbursement for prior fieldwork activities with this one-time grant. Within two weeks after receiving the offer, the grantee and their supervisor are required to submit a signed contract and letter of acceptance to the AGNES Governing Board. Grantees and supervisors are expected to report to AGNES on the success and advancement of their PhD work, as evidenced by scientific publications, upon completion of the degree.

8.  Selection Meeting

The selection meeting will take place in October 2024 and only selected candidates will be informed. Research activities will begin no earlier than December 1, 2024 and no later than February 28, 2025.