Funding-Limited
Submission - U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) - Higher
Education Solutions Network; March 9,
2012
The intent of this
program is to harness the knowledge, research, and creativity found on higher
education campuses to further increase the effectiveness and efficiency of
USAID’s development programs while reducing the costs over
time.
By leveraging the
capacity and knowledge of universities and research institutions, USAID seeks to
broaden the capacity of development institutions more broadly, including USAID,
developing countries, and other donor organizations. In this way, academic
institutions involved in the partnership will serve as virtual centers of
knowledge that will help USAID and the larger development community better
understand problems, and evaluate and develop new solutions to development
challenges. Partnering institutions will foster innovations in science and
technology, and engage and inspire a new and broader community of scholars and
students involved in the complex issues of international development planning,
execution, and assessment. Specifically, through the resultant cooperative
agreement(s), the academic community will support USAID and other development
organizations to improve their analytical capabilities in understanding
development challenges and core barriers to addressing them; catalogue solutions
to different challenges; catalyze and bring forward novel approaches to
addressing development problems; and encourage the development and application
of new tools within science, technology, and engineering to improve the efficacy
and decrease cost of development interventions.
USAID will fund two
types of Centers – Consortium Centers and Single Institution
Centers – that will further
knowledge of development and innovation, and engage with a broad range of
actors.
Activities pursuant
to this RFA will have an implementation period of five years from the date of
award. USAID anticipates funding Consortium Centers at between $4-5 million per
year and Single Institution Centers at between $1-2 million per year over a five
year period.
Applicants are
required to contribute cost sharing from own, private,
or local sources for the implementation of this program. There is no minimum or
maximum amount of cost-sharing, but some amount must be provided. The more
in-kind and/or cash contributions from non-U.S. government sources included in
the application, the more competitive an applicant will be.
The application
process is a two-stage process consisting of (1) a Concept Note
and, if initial review by USAID indicates the Concept Note merits further
consideration, (2) a Full Application. Only applicants who have submitted
a Concept Note will be eligible to submit a Full Application, if requested.
Further information
can be found at:
An institution may
submit no more than three (3) applications as the lead. Each applicant
institution is restricted to two (2) “Institution Center” applications
and one (1) “Consortium Center” application. Institutions are free to
serve as collaborating partners (but not the lead) in
as many applications as they feel is appropriate and can be programmatically
justified.
Because USAID allows
an organization to submit only two “Institution Center” proposals as the lead
applicant and only one “Consortium Center” proposal as the lead applicant,
the
University of Kentucky has established an internal selection process.
Individuals interested in submitting to this program are to submit the
following materials electronically to the Office of the Vice President for
Research at vpr@email.uky.edu
and a copy to their Associate Dean for Research by Friday, March 9,
2012:
·
Names and departments
of UK Project Director and key personnel
·
Specify the type of
center that will be established - Institution Center or Consortium
Center
·
Project overview (1-2
pages) – brief project description describing the challenges that will be
addressed , the program’s estimated value, and the performance
period
·
A budget that
includes the cost sharing match and potential sources of funding for that match.
Note: Because of ongoing commitments, the Office of the Vice President
for Research is unable to provide matching funds.
A committee will be
appointed to review the information and make recommendations. The USAID deadline
for submitting the required concept note (Stage 1 of the RFA) is March
22, 2012, and the USAID deadline for submitting a full application, if requested
(Stage 2 of the RFA), is July 17, 2012. Questions about the submission process
may be sent to Ms. Annette Evans in the Office of the Vice President for
Research (alevan4@email.uky.edu
or 257-1663).