Call for research projects France Ghana NKABOM.
Nkabom means ‘togetherness’ in Twi, one of the local languages of Ghana.
The NKABOM programme of the Embassy of France in Ghana therefore seeks to foster scientific cooperation between France and Ghana by launching a unilateral and simplified call for proposals to support scientific cooperation as a prelude to a Franco-Ghanaian Hubert Curien partnership.
It is funded by the Ministries of Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE) and Higher Education, Research and Innovation (MESRI).
- France and Ghana Research Grants – Types of Projects
- The objectives of this programme are to develop scientific and technological exchanges between laboratories of excellence of the two countries, promoting new partnerships and the participation of young researchers and doctoral students in these exchanges.
All fields of science are eligible for the programme.
However, priority will be given to projects in the following disciplines:
- Applied science: Energy and Renewable energy, Environment and Climate Change, Engineering sciences;
- Health Sciences, Agricultural Sciences, Biology and Biotechnology.
- Archaeology;
- Human and Social sciences;
France and Ghana Research Grants – Conditions for Eligibility of Research Teams
- The call is open to research laboratories affiliated to higher education institutions or research organizations in both France and Ghana.
- Projects that have already received support under this program are not eligible for a new application immediately after their completion.
- Each project must be led by two scientists, one in France, the other in Ghana.
They will be jointly in charge of the scientific, technical and administrative coordination of the project, as well as the drafting of scientific and financial reports.
The applications must be co-authored and submitted by the French and Ghanaian researchers – in English – to the Embassy of France in Ghana, which is responsible for the program.
- France and Ghana Research Grants – Project Evaluation Criteria
- Scientific quality of the project and the teams;
- Quality and competence of the French and foreign teams;
- Active participation and training of young researchers, in particular PhD or post-doctoral students;
- Interest of cooperation (relevance of the choice of partner, complementarity and balance of the cooperation, advantages for the French laboratory, cooperations of perpetuation of the partnership envisaged, bilateral, European and international perspectives);
- Prospects of structuring or developing the project. Collaborative projects with a notable open European perspective will be considered as priority.
- Gender criteria: an equal representation of males and females in research teams is highly recommended.
France and Ghana Research Grants – Composition of Scientific Committee
- Eligible projects will be subjected to separate scientific evaluation by each of the two parties. The authorities of both countries will then meet to compare the evaluations and jointly decide on the support that will be granted to the selected projects.
- For the French side, the Delegation for European and International Affairs (DAEI) of MESRI will ensure the scientific evaluation of the files.
- For the Ghanaian Side, the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) will coordinate the scientific evaluation of the applications in conjunction with the members of the Ghanaian evaluation committee.
France and Ghana Research Grants – Modalities of Operation
- The duration for the project is one year.
- Expenditures must be imperatively accounted for before 30th November of the year concerned and cannot be carried forward to the following year.
- It only covers the cost of support of travel expenses between the two countries of the researchers involved in the programme.