Opening date:  15 September 2021.  Webinar date: 09:00am 22 September. Closing date:  7 January 2022

https://parc.bristol.ac.uk/parc-partnerships-fund/ 

Total budget available:  £200,000  

Aim

Building on advances made in the UK research sector toward promoting greater equity in collaboration with global South partners, this funding aims to help embed a mode of partnerships that goes further in redressing the multiple layers of power imbalances often found in global North-Africa research. 

Scope 

The call is open to any Africa-led project that addresses any basic or applied aims prioritised by the African applicant, and that is conducted in collaboration with researchers at Bristol. Collaborations may build on existing Africa-University of Bristol partnerships. We are also encouraging applications from African scholars and institutions who do not yet have connections to the University. We will offer a brokerage facility to connect interested applicants with potential University of Bristol collaborators. 

Research areas may be empirical or theoretical, from any discipline, and related to local and/or national, sub-regional or continental, African Union aspirations for social progress. The collaborative research projects may be uni-, multi- or interdisciplinary and include non-academic stakeholders such as policymakers, civil society organisations or other local actors as appropriate. The collaboration will be designed to put into practice equitable partnership arrangements envisaged by the African applicant to redress key imbalances in global North-Africa research relations. Methodologies will be as suited to the pursuit of such a partnership mode as they are to the solving of the research problem. 

Eligibility 

The core team should consist of an African researcher, the principal investigator, based at an African HEI or research institution as lead and at least one Bristol researcher. 

Bristol researchers can be either an experienced researcher (e.g. over seven years post-PhD) or an early career researcher (e.g. postgraduate up to within 7 years post-PhD). We would expect their experience to be reflected in the role they take on within the project, e.g. co-investigator or named researcher. Where a Bristol early career researcher is participating, we would expect the application to detail what additional support they will receive from Bristol colleagues, commensurate with their prior experience.  

Funding and project duration 

The budget for this call is £200,000 and within this envelope we anticipate funding approximately 3-5 projects. Whilst no precise upper award limit is given, applications for a significant portion of the budget must make an outstanding value for money case. Bids for lower value awards are also very welcome. Projects are expected to last up to 12 months and commence in Spring 2022.  

Webinar  

A call launch webinar is planned for 09:00 on 22nd September.