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NEF Commemorative Grant Fund for Capacity Building of Young Scientists (CGF)

The Nagao Natural Environment Foundation (NEF) has launched the NEF Commemorative Grant Fund for Capacity Building of Young Scientists (CGF) Programme, for a 10-year period up to 2025, aiming at capacity building of young scientists in developing countries of the Asia-Pacific region; both of the CGF Programme and the ongoing Research Grant Programme (under the NEF Research Grant Scheme) will be simultaneously progressed.

The CGF Programme is directed towards helping young scientists in this region grow up as world-class scientists in the areas of, or related to, conservation of wildlife and ecosystem in their own country or in the Asia-Pacific region. In this programme, research projects with high priority include fieldwork-based studies which are scientifically outstanding and socioculturally sound. Each project should be implemented by a project scientist (PS) from Asia-Pacific developing countries, with adequate support of, and collaboration with, a project coordinator (PC), who has excellent scientific achievements and intends to take responsibilities for the research project.

CGF Projects awarded (PDF 111KB)

Programme framework

1. Target countries

The target countries in the Asia-Pacific region include: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Kiribati, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federal of), Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Vietnam.

 

2. Eligibility to Project Scientist (PS)

The Project Scientist (PS) must:

  1. be a national of one of the above-mentioned countries, less than 40 years old,
  2. be a researcher, who works or studies full-time in a university or research institution in one of the above-mentioned countries, under any of the following three situations:
    • having a PhD or Doctor’s degree,
    • being/to be enrolled in a doctor (PhD) course of the university/research institution, or
    • having at least 3 years of research work experience and sound record of scholarly publications, AND
  3. be not a recipient of on-going research or publication project of the NEF nor an applicant of any other grant of the NEF, at the time of application.

 

3. Requested conditions and roles of Project Coordinator (PC)

The Project Coordinator (PC) is requested to have: (1) teach and/or work experience in a Japanese university or research institution as a scientist, as a general rule, (2) experience of education to, or work with, the PS, and (3) intention of supporting and collaborating with the PS throughout the project proposed, while keeping intimate contact with not only the PS but also the CGF Management Committee (MC) and the Secretariat of the NEF.

 

4. Requested conditions for the project

The research project must:

  1. be planned by the PS with advice/support of the PC, and be implemented by the PS as the principal investigator, in a field survey as well,
  2. be a fieldwork-based study in the area within the country of the PS (including the country where the PS currently works or studies), and
  3. be approved by the head of department, to which the PS belongs; In cases that the PS is registered as a doctor course student or is admitted to a doctor (PhD) course, approval of his/her academic supervisor(s) in the university and mutual understanding for role-sharing between those supervisor(s) and the PC are also indispensable.

 

5. Eligible research fields

The research project is expected to contribute to nature conservation of the country where the PS lives, or currently works or studies, focusing on living organisms, especially wildlife and ecosystem, from such standpoints/foci as follows:

  • biology, especially ecology, taxonomy, and distribution and current status of wildlife,
  • biodiversity (i.e., species diversity, genetic diversity, and ecosystem diversity),
  • threatened species, alien species, and restoration of ecosystem, and/or
  • relationships between nature and humans (e.g., ecosystem services and sustainable use of biological resources).

Notes: Examples of declined research proposals:

  • be focussed on development of agricultural, forestry, and/or fisheries industries,
  • be difficult in handling by an individual researcher but by a large group of researchers,
  • be funded by other organisations, and
  • be already completed in the major part of the study.

 

6. Duration of research funded

Basically, two years, although, for the cases that the PS is a doctor course student, the funded duration may be extended to the minimum years needed for conferment of doctor degree from the university/college where he/she is enrolled.

 

7. Amount of a grant

The maximum grant size is 1,500,000 Japanese yen per project, while additional budget for the PC is available for his/her expenses of travel to the study site of the PS.

The total annual budget for the CGF Programme amounts to 20,000,000 Japanese yen.

 

8. Eligible and ineligible expenses

8.1 Eligible expenses

  • travel expenses for field work (e.g., transportation, accommodation, and food),
  • expendables necessary to field survey and analyses (e.g., sampling gear and reagent),
  • minimum wages and labour costs necessary to the study, except for a routine work,
  • reference materials (e.g., article and book), if specifically needed,
  • costs for public awareness activities, if specifically needed for the research goal, and
  • travel expenses of the PC (e.g., transportation, accommodation, and food) to visit the study site of the PS; The amounts of this item should exclude from the budget of “CGF Application Form for Project Scientist” prepared by the PS BUT registered in the budget of the “CGF Form for Project Coordinator”.

8.2 Ineligible expenses

  • personal expenses for the PS nor the PC,
  • versatile equipment (e.g., personal computer, microscope, GPS, and digital camera),
  • administrative expenses and overheads of institution where the PS or PC works,
  • travel expenses for abroad to visit science museums/institutions, and
  • participation costs and travel expenses for academic workshops/meetings.

 

How to apply

9. Preparation and deadlines

9.1 Download the documents

9.2 What to prepare

The PS is requested to fill in all items of the “CGF Application Form for Project Scientist”, consulting carefully with the instructions shown in the form with blue ink, in cooperation with the PC. The PC is requested to fill in the “CGF Form for Project Coordinator,” and to send it to the PS.

9.3 Where to submit

The PS is requested to submit a set of completed forms, i.e., “CGF Application Form for PS” and “CGF Form for PC,” after transformation into PDF format, to the NEF Secretariat (cgf@nagaofoundation.or.jp) by e-mail.

9.4 Application deadlines

Application deadlines for this year are twice a year: 31 July 2022 and 31 January 2023.

 

10. Pass-or-fail judgement

The CGF Management Committee (MC), consisting of board members of the NEF and external experts, has all responsibilities about pass-or-fail decision of the applications, with support of the NEF Secretariat; there are possibilities that the MC inquires of the PC through the Secretariat about questionable points mentioned in the application form. The MC and the Secretariat also check budget plans; there are possibilities of reducing the amounts of budget requested, and, if so, the reasons for reduction will be informed.

The following factors are considered in the selection process:

  • relevance and importance to nature conservation,
  • originality and quality of the research,
  • feasibility of the research design/plan and schedule,
  • rationality and effectiveness of the budget,
  • the PS’s research skills and experience (including his/her publications), sufficient involvement in the proposed study,
  • the PC’s teach and/or research experience as the academic supervisor of PS, and
  • efficacy of cooperation between PS and PC.

 

11. Notification of results

The selection results will be announced by three months after the deadline of each occasion of application, by e-mail and/or a postal letter, to each PS and PC. Also, the title and the PS’s name of the selected projects will be announced in our website.

The NEF Secretariat informs each PS selected as the recipient and his/her PC of time schedule of communication with the Secretariat, remittance process and others for smooth procedure of the research project.

On the other hand, the Secretariat will reply to the PS or the PC if an inquiry about the reasons for fail judgement is sent to the Secretariat.

 

12. Subsequent procedure for recipient PS and PC

The recipient PS, with collaboration with the PC, is requested to send, at minimum, three reports to the Secretariat: a brief (about 1 page) report, within three months from the date of acceptance, describing the situation of fieldwork and other activities; a progress report (several pages), including financial report, by one month after the end of each one year; and a final report, including financial report, by six months after completion of the research project.

The PS and the PC are separately requested, as early as possible, to indicate the full name and details of the organisation to which remittance will be sent (including its address, telephone, fax, and e-mail), and to provide the number of bank account where the funds can be deposited. The first year’s budget of the approved fund will be transferred by the NEF Secretariat to PS and PC, while the remaining fund will be transferred after receipt and satisfactory review of the progress report.

 

13. Contact

  NEF Secretariat for CGF: cgf@nagaofoundation.or.jp

 

 

 

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