COBASE Project Development and Initiation Grants

Newly Restructured for 2000–2001 !

The Office for Central Europe and Eurasia of the National Research Council, the operating arm of the National Academies, offers grants to individual American specialists who plan to establish new research partnerships with their colleagues in Central/Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Newly Independent States (NIS). This program is designed primarily to prepare these new partnerships for competition in NSF programs.
 

Collaboration in Basic Science and Engineering (COBASE)

Project Development and Initiation Grants support American specialists who wish to host and/or visit their CEE or NIS colleagues in order to initiate research projects and prepare collaborative research proposals for submission to NSF. In contrast to previous program rules, U.S. applicants may now request support for up to two visits in either or both directions (i.e., either traveling to CEE/NIS or hosting a colleague from the region here in the U.S.), with the total combined duration of the visit(s) not to exceed eight weeks. Each individual visit proposed must be at least two weeks (10–14 days) in length. Grants will be in the range of $2,500 to $10,000.
 
Funding Source: U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)
 
Participating Countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan (traveling only), Belarus, Bosnia (hosting in U.S. only), Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia (see website for updated list of ineligible partner institutions), Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
 
Accepted Fields: Only fields funded by NSF are eligible, including archaeology and anthropology; astronomy; biochemistry, biophysics and genetics; biological sciences; chemistry; computer science; earth sciences; economics; engineering; environmental sciences; geography; history and philosophy of science; linguistics; mathematics; physics; political science; non-clinically oriented psychology; science and technology policy; and sociology. No proposals involving agricultural production; drug testing or development; research on the diagnosis, etiology or treatment of physical or mental diseases or disorders; or the use of animal models of human diseases or conditions will be accepted. Proposals outside the scope of the program will not be considered.
 
Eligibility: All applicants must: (1) be U.S. citizens or permanent residents; (2) be affiliated with U.S. universities or other non-profit research institutions; and (3) possess Ph.D. degrees or equivalent research experience. Foreign counterparts involved must possess CEE/NIS citizenship, be permanently employed at a CEE/NIS institution, and hold Ph.D. (kandidat) degrees or research training and experience equivalent to a doctoral degree. Employees of private companies and the U.S. Government generally are not supported under the COBASE program. As the program is designed to support new collaborative efforts, each set of partners may receive no more than one COBASE grant, and each individual may be involved in no more than two grants in a single four-year period. Scientists and engineers who hold a current NSF grant and are eligible for a NSF international supplement should not apply to this program. NSF's Eastern Europe Program staff (telephone 703-306-1703) can advise regarding applications for NSF international supplements.
 
Special Opportunities for Junior Investigators: American applicants who have received their doctoral degrees within the past six years will receive special consideration. The COBASE program allocates approximately 25 percent of its grants to researchers in this category in order to encourage beginning investigators to become involved in international collaboration.
 
Postmarking Deadlines: April 24, 2000, August 28, 2000, January 8, 2001
 
APPLICATION FORMS AND INSTRUCTIONS:
http://www.nationalacademies.org/oia
 
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Tel: 202-334-2644 Fax: 202-334-2614 Email: @email