FIG Foundation - Building a Sustainable Future

2019 Aubrey Barker Fund/FIG Foundation
Course Development Grant

OUTLINE

The Aubrey Barker Fund and the FIG Foundation are seeking applications for grants of up to 20,000 euro (spread over two years) with the objective of building the capacity of academic institutions teaching surveying in developing countries, and of providing support in teaching and developing their curriculum more effectively.

Grants will be awarded to individuals who are academic members of a department working with the full support of the department.  Applicants shall be based in a surveying/geomatics/land administration academic programme that teaches surveying (See FIG Definition of the Functions of the
Surveyor  http://www.fig.net/about/general/definition/index.asp) in a country listed by the World Bank as low income or lower-middle income (See World Bank Country & lending Groups http://data.worldbank.org/about/country-
classifications/country-and-lending-groups)

It is desirable that applicants are also able to demonstrate competence in undertaking and delivering research – e.g. through publication, qualification or professional practice.

Proposals should contain the following elements:

  • A demonstration of the local need and how the project would benefit the community.
  • The competency and quality of the proposing institution and staff involved, including details of any accreditation obtained or being sought.
  • The type of education or training which is required including an outline syllabus and time scale.
  • Resources required.
  • Details of the personnel involved: these could be teaching staff or technical staff.
  • A timetable showing the steps for developing and establishing the project.
  • A demonstration of how the teaching/training will benefit the participants and students both during and in the period following the course.
  • A detailed breakdown of costs.
  • AA proposed means of monitoring and evaluating the impact of the programme development

It is anticipated that the proposals will be for funding to an individual, who is associated with a university (or similar), for a scheme for development and delivery of an area of the curriculum. This could be for the individual to travel for a training or university exchange (and then return and share this training). The proposal may include an element of collaboration with an institution not based in a low or lower-middle income country if that organisation will provide on-going support or additional funding or support an international expert visiting the grantholder’s institution . However, the project leader shall be the grantholder.

It is a requirement of the grant that a successful applicant will provide a written report at the end of the period covered by the grant, setting out how and by whom the teaching or training was delivered or undertaken, how it will be sustained in the host institution and how it can be transferred to other educational establishments. The outcomes including successes/failures and lessons learned should also be covered.

A timetable for payment of the funds will be negotiated after acceptance of the proposal and will be staged to meet needs and on demonstration of each step of the project.  The FIG Foundation may retain some of the funds in order to manage activities outside of the recipient country when appropriate.

There are two rounds to the competition. In the first round, applicants will provide the documents listed below. Upon evaluation, successful candidates fulfilling first round requirements will be provided details of information required for second round review.

Applications will be judged on the quality of the application including demonstration of need.

Applications are to be sent to fig.foundation@fig.net with “2019 Aubrey Barker Fund/FIG
Foundation Course Development Grant” shown in Subject Line. Applicants are not to contact Foundation members individually. Decisions are final. No correspondence will be entered into during or after the competition.


FIRST ROUND DOCUMENTATION

Deadline 1 October 2019.

Applicants should submit the following set of documents in English as a single file in PDF format:

  1.  A cover sheet showing the candidate’s personal details and those of his/her institution
  2. A 200 word abstract. This should be written in terms understandable to the lay person; similar to a press release and which the FIG Foundation/Aubrey Barker Fund could use as a press release in the event of a successful application.
  3. A one page proposal as per the template below (Section 1) on A4 size paper using 25 mm (1” margins).
    Note that the one page limit will be strictly enforced; material that extends beyond one page will be deleted.
  4. A list of peer reviewed journal publications (Section 2) over the last 6 years using the International
    Journal of GIS reference list format. See Notes for Authors on the IJGIS website.
  5. A list of funding obtained over the past 6 years, indicating which grants are peer reviewed or not (Section 3).
  6.  A list of highly qualified personnel whom the applicant has supervised over the last 6 years, Postdoctoral, PhD, Masters, senior undergraduate (Section 4).
  7. A description of research compliance, the research account and activity auditing structures and processes
    in their institution. (Section 5) For example, if a scientist spends money inappropriately, are there structures in place to refund the granting agency?
  8. A description of the structures and processes in their institution that pertain to research ethics, in particular ethics relating to research involving human subjects, if that is relevant to the grant
    application.(Section 6)
  9. A preliminary budget and a one page justification of the budget. Note that as a general rule, equipment will not be funded. Travel to FIG Conferences to present results may be included in the budget. Per diems
    for field work will not be funded, but reasonable actual costs of field work are refundable. (Section 7)


PROPOSAL TEMPLATE

Please note each section should start on a new page. The proposal should be written using Time New Roman 12 point font using the stipulated Section numbers and (where given) headings. Throughout use layman’s language; evaluators are unlikely to be familiar with jargon.

Section 1: The Project
This should be a maximum of one A4 page. Any additional pages will be deleted from the proposal.

PROJECT TITLE – new page - (maximum one-line Times New Roman 12 point capitals)

Objective:
State in a sentence or two the central objective of the research.

Educational Significance of the project:
Why is this project worth doing? What problem or situation does it address? What are the practical
applications of the project research? What does it contribute to the community?

Methodology and Methods:
Describe the way in which you will approach the work and how progress will be reviewed and methods adapted to respond to problems.

Key Contribution:
Describe the key contribution(s) of this project, both practical (i.e. to society at large) and theoretical.
 
References used in the proposal
This should be on a new page in IJGIS format.

Section 2:

Please supply a list of peer reviewed journal publications for which you were a listed author over the last
6 years using the International Journal of GIS reference list format. See Notes for Authors on the IJGIS
website.

Section 3:

Please supply a list of grant funding obtained by the applicant, or on which the applicant has worked as an investigator, over the past 6 years, indicating in each case whether the grant was peer reviewed or not.

Section 4:

Please supply a list of highly qualified personnel whom the applicant has supervised over the last 6 years, Postdoctoral, PhD, Masters.

Section 5:

Please supply a description of research compliance, the research account and activity auditing structures and processes in your institution. For example, if a scientist spends money inappropriately, are there structures in place to refund the granting agency?

Section 6:

Please supply a description of the structures and processes in your institution that pertain to research ethics, in particular ethics relating to research involving human subjects, if that is relevant to the grant application.

Section 7:

Please supply a preliminary budget (in UK pounds) and a one page justification of the budget. Note that as a general rule, equipment will not be funded. Travel to FIG Conferences to present results may be included in the budget. Per diems for field work will not be funded, but reasonable actual costs of field work are refundable.


Sources of Useful Information for Writing a Proper Grant Proposal:

A simple internet search on how to write a good NSERC or SSHRC proposal should yield a number of useful articles. Here are some suggestions:

www2.viu.ca/research/ResourcesForFaculty/TipsGuidelinesforWritingGrantApplications.asp

Send your proposal by email to: fig.foundation@fig.net

or by post:

The FIG Foundation c/o FIG
Kalvebod Brygge 31-33
DK-1780 Copenhagen V
DENMARK
Tel. + 45 3886 1081
Fax + 45 3886 0252
E-mail: fig.foundation@fig.net