Dear CARTA Graduate,

To secure the future and foster the career growth of its high-achieving graduates, CARTA is opening a call for Research Re-entry Grants in August 2019. The grants are awarded on a competitive basis, in line with specific evaluation parameters, for a maximum of 12 months, in line with the CARTA Post Graduate Award Guidelines ”. The purpose of the re-entry grants is for CARTA PhD graduates returning to or remaining at their own institutions to undertake research.
 
CARTA is hereby inviting proposals from eligible CARTA graduates.

Eligibility
Applicants must be CARTA graduates and must demonstrate a strong commitment to research capacity building at their institution as well as potential for research leadership. Eligible CARTA graduates must have completed their PhD within 60 months of their CARTA PhD fellowship, will not be holding another post-doctoral award in January 2020, and have a clear accountability record with the CARTA Secretariat. Eligible candidates must be ready to take up the grant in January 2020.

What the grant will cover
The re-entry grant will be up to a maximum of USD 50,000 for a period of 12 months. The grant will cover research costs such as travel, payment of research assistants, purchase of reagents and relevant equipment for the research project, and funds related to the mentorship visits. A visit to a mentor in another institution and from the mentor to the PI’s home institution are mandatory elements for any application to be considered.

How to apply
The application form will be circulated with the call and will also be available with the focal person at each partner institution.
A pplicants must:
  1. Develop a research proposal, in line with the components in the application form.
  2. Develop a proposed work plan and budget for the developed research project.
  3. Identify mentors, both from their own institution and from another institution.
  4. Describe the mentorship and the appropriateness of the mentors, including the:
a)     Planned visit by the PI to the external mentor’s institution. This visit should take a minimum of 14 days.
b)     Planned visit from the external mentor to the PI’s institution. This visit should take a minimum of 5 working days.
  1. Describe the monitoring and evaluation framework for the research project.
  2. Clearly articulate the plan for dissemination of the research outputs of the grant, including through conference attendance and publications.
  3. Describe any plans to include other collaborators, including doctoral and masters level students and/or other CARTA fellows, in the proposed research project.
8.      Submit the following documents:
a)     A completed application form.
b)     An updated CV, showing publications and awards.
c)     Updated CVs of co-investigator(s), local mentor and external mentor.
d)    e-copies of your most significant publications over the last three years.
e)     Letters of support, from:
  • A senior academic who is willing to locally mentor the applicant.
  • The Head of Department or Dean, committing to support the fellow to carry out the research project.
  • An external mentor, not within the home institution, who the applicant plans to visit and vice versa.
 
Applicants will submit the above requirements to carta_fellowships@aphrc.org and copy the same to their focal person(s) .

Application timelines
  1. The deadline for submissions is September 15, 2019. An extended period of two weeks is granted ONLY for accompanying letters of support and CVs of mentors. Applicants submitting their proposal by September 15 MUST submit all supporting documents by October 1, 2020.
  2. The CARTA Secretariat will carry out the preliminary review of applications for completeness of applications and submit them for external review by October 8, 2019.
  3. External reviewers will review shortlisted applications between October 15, 2019 and November 15, 2019 and make recommendations for funding.
  4. The applications recommended for funding shall be approved for funding by the Board of Management by December 1, 2019.
  5. The CARTA Secretariat will communicate the funding decision by December 10, 2019.
  6. Successful applicants will be expected to take up their re-entry grants by January 1, 2020.
 
Expected deliverables and Outcomes
By the end of the research project, the PI must have:
  1. Prepared comprehensive quarterly and end of fellowship progress reports, including financial reports, outputs, acquired skills and achievements.
  2. Published at least two articles, of which one may be a systematic review, in a reputable journal.
  3. Made a poster/oral presentation of his/her work in an international conference.
  4. Demonstrated advanced research skills acquired during the fellowship.
  5. Built new networks and partnerships in his/her specialty.


Download the guidelines here and the application form here .