Call for Applications: OWSD National Chapters events July-December 2022
May 26, 2022
The OWSD Secretariat is offering up to USD3,000 to OWSD active National Chapters to organize events in their countries that promote, support and make visible women’s participation in science and technology in the developing world.
Eligibility:
Each National Chapter can submit one proposal only, which can be for a single event (e.g. launch of the National Chapter) or more than one event (e.g. a webinar series).
In both cases (one or more events) the maximum amount that OWSD may grant is USD3,000 per National Chapter.
The event(s) must be held between 1 July 2022 and 31 December 2022.
[Do not worry if you are not able to propose anything at this time: a second call for applications for events to be held in 2023 will be launched later in 2022.]
The proposal should provide an outline of the planned event(s) – agenda, venue, participants, etc. - and an accompanying estimated budget.
In the evaluation of the proposals, priority will be given to proposals that:
- Promote, enhance and/or make visible the importance of female participation in science and technology, and have a demonstrably positive impact on women in science in their country and region.
- Demonstrate a commitment to innovative research and training. For example, in 2020 the OWSD Zimbabwe National Chapter collaborated with IBM to create an innovative scheme to inspire 25 OWSD members to attend courses from the IBM Digital Nation Africa programme, a cloud-based learning platform providing free skills in coding, artificial intelligence and data science. You can also be innovative and creative in the design of the event itself: are you tired of so many online meetings and events? How can you increase participation and interaction?
- Demonstrate involvement of other stakeholders besides the members of the National Chapters, such as grassroots organizations, universities, NGOs, OWSD fellows and awardees, scholars, local authorities, high-level ministers and/or dignitaries.
- Benefit from additional funding and in-kind contributions from other donors/partners
- Are submitted by National Chapters that did not receive funding from OWSD Secretariat in 2021-2022.
Application:
OWSD National Chapters must submit their proposal to owsd@owsd.net by completing and submitting:
N.B. Please note that without one of the above documents, the application will be deemed ineligible.
Deadline of the Call for applications: 24 June 2022, 17:00 Rome time.
Funding conditions:
The events may include a variety of different activities aimed at encouraging and supporting women scientists: outreach to schools and universities; organization of conferences, workshops and training opportunities; roundtable and panel discussions; networking events, NC launch ceremonies; among others.
NC could also organize a workshop for mid-career scientists: in this case, NC should get in touch with the OWSD Secretariat for suggestions on how to carry out this event.
The funds offered by OWSD can be used for one or more of the following expenses:
- Refreshments for participants
- Design and distribution of digital and/ or printed communications materials relevant to the event (e.g. flyers, banners, programme, etc.)
- Video/photo services
- Bus/train/plane tickets and accommodation for OWSD members coming from remote areas of the country
- Venue rental (if necessary)
- External speakers (if fee required)
- Organization of livestreaming of the event
- Rental of equipment (microphones, projector, etc.)
- Any other expenses (to be well proven and justified). If in doubt about the eligibility of expenses, please contact owsd@owsd.net
IMPORTANT:
- In order to disburse funds, OWSD Secretariat must sign a contract with the National Chapter’s host institute, which must be previously registered in the UNESCO system. As this is a lengthy process, if the host institute of your National Chapter is not yet registered, you are urged to submit the documentation for registration as soon as possible. This documentation has already been requested to all NC Chairs, but if you are uncertain about your NC’s registration status or the registration process, please contact owsd@owsd.net
- No payment should be made by the host institute before the contract with OWSD Secretariat has been signed. Funds disbursed prior to signature of the contract cannot be reimbursed.
- OWSD Secretariat will disburse funds to the host institute only after the event takes place. This means that usually the NC/ host institute will have to anticipate funds.
- OWSD Secretariat will disburse funds upon receipt of a narrative and a financial report of all expenses signed by the host institute (template will be provided) and a request for payment/invoice signed by the host institute. By signing and submitting these documents, the host institute confirms it carried out all necessary checks and verifications on the supporting documents provided for the costs incurred for and during the event.
- Funds will be transferred by OWSD Secretariat to the bank account of the host institute for the sole purposes of the activities/events described in the approved proposal. The reimbursement requested by the host institute, therefore, must be equal to or less than the total budget submitted with the application.
- No funds shall be retained by the host institute (not even for the administrative costs of handling the funds).
- Please note that due to OWSD office closure, payment requests submitted during August and December may be delayed.
Contact details
Please address any email enquiries to owsd@owsd.net.
[1] When counting an estimation of costs, we suggest rounding up amounts. In fact, there are almost always some last-minute unforeseen costs, which OWSD will not be able to reimburse, as it cannot pay more than the amount expressed in the contract. For this reason, OWSD suggests to round up amounts to the highest. If not needed, eventually OWSD will reimburse less than foreseen – but will not be able to pay more.
