SIRCA-II seeks proposals for Research Projects on Information Societies and IC&T for development carried out in the Global South

The Strengthening Information Society Research Capacity Alliance (SIRCA II) is a research capacity building project that is managed by the Singapore Internet Research Centre at Nanyang Technological University, the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, and the Instituto de Estudios Peruanos at Peru. The SIRCA II Program has been started to support emerging researchers in the Global South (i.e. Africa, Asia, and Latin America). The program itself gets support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada.

SIRCA-II program currently invites proposals for research projects on Information Societies and Information & Communication Technology for Development carried out in the Global South. The project awards 15 research grants through a competitive selection process and provides the selected grantees with sustained training and mentorship throughout their research experience.

Program Objectives
-     Build scientific and critical research skills and capacity among emerging researchers (PIs) in Africa, Latin America and Asia;
->    Create opportunities for mentorship between established international researchers (Collaborators) and grant recipients (Principal Investogators or PIs);
->    Provide spaces at a regional and international level for PIs to share experiences and knowledge in face-to-face settings; and
->    Provide training to PIs on key information society’s issues.
-     Establish network connections between African, Latin American and Asian researchers; and
-     Disseminate findings locally and internationally in order to strengthen the body of methodologically sound, inter-disciplinary and theoretically-based research.

Eligibility
You may apply for research funding as the Principal Investigator (PI) of the research project, only if you are:
•        an emerging scholar in the Information & Communication Technology for Development field of no more than 45 years old; if you are a PhD holder, then you are only eligible if you have no more than seven years of post-graduate teaching/research experience;

•        affiliated with an academic, government, research or civil society institution, consortium or institution based in Africa, Latin America and Asia; and
•        to remain in the country or region of research throughout the grant period/research project;

Review Criteria
Proposals will be reviewed according to the following criteria:
•        Clarity of the proposal and the research question
•        Novelty, significance, and importance to the community
•        Adequacy of methodological rigor and theoretical contribution
•        Appropriateness of impact, sustainability and ethics
•        Quality of writing

Last date for registration is October 14, 2011.

Last date for submitting the proposals is November 1, 2011.
For more information and details, you can visit this link.