Call for pre-proposals: Understanding the Energy-Health-Natural Disasters nexus in the urban context in Africa

The International Council for Science (ICSU), in partnership with the International Social Science Council (ISSC) and the Network of African Science Academies (NASAC), have issued a call for research pre-proposals. The call will provide as much as 90,000 Euros over a two-year period to 10 research projects working across Africa in "Understanding the Energy-Health -Natural Disasters nexus in the urban context in Africa."

The awards are part of the 5-year Leading Integrated Research for Agenda 2030 in Africa (LIRA2030) programme, which launched earlier this year. The programme seeks to spur collaboration among researchers working in different disciplines in Africa and to support the continent's next generation of scientists. The new awards focus on researchers seeking to generate solutions for building more sustainable and resilient cities. According to the announcement:

The goal of the call, the first launched as part of the LIRA2030 programme, is to better understand inter-relationships between energy systems, air pollution, health impacts and provision of health services, climate adaptation opportunities, land use and urban planning, and disaster risk reduction in the urban environment in Africa.

The partners will also select the authors of 35 pre-proposals to travel to Nairobi, Kenya, for a training event in October 2016. There, they will gain skills in conducting inter- and transdisciplinary research and build capacity in science communication.

The award is open to applicants with no more than "10 years work experience following their PhDs." Pre-proposals are due by 15 August.

To apply or learn more about this opportunity, including other key dates, see the announcement here.