The Royal Astronomical Society- Office of Astronomy for Development ( RAS-OAD) mobility funding has the goal of establishing or nurturing research, educational and/or development-related collaborations between the United Kingdom (UK) and countries where astronomy research is not well established.
Scientists, engineers or educators (including graduate students) either based in the UK or who will travel to the UK or the EAS meeting in 2020 are eligible to apply.
Terms (Please read before applying for funding)
- The visit should be preceded with detailed communication with a well-established contact person in the destination country. This contact could be via a Regional Node of the OAD, or personal contact. In either case, the proposed visit should have a strategic rationale. The application process will be an iterative one, in which the OAD and the Regional Node (where applicable) will provide strategic guidance. Potential applicants should, therefore, contact the OAD early in the process (at least 8 weeks before the proposed travel).
- A plan for the visit should be drawn up and submitted in consultation with the OAD, bearing in mind that the bulk of the preparatory work should be done by the applicant. The online application form contains the details required for the plan.
- The plan should include a discussion of options for continued collaboration after the RAS-OAD supported the visit.
- For an expert visiting from the UK, the expert should interact closely with the hosting scientists/engineers/educators and their students, and should also deliver topical lectures and seminars that could be of broader interest at the host institution. Possible activities involving all three focus areas should be considered (i.e. areas of school-level education; public understanding of science; university-level education and research)
- For a visitor to the UK, a clear programme of wider participation in research, student supervision and public engagement should be presented.
- The duration of the visit should be a minimum of one week, but longer visits will be encouraged. Multiple visits to the same country will also be allowed, provided an application is made and approved for each visit.
- The cost of the visit will be shared by the RAS-OAD grant and the host institution. The grant will be provided primarily to cover the expenses for the visitor to travel to and from the host institution for the visit. The host institution will be required to cover local expenses and arrange accommodation for the visitor. In some special cases, where motivated, the grant may provide limited additional funds to supplement the provisions of the host institution.
- The maximum RAS-OAD grant contribution will generally be £1000. Additional support leveraged from other sources (agencies, foundations, etc) will also be acceptable and will be considered favourably in reviewing the applications.
- After the visit, the visitor and the host will be required to provide a report describing the activities of the visit, the impact on the research collaboration or project in general, specific outcomes, as well as recommendations regarding further actions.
- Selection will be based on the scientific and educational merits of the application and on the strategic impact of the visit to both the visitor and host.
Applications: Complete the online form or contact vanessa@astro4dev.org
Deadline for applications: 1 March 2020
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