WWF Nepal, in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announces the ALIGN Project Student Research Grant. This distinguished initiative is a vital component of our commitment to fortifying environmental conservation and sustainable development in the region.
Asia's Linear Infrastructure safeguarding Nature (ALIGN) is a visionary project, dedicated to enhancing the quality of natural resources safeguards and reducing adverse impacts caused by linear infrastructure development. WWF and the Center for Large Landscape Conservation join forces to make this mission a reality. The ALIGN Project Student Research Grant is designed to support master's degree students specializing in environmental science, forestry, wildlife, biodiversity conservation, and natural resource management. If you are currently in the research development and data collection phases of your studies in the enchanting landscapes of Nepal, we invite you to be part of this endeavor.
WWF Nepal, under the USAID-funded ALIGN Project, is actively seeking well-structured research proposals that align with our objectives and contribute to our ongoing work. This is a unique opportunity for emerging environmental leaders to advance their studies and contribute to the preservation of Nepal's natural resources and ecosystem resilience.
Eligible applicants are requested to submit an electronic copy of the proposal along with the institutional recommendation to shova.chhetri@wwfnepal.org by 5:00 pm, 20 November 2023 with “Student Research Grant” as the subject line and in accordance to the application format and guidelines. Queries can be directed to the email address above by 20 October 2023.
Geographic Area
The preferred geographic areas for field research encompass diverse regions throughout Nepal including protected areas, buffer zones, biological corridors, forests, watersheds, and water regimes having interface with existing, ongoing, and planned linear infrastructure (roads, railways, transmission lines, irrigation canals).
Broad Theme of Interest
Research topics must fall under one of the following themes (priority areas of research for this year’s awards are listed below) and the applicants should clearly select only one of the relevant topics and mention it in their proposal.
- Positive and adverse impacts from linear infrastructure development on selected biodiversity hot spots (forest, wetland, wildlife species, water sources, etc.) and communities, and approaches to mitigate adverse impacts and enhance positive impacts.
- Opportunities and challenges for the implementation of climate resilience and natural resource safeguard policies, standards, and instruments in Nepal.
- Complementarity and gaps between international and national safeguard standards and possible ways to harmonize them.
- Assessing implementation effectiveness of existing wildlife friendly infrastructure development policies.
- Effectiveness of existing infrastructures such as underpasses for wildlife crossings.
- Research and studies on capacity of government agencies, national and international financial institutions, private companies (consulting and contractors), academia, training institutions and civil society organizations to contribute to better management of natural resources by implementing high-quality natural resource safeguards for infrastructure development. Furthermore, the research endeavors to promote and facilitate the adoption of sustainable infrastructure development practices and the utilization of green financing options.
- Multistakeholder collaboration and coordination for promotion of Natural Resource safeguards in LI development.
- GESI issues in different phases of infrastructure development cycle and approaches to address them.
- Existing GESI policies and practices in infrastructure development.
Eligibility
To qualify for the Student Research Grant, applicants must be Nepalese citizens enrolled in master's programs for environment science, forestry, wildlife, biodiversity conservation and natural resource management disciplines at universities or colleges in Nepal and having research as a requirement for partial fulfillment of their academic degrees. In addition to demonstrating a genuine financial need, applicants should provide the details of any other funding sources they have applied or secured for their research. Fifty percent of the research grants (in numbers) will be awarded to deserving female candidates.
Application Procedure
Interested applicants are requested to submit the electronic copy of technical and financial proposal in the prescribed format (see Annex – I in the download section and with the prescribed number of pages to be considered for selection; failing this, proposals will not be short listed for selection.)
Timeline
The grant programs will support students in conducting research for their thesis work. The period of implementation of the research will be a maximum of one year. Within this period the entire research activity should be completed, and final reports should be submitted to the funding organization.
Submission Format
Document: MS Word format; Font: Georgia; Font size: 10 Line spacing: 1.5 point; Page margins: 1” on all four sides. Ensure spelling and grammar check
