Research Grant Program from NEF

Description

1) Objective

The Research Grant Programme of the Nagao Natural Environment Foundation (NEF) financially supports academic and scientific research that will deepen knowledge of the nature conservation in developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region. With the aim of strengthening research capacity of young researchers in that region, grants are available only for individual researchers, but not for groups/teams, to enhance their skills, knowledge, and experience through their own research work.

Examples of the research fields supported in the past are: (1) ecology, taxonomy, distribution, and current status of wildlife; (2) biodiversity (e.g., species diversity, genetic diversity, ecosystem diversity); (3) wild flora and fauna; (4) gathering information on threatened species and for recovery of ecosystem; (5) relationships between nature and humans (e.g., mutual interference, sustainable use of natural resources); (6) economic valuation of natural environment; etc.

2) Eligibility

Nationals from the Asia-Pacific region are eligible. A proposed research project must: (1) be a scientific research contributing to the nature conservation of the country where the applicant currently works or studies; (2) put its main focus on living organisms; (3) be carried out in the country where the applicant currently works or studies; (4) involve fieldwork for collecting data; (5) be the applicant’s own research work (team work is ineligible.); (6) achieve its objective(s) and submit reports within one to two years as scheduled; and (7) be exclusively funded by the NEF Research Grant Programme, or co-funded with the applicant’s institution.

3) Location

The target countries in the Asia-Pacific region include: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Kiribati, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Vietnam.

4) Budget

The maximum grant size in this programme is 1,000,000 Japanese yen per project for a maximum duration of two years.

5) Application

Applicants are required to submit a completed application form and a recommendation letter. Only nationals from the Asia-Pacific region can apply. All documents need to be submitted to the NEF Secretariat by e-mail. All the documents must reach the NEF Secretariat before/by the deadline date. Notification is within 2-3 months. There are always two deadlines a year – one in April and one in October. All the documents must reach the NEF Secretariat before/by the deadline date for either April or October. Delayed submission of any required document will not be accepted.