A: Introduction

The Research Grants Adhoc Committee of Kyambogo University invites applications for the 3rd Research Grant Programme of 2019/2020. The main goal of the programme is to strengthen the research capacity of the University. The main objectives are, to:

  • boost research activities within Kyambogo University and increase the quality of research;
  • increase the quality and quantity of publications from KyU;
  • empower the academic staff to contribute to the online visibility of KyU research output and Uganda in general;
  • support innovativeness and identify patents;
  • increase capacity of academic staff to supervise KyU graduate students;
  • increase capacity for successful proposal grant writing.

The Research Grants Adhoc Committee calls for research proposals that should include the following areas:

  • Engineering
  • Education
  • Sciences (Biological, Physical, Chemistry, Nature, Environment, Statistics and Mathematics)
  • Arts and Humanities (including sexual violence in KyU)
  • Agriculture and other vocational fields
  • Special Needs and Rehabilitation
  • Management and Entrepreneurship.

B: Maximum Award               

The research grant is a one-time award, with financial support up to fifteen million Uganda Shillings for Arts and Humanities and up to thirty million Uganda Shillings for Science-based proposals. The approved funding amount shall be based on the specific research project following the selection criteria and a justified and itemised budget.

C: Eligibility   

Applicants shall be Full-time Academic staff members of Kyambogo University. The Principal Investigator (PI) shall be a PhD holder at the rank of Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor and Professor. Female academic full-time staff are encouraged to apply/participate in the research teams. Researchers at the rank of Senior Lecturer and above should work with lecturers and assistant lecturers (who should all be full-time staff) to build their capacity and to mentor them. Members of staff who are PhD students should not be diverted to participate in this competitive research. Similarly, all the successful applicants of the 1st   and 2nd Competitive Research grants Call are not eligible because they are implementing their projects. Part-time staff are not eligible. Researchers should participate in only one project.

Members of the Adhoc Committee, who decide to participate in the project, should resign from the committee before submitting their proposals.

D: Selection Criteria                   

Before the external review, all proposals will be checked whether they satisfy the stated requirements in the call. Then the Selection criteria below will be used by external senior academics in the respective fields to vet the shortlisted proposals and select those that are competitive. Research grants will be awarded to the best proposals written by the academic staff of Kyambogo University.

Proposals will be evaluated based on the selection criteria below to ensure that they are suitable and in line with the goals of Kyambogo University as follows:

  1. Title of the project (concise and summarises the project).
  2. Is the research problem clearly defined and stated? Does the problem address a clearly stated research gap supported by current literature?
  3. Is the project necessary i.e. clearly justified and related to Uganda’s development agenda, SDGs and Kyambogo University Research Agenda and Strategic plan?
  4. Are the objectives clearly linked to the research problem?
  5. Are the key methods proposed to be used able to achieve the objectives?
  6. Are the methods in line with the proposer’s field of study?
  7. Are the outputs of the research project feasible given the methods to be used and the time frame of the project? Are the outputs focusing on each objective?
  8. Is the proposed research project financially reasonable? Has each of the budget items been justified? The budget should not include contingency or unforeseen.
  9. Does the project specify the second year KyU Master’s degree student to be included? Please attach minutes of the department to confirm that the student was selected on merit and the selection process was transparent by indicating the student’s research title and how the student’s research is related to the main project, i.e. which objective of the main project is it focusing on?. Indicate the student’s registration number and attach the student’s admission letter). Include the student’s tuition fees in the budget, but not stipend.
  • Are plans for dissemination of this research/scholarly project in peer-reviewed publications clearly presented? Indicate three high impact journals likely to publish the Research output.
  • Does the project clearly show how gender issues and environmental impact will be handled, where applicable?
  • Is the project ethically sound?
  • Is multi-disciplinarity and/or inter-disciplinarity evident with identified roles?
  • Is the overall scholarship of the proposal evident (e.g. references with proper citation, presentation/flow/coherency, feasibility, contribution to knowledge, original, innovativeness, patent)? – Proposals shall be subjected to a plagiarism check.

E: Term of the competitive Grant

The call for competitive research grants has been uploaded on Kyambogo University website. The call will also be disseminated by email and print copies sent to all Departments and Faculties as well as pinning on the Main Notice Boards.

At the end of the selection process, the Competitive Research Grants Adhoc Committee will announce the successful applicants, who will be required to sign a contract with KyU. The University Accounting officer will then issue out funds to the successful applicants according to the University financial regulations. The research projects are expected to commence not later than two weeks after the formal award. Quarterly progress reports shall be submitted by the recipients to the Competitive Research Grants Adhoc Committee of Kyambogo University.  A final report, in addition to the outputs in Section F, shall also be submitted at the end of the project as per the approved project time frame.

F: Output

On completion, recipients are required to submit the following:

  • A presentation to disseminate the research findings during a one-day internal Research dissemination conference to be held at KyU;
  • A summary (about 500 words) of research findings suitable for publication on the KyU website.
  • The research article suitable for publication in a scholarly peer-reviewed high impact journal;
  • The published research article shall be archived in KyU Institutional Repository.
  • Completed dissertation by a Master’s student.

G: Contribution to the knowledge

The best proposals should be original and able to contribute new knowledge to one’s field of specialisation. All proposals will be subjected to a plagiarism check.

H: Application requirements

The research proposal shall be written in Times New Roman, Font 12 and single-spaced. Proposals should be between seven and ten pages long. The proposal shall be submitted by the PI in both print and electronic formats to dvcaa@kyu.ac.ug and copy to kakoozasarah@kyu.ac.ug. The proposal should consist of, but not limited to, the following sections: 

  1. Title P Include a precise research study title, name(s), department, Faculty/School of the applicant(s).
  2. Abstract. (Maximum of 250 words). A summary of the proposal, research gap based on current literature, problem to be addressed and implication At the end, please list five keywords.
  3. Proposal narrative.  Should be structured as follows:
  • Introduce the proposal, include the literature review to justify the proposed research, discuss the significance or rationale of the research proposal and the practical application to your field of specialisation and to Kyambogo University. (two pages)
  • Problem statement. Basing on current literature and identified research gap, state the problem to be addressed by your research (one page)
  • Objectives and research questions. Following the stated problem, indicate the objectives of the research project and the research questions to address the objectives. (one page)
  • Methodology Describe the way the research questions are going to be answered to meet the objectives of the project. The main focus should be on the research design, data collection method(s), sample/subject selection and size, instruments/protocols and data analysis and presentation. (Two pages)
  1. References. (Use APA citation style or consistently one style). (one page)
  2. Implementation plan. List the beginning and end dates when the proposed research and dissemination activities are going to be completed. (Not to exceed one page)
  3. Budget and Budget Justification. The justified item budget shall not exceed the limits indicated in Section B. Include a Grant chart.  Research expenses are intended to support the collection of data, analysis and associated costs. A detailed justification is needed per item to show how funds will be used to support each objective of the research project. (one page). The award does not support the following: project coordination, salaries or honoraria for research team members and technicians, dissemination seminars (we have planned for one), travel to conferences/seminars/workshops, newspaper articles/adverts, banners, laboratory coats, students’ stipend, vehicles, computers, printers, cameras, calculators, smartphones, recorders and other equipment, furniture, bank charges, contingency/ miscellaneous/ unforeseen.
  4. Curriculum Vitae (CV). Should include an abbreviated CV for each member of the research team. (Two pages)
  5. Publication Avenue and experience. Should include a list of

three high impact journals likely to publish the Research output. Should indicate previous research experience and publications (list completed non-award research works and publications with dates, URL or full citation in the past five years, i.e since 2014).

  1. Additional Materials. i) Application cover letter routed through the HoD or the Dean in case the applicant is an HoD; ii) Copies of the survey instruments (quantitative) or interview schedules/guide (qualitative) and other protocols that will be used in the research; iii) Minutes of the department to confirm the selection of a 2nd year Master’s student; iv) and others, please refer to the Selection criteria in Section D.

I: Support for potential applicants

      All eligible applicants should prepare draft proposals and attend a one day workshop that has been organised to guide them. Date of the workshop:   Tuesday 8th October 2019; Venue: NPT; Time: 9.30 am to 4:00 pm.

J: Submission details

As indicated in Section H, applications should be submitted in both print and electronic formats to the following emails:

dvcaa@kyu.ac.ug and copy to kakoozasarah@kyu.ac.ug.

A print copy should be submitted to the Office of the Vice-Chancellor, where it will be recorded and an acknowledgement made on submission.

Application Deadline: Friday 25th October 2019 before 5 pm.

K: Feedback

The Competitive Research Grants Adhoc Committee will make the final funding decisions after a rigorous blind peer review of the proposals. Successful applicants will be notified of the status of their submission after the review.

Download the Call from here (PDF)

Icon

3rd Call for Proposals, Competitive Research Grants 2019/2020

1 file(s) 0.00 KB
Download