Duke Africa Initiative Faculty Opportunities

Each year, the Steering Committee of the Africa Initiative provides funding for small projects or working groups for the coming academic year. These grants have traditionally been in the range of $2,000 - $6,000 and are awarded to Duke faculty working in arts and humanities, environmental and life sciences,  physical sciences, engineering, social sciences, or multidisciplinary areas.

Call For Proposals 2022-2023

The Steering Committee of the Africa Initiative wishes to announce a call for applications to fund small projects or working groups in Spring 2023. We envision providing between $2,000 and $6,000 in funding for five to seven projects that meet the following criteria:

• We are interested in generating networks and synergies among scholars with common interests at Duke, and therefore we will only be funding projects that take place on Duke's campus, not those in Africa itself
• Projects should be collaborative and cross-disciplinary in nature, perhaps organized around a common theme (water, technology transfer, China-Africa) or as a way to develop new relationships across schools
• They may take the shape of a speaker series, a mini-conference, or a reading group, among other interdisciplinary/collaborative formats. If the proposal focuses on these areas, at least a portion of these activities should be open to all members of the Duke community
• All applications must be submitted by a Duke Faculty member, and all Duke Faculty are eligible to apply
• Special consideration will be given to those proposals that use a vertically integrated model that includes undergraduate and graduate students in the proposed project and/or working group

Disciplinary Categories: Arts & Humanities; Environmental & Life Sciences; Multidisciplinary; Physical Sciences & Engineering; Social Sciences

Applications should be no longer than 3 pages, and include the following:

• A description of the proposed activity
• The anticipated participants in this activity, especially noting its cross-disciplinary elements
• Outcomes from the activity, and the potential next steps for further development, including potential for further funding
• Please attach a short (1-page) CV of the lead faculty member

Funding requests should be sent to  Rohini Thakkar (rohini.thakkar@duke.edu) by November 1, 2022.