The Daily Bulletin

American Councils has formally launched the next round of Central Asia University Partnership Program grants cycle.

You are invited to participate in an informational session on Tuesday, November 9, at 1:00 p.m. to learn more about the Central Asia University Partnerships Program (UniCEN) in 2021–2022, including partnership grants and identifying a compatible Central Asian partner to apply. If you are not able to attend but would like American Councils to help identify a Central Asian partner, please register.

Register in advance for this meeting.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email.

Deadline for applications: Wednesday, November 24, 5:00 p.m.

Administered by the American Councils for International Education, UniCEN will select and award partnership grants to increase the quality and sustainability of university linkages between Central Asia and the United States to jointly address United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). The five priority SDGs for the UniCEN program are clean water and sanitation; affordable and clean energy; decent work and economic growth; responsible consumption and production; and climate action.

Partnership grants will meet one of the three key objectives of UniCEN:

1. Enhance teaching and learning capacities by modernizing curriculum and developing jointly taught courses in five priority UN SDGs at Central Asian universities.
2. Increase research capacities at Central Asian and U.S. universities in five priority UN SDGs through the creation of regional “knowledge hubs.”
3. Strengthen institutional capacity to support long-term partnerships between U.S. and Central Asian universities with economic-based outcomes.

Eligibility
U.S. faculty members and administrators from higher education institutions (universities and community colleges) are eligible to apply for partnership grants that deepen existing or establish new U.S.-Central Asian university partnerships. American Councils encourages the creation of “knowledge hubs” or consortia that involve multiple Central Asian universities. Partnership projects involving higher education institutions from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are especially encouraged.

Partnership grants will cover international and domestic travel, conference fees, materials, supplies, salary, honoraria, and other direct costs associated with carrying out partnership activity. While grants will be administered directly to U.S. HEIs to ensure proper financial and narrative reporting, funds may be transferred to Central Asian HEIs to support activities and incentivize partnerships.

American Councils will support matchmaking among interested institutions of higher education in Central Asia.

Awards
Ten partnership grants to accomplish project goals and objectives will be awarded. Selected finalists will be awarded a $24,000 project grant to cover salary or honoraria, international and domestic travel, conference fees, materials, supplies, and other allowable costs associated with carrying out partnership activity. All grants will be awarded to U.S. higher education institutions and administered by principal investigators working closely with Offices of Sponsored Research to ensure reporting and program compliance. U.S. higher education institutions may submit more than one proposal, but individual applicants are not encouraged to submit more than one application.

Applicants will be notified of selection by mid-December 2021, and selected grants will be expected to accept awards and begin project implementation in early January 2021. Partnership projects should be implemented through September 30, 2022.