5th Internal Research Call 2017-2018

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Calls for Research Grants

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Meru University of Science and Technology (MUST) is launching the 5th internal call for Research Proposals as part of its mandate. The proposed research work must be conducted in Kenya and must have an application and potential impact on the beneficiaries. Applications should articulate how the research output fit into the flagship projects stipulated in the Kenya Vision 2030 or pegged to specific United Nations (UN) General Assembly Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of September 2015.

1.1 Objectives of the Call

  1. Improve efficiency in management of the diverse resources, products and services to address national needs and support economic development.
  2. Increase the roles of scientific research and technological innovation in contributing to achievement of SDGs and self-sufficiency.
  3. Promote collaborative and multi-disciplinary solution-based research.
  4. Promote data collection, analysis and publication.

Attention should be given to justifying the scale and duration of the proposed research work relative to the grant objectives and the requirements of the proposed programme of work. Proposals should have the potential to contribute to the existing body of knowledge in the respective areas. The fund support data collection, analysis, reporting and publication in peer reviewed journals. In the event of a publication, MUST financial and facilitative support should be appropriately acknowledged. Any patents registered out of the research finding will be co-owned by the researcher and MUST.

2.0 CATEGORY OF RESEARCH PROJECT AND THEMATIC AREAS.

The call consists of four (4) types of research project proposals and their fund ceiling,

  1. Multi-disciplinary research,         2,000,000
  2. Individual project                            500,000
  3. Bridging fund,                                 250,000
  4. Undergraduate project support        50,000

No research project will be funded beyond the limit provided and the research period shall not exceed one financial year.

All research Project proposals should address at least one of the following thematic areas

  1. Any of the 17 SDGs with specific deliverables
  2. Any of the 3 pillars of the Kenya vision 2030 with specific deliverables
  3. Any of the Big Four as directed by the president

2.1 Eligibility

Individuals and groups eligible to receive research project funding must meet the following criteria:

  1. Be permanent staff or current student in the University
  2. Not member of the University Management Board
  3. Must disclose any other source of funding
  4. Plagiarized proposals/materials will not be accepted
  5. Staff in Research and Innovation directorates

Proposals for undergraduate project support must be endorsed by a project supervisor/mentor. Postgraduate students can also collaborate with lecturers/supervisors to submit proposals under category (a-c). All proposals must clearly indicate a principal investigator who will be responsible for the overall project management and contractual obligations.

2.2 Eligible Cost

  1. All research project under category (a-c) shall cover costs of data collection, analysis, publication, conference registration fees, participation costs and facilitation for collaboration.
  2. Undergraduate project support covers only cost data collection, analysis and publication.
  3. A proposal for participation in a Conference will be funded only where the applicant has an accepted abstract for oral or poster presentation
  4. Applicant must commit 10% of their total budget to monitoring, evaluation and publication.
  5. A proposal for participation in a Conference will be funded only where the applicant has an accepted abstract for oral or poster presentation.

The research fund shall not support costs of debts and provisions for losses, interest owed, items already financed in another project, project proposal preparation and tuition fees. After completion of the project, capital items (e.g. equipment, computers, etc) bought will revert to the University.

2.3 Research Project Proposal Format

Applicants are required to adhere to the proposal format provided as follows. The proposal should not exceed fifteen (15) pages in Times New Roman font size 12, 1.5 spacing). It must contain the following sections: (i) Title of the project; (ii) Summary; (iii) Problem statement (iv) Research question/hypothesis(s); (v) Specific study objective(s); (vi) Justification of the study (vii) Up-to-date literature review; (viii) Methodology (ix) Expected outputs; (xi) References; (xii) Itemized budget; (xiii) Work plan (itemized activities & timeline); (xiv) Monitoring and Evaluation log-frame.

2.4 Application Procedure

Applicants are required to submit a hard copy and a soft copy of proposal (signed electronically) to the Director, Research and Publication at the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre within the deadline provided.

2.5 Schedules

Following schedules will guide the processing of the research proposals

Deadlines Actions
27th April 2018 Call for Proposals Launched
15th May 2018 Deadline for proposal submission
19th May – 12th June 2018 Proposal evaluations
13th – 19th June 2018 Notification of successful applicants
20th June 2018 Award of grants

 2.6 Proposal Review and Award

The proposals will go through a compliance review, an internal research committee selection/screening/shortlisting and external review. The reviewers will classify the proposals into: Accept as presented, Accept with minor revisions, Accept with major revision or Reject. The verdict of the selection panel is final.

Grant letters will be prepared for each successful applicants and signed by the Vice-Chancellor. The grant award letter will be accompanied by a Research Grant Contract from the Research Office specifying the amount of the grant, responsibilities of the grantees and use of the grant funds and reporting requirements.

2.7 Monitoring and Evaluation

The Research Office will be responsible for monitoring and evaluation of progress made according to the indicators outlined in the project Monitoring and Evaluation log-frame. In addition, awardees will be required to submit end of project terminal reports and publication.

For enquiries and clarifications, please contact the Research Office through the contacts provided below. Please send your proposal to: Research Office, MUST, P.O. Box 972-60200, Meru, Kenya. Tel: Fax: Email: research@must.ac.ke. Note that Research Office is located within the MUST Innovation and Enterprise Centre.

 

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