Joint DFID-BBSRC-GATES-Govt of India Programme

The Sustainable Crop Production Research for International Development programme is a joint multi-national initiative of the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Department for International Development (DFID), together with (through a grant awarded to BBSRC) the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) in the USA, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) of India’s Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).  The purpose of the programme is to support high-quality basic and strategic biological and biotechnological research to improve the production of major food crops in developing countries. There are two components to this call for proposals: - Standard Research Grants (SRGs) led by a Principal Investigator (PI) from any eligible institution. - Projects for Emerging Agricultural Research Leaders (PEARLs), under which a small number of grants (probably between five and ten) will be awarded specifically for projects of four years’ duration where the lead PI (a “PEARL Fellow”) is an early-to-mid career scientist from a developing country of Sub-Saharan Africa or South Asia.  Unlike SRGs, PEARLs will include funding to cover the full-time salary costs of the lead PI for the duration of the project. Applications from women would be particularly welcomed. Deadline for proposals: 31/03/11 Information