Call for proposals on Biodiversity Informatics for African Freshwater and Pollinator Biodiversity.

J.R.S Biodiversity Foundation's mission is to increase the access to and the use of information for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa. Since 2007, the foundation has invested more than $18M in biodiversity informatics projects to: (1) collect and enhance data, (2) aggregate, synthesize, and publish data, (3) make data more widely available to potential end users, and (4) gain insights from biodiversity data to inform biodiversity conservation.

The JRS strategy is to connect data to knowledge use in domains of conservation and sustainable development where the demand for information can sustain investment in biodiversity informatics. This call for proposals supports their grantmaking programs in Freshwater Biodiversity and Resources and in Pollinator Biodiversity and Services.

They will prefer projects that can grow to a larger scale or can be transferred across geographic regions or organizational and institutional contexts. Projects that hold potential to engage with, reinforce, or benefit their current projects will be preferred. Applications that demonstrate strong demand for data and ties to decision-making will be most competitive for JRS funding.

All projects must conform to the foundation’s Open Data Policy. U.S. law prohibits our financing of projects to influence legislation through advocacy or lobbying (see JRS Grantmaking).

The following requirements will ensure that your proposal aligns with JRS strategy and will be considered for funding and act as an eligibility checklist.

• The biodiversity information system is at the center of the project, and there is a clear potential use of and future value to the data or tool.
• The end-users of the biodiversity information are clear, and they are directly involved in proposal development and project implementation.
• There are specific descriptions of hardware, software, data standards, and related technical tools, and their choice is justified.
• All primary data generated by the project will be available per the Open Access Data Policy and its terms for license, timeliness, standards, access, and compliance.
• The grant applicants are African or that African professionals and African institutions play significant and long-term roles in project design, implementation, and sustainability, and as recipients of funds for projects that originate outside of Africa.
• Training and capacity development are explicit aims of the project through long-term engagement with trainees, network building, and sharing of training resources.
• Outputs and outcomes have specific targets that are measurable and time-bound.
• Plans for outreach include efforts to secure future partners and funders.
• Budgets are justified in significant detail regarding cost assumptions, timing, and rationale.

Types of Proposals:  The total multi-year requested grant may range from about $50,000 to about $250,000. JRS will accept three types of proposals: 1) proposals for multi-year projects,  2) proposals for planning grants for multi-year projects, and 3) proposals for JRS co-funding of biodiversity information components of existing projects.

Application Process:  All proposals that comply with the application guidelines will be considered. All proposals must be submitted using the online system. Proposals will not be accepted after February 28, 2019.

2019 Timetable for Applications:

• Thursday, December 20: Grant application portal opens.
• Thursday, February 28: Deadline for submission of proposals.
• Thursday, April 25: Invitation to semi-finalists to revise proposals.
• Tuesday, May 7: Deadline for submission of revised proposals.
• Tuesday, June 4: Final funding decision communicated by the Foundation.
• Wednesday, August 1: Approximate date of first payment to approved grantees.

See website for more information here.