Wednesday, 30 December 2020 on 6:29pm
Population growth and economic development contribute to many environmental problems in Asia. These include pressure on land, habitat destruction and loss of biodiversity, water scarcity and water pollution, air pollution, global warming, and climate change. According to the World Bank, climate change will have a severe impact on Indonesia. It is estimated that in the next 30 years, around 2,000 small islands in Indonesia will sink when the increase in seawater reaches 0.80 m. Climate change occurs because of increasing greenhouse gas concentrations (GHG) and carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, which have implications for rising sea levels due to the melting of ice at the North and South Poles. It has been reported by CNN (2019), Antarctic sea ice is now decreasing faster than that in the Arctic after decades of gradual increases, according to new research based on 40 years' worth of satellite data. In a world with rapid climate change and land degradation due to anthropogenic causes, restoration is one of the two methods that could be used to slow the rate of species extinction, restore biodiversity loss, and improve the ecosystem services of the degraded ecosystems.
Apart from climate change fenomena, food and energy sovereignty have become critical issues for a country because these two matters are crucial factors that mark the independence of a country. Recently Asia needs to rely on energy efficiency improvements to meet its growing energy demand, which has been driven by industrialization, urbanization, and rising incomes among the ballooning middle class. In Southeast Asia, food security is being fundamentally altered – as patterns of food consumption and production change. Furthermore, there is a need to support the consumption of diversified food sources within the region, including protein sources which provide the full array of essential amino acids. Southeast Asian countries can also take action to improve nutritional education and promote the consumption of more fruits and vegetables through financial and educational interventions (The Economist 2019). In addition, energy demand growth in Southeast Asian countries is predicted to be the highest globally, with Indonesia having the highest urbanization rate (Irsyad et al. 2020). Energy efficiency improvements and investments in green technology development are necessary to mitigate climate change's adverse impacts. In 2014, around $90 billion was spent on energy efficiency projects worldwide, but the figure quickly climbed to $231 billion in 2016 (Nepal et al. 2020).
Field of biotechnology also could help us to overcome aforementioned issues. Nowadays, Asia is in the midst of rapid economic growth and currently offers exciting research possibilities, in particular biotechnology. Biotechnology is comprehensive and multidisciplinary, with applications ranging from agriculture, energy, and materials production to pharmaceuticals and molecular and tissue engineering.
In this regard, the theme for research proposals implementation in 2021 must be within these six (6) categories as listed below:
1. Restoration and Conservation Ecosystem;
2. Sustainable Use of Tropical Biodiversity;
3. Food Sovereignty;
4. Ecosystem Resilience in Response to Climate Change;
5. Bio-Energy; and
6. Biotechnology Development
Research Duration
The project must be implemented within a 9-month periods, most likely to start from March 1st to November 30th, 2021.
General Framework of Implementation
- The request for proposals is open to Indonesian National who is currently is hold Doctoral Degree, PhD Student, Elementary, Middle, High, and Vocational School Teachers.
- Non Indonesian Scientist holding Doctoral Degree may submit a proposal in partnership with the Indonesian Scientist who serve as the Principle Investigator.
- Except for the SEAMEO BIOTROP Affiliate Scientist, other applicants MUST collaborate at least with one of the Center researchers as their team member (list attached). Also, to include a research roadmap framework in their proposal for the next 3 years.
- The research proposal must be in English and for applicants with Doctoral Degree is expected to produce an innovation research, in which the propose research budget is not exceeding Rp 120,000,000. Whereas for PhD Students the proposed budget is limited to Rp 50,000,000, and for the School Teachers the proposed budget should not exceeding Rp 15,000,000, respectively.
- The research proposals shall be subjected to external review by a committee that SEAMEO BIOTROP shall form following a set of criteria that the Centre currently uses as follows:
- Relevance of the Proposal (15%)
- Scientific Rigor of the Proposal Components (60%)
- Research Capability of the Proponent/s (10%)
- Feasibility of the Period of Implementation (5%)
- Budget Feasibility (10%)
- The proposal must have the following components:
- Title (The title of the project must be clear, concise, and attractive to generate interest/participation from all actors that are expected to be involved in the implementation of the project)
- Background/Rationale (This section should clearly specify the issues and concerns that the project would like to address. Why is it important to undertake the project? Who will benefit and how?)
- Objectives (The objectives must be concrete enough against which the project’s success or failure can be assessed)
- Review of Related Literature (This must situate the proposal on the current body of knowledge on the subject of the research. Related literature to be cited in the proposal must not be older than 5 years)
- Components and Methodologies (This section must answer how the project objectives can be achieved with the components and methodologies that the project would adopt. It should also specify the partners that would be involved in the implementation of the project)
- Timetable of Activity Implementation (This would specify the overall duration of the project broken down into specific time allocation to undertake the various components and activities)
- Monitoring and Evaluation (This section should specify the way the progress of the project would be assessed according to its objective and timeframe by component, and including the people who will be involved)
- Expected Outputs and Outcomes (This section should enumerate the concrete/tangible outputs and outcomes that the project is expected to produce in relation to its objectives)
- Estimated Budgetary Requirements (The budget must include among others personnel services, travel, materials, equipment and facilities rentals)
- Together with the project proposal, the following documents must also be submitted to BIOTROP:
- Application Letter addressed to BIOTROP Director (Note: The applicant should indicate in the letter the research problem that his/her proposal would be addressing and which BIOTROP program thrust his/her research project proposal falls into)
- Curriculum Vitae of all research project team members
- Letter of Endorsement from the immediate supervisor of the lead research project proponent and also of the research partner from another country
- The research team shall be under contract with SEAMEO BIOTROP within 9 months period broken down as follows: 1 month for pre-implementation, 7 months for during implementation and 1 month for post-implementation phases of the research project. The contract specifies the proponent’s duties and responsibilities, including those that have been mentioned above and other legal and administrative procedures towards ensuring the completion of the research project.
- Disbursement and use of research fund shall follow Daftar Isian Pelaksanaan Anggaran (DIPA) regulations from the Government of Indonesia.
- Other than a completion report, the lead research proponent is expected to submit a draft of an article on the research project results two months after its completion for publication in International journal (e.g., BIOTROPIA, the journal has been indexed by Scopus since 2012). Particularly for researcher with Doctoral Degree is also expected to write a policy brief of the research findings.
- SEAMEO BIOTROP will not consider applications that have incomplete documents as required.
Application Deadline: 22 January 2021
Applicants are advised to send the complete set of application documents to:
Dr. Aslan - Research Department Manager
SEAMEO BIOTROP
Jln. Tajur Raya Km 6, Bogor 16134, Indonesia
Telp: 0251-8323848
Email: aslan@biotrop.org; red@biotrop.org
Attachment:
The expertise of each SEAMEO BIOTROP laboratory
References:
Feeding Asia: The problem wih Asia’s populatin growth for food security : https://www.newfoodmagazine.com/article/29028/feeding-asia-problem-asias-population-food-security-urbanisation/ (Accessed 28 December 2019)
Irsyad, M. I., T. Anggono, R. Nepal, Y. Liu, and F. Taghizadeh-Hesary. 2020. Financing of Energy Efficiency in Public Goods: The Case of Street Lighting Systems in Indonesia. ADBI Working Paper 1194. Tokyo: ADBI.
Nepal, R., N. Paija, F. Taghizadeh-Hesary, and A. Kahtri. 2020. Promoting Energy Efficiency through Foreign Direct Investments: Evidence from South Asian Countries. Forthcoming. ADBI.
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/01/world/antarctica-sea-ice-melting-climate-intl/index.html (Accessed 14 July 2019)
https://foodsecurityindex.eiu.com (Accessed 28 December 2020)
