Starting July 2017, the SEAMEO Regional Centre for Tropical Biology (BIOTROP) will usher the implementation of its 10th Five-Year Development Plan (FYDP) covering fiscal years 2017-2018 to 2021-2022. This 10th FYDP is billed “Forging Ahead with Tropical Biology for Environmental and Societal Transformations in Southeast Asia” (Tropical BEST-SEA) and will continue the same vision that the Centre adopted during its 9th FYDP i.e., as “A Leading Centre in promoting and enhancing the real value of tropical biology in Southeast Asia.”
To help realize this vision and the spirit of this 10th FYDP through its research mandate, SEAMEO BIOTROP invites submission of research project proposals for implementation in 2018 and 2019 on the theme Managing biodiversity of ecosystems for greater sustainability and resilience in Southeast Asia. This call for research proposals is applicable to the Centre’s Joint Research Program and PhD Thesis Grants Program.
Research proposals to be submitted to SEAMEO BIOTROP should cover any or a combination of the Centre’s three new program thrusts under its 10th FYDP, namely: (1) Restoration of degraded ecosystem; (2) Sustainable Management of Intensively Used Ecosystems/Landscapes; and (3) Conservation and Sustainable Use of Unique Ecosystems/Landscapes of High Biodiversity.
Coverage of SEAMEO BIOTROP’s New Program Thrusts
SEAMEO BIOTROP believes that its new program thrusts are current critical concerns confronting the Southeast Asian region in general. The urgency to address these concerns, through research, would be significant for the sustainable development in the region. These program thrusts are also envisioned to integrate the global and regional concerns for climate change, poverty alleviation, food and nutrition security, and gender which are core themes of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDG 2030) and the ASEAN Vision 2020.
The possible research coverage on the Centre’s new program thrusts are described below:
1. Restoration of degraded ecosystem
Restoration of degraded ecosystem is a process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed. This is indispensable to reverse the structure and function of a degraded ecosystem, habitat area, or site for species integrity and ecosystems that put future welfare as the final purpose. Research on this program thrust may include: understanding and minimizing the difference between natural and anthropogenic disturbances (e.g., deforestation, ore and mineral mining, introduction of invasive alien plant and animal species, pollution, climate change, etc.) which interfere with the functioning of an ecosystem at spatial and temporal scales; determining the resilience of an ecosystem; use of emerging concepts in new and successful restoration technologies and performance standards; assessment of current ecology restoration practices; ways of initiating, assisting or accelerating ecological succession processes; improved understanding of the ecological, economic and socio-cultural role and importance of succession biology; investigating the role of soil physical, chemical, and microbiological processes (e.g., application of beneficial soil microorganism), genetics, resource mapping, taxonomy and inventory, etc.
2. Sustainable Management of Intensively Used Ecosystems/Landscapes
This program thrust focuses on managing areas at various scales of natural resources for productive and efficient long-term use. This may involve applying appropriate natural resource management approaches on existing ecological services and biological resources while also adopting appropriate utilization practices to address the socio-economic and cultural needs of society toward a better quality of life. Research under this program thrust could cover: determining appropriate land-use and production options, valuing environmental services; food/ feed and nutrition security; use of biodiversity for enhanced and sustained production; biotechnology approach to sustain productivity; reducing food loss; payment for environmental services; agroforestry and novel crops using native species; sustainable use of species, renewable resource use/harvesting; policy development to support government and NGO programs in sustainability, etc.
3. Conservation and Sustainable Use of Unique Ecosystems/Landscapes of High Biodiversity
This program thrust could generally refer to measuring, protecting, and conserving elements of unique ecosystems and/or landscapes of high biodiversity from further degradation, enhancing landscape and habitat connectivity, and building resilience to disturbance. Research on this strand could include: resilience analysis and management; rapid methodology and approaches for identifying high biodiversity and unique ecosystems; adaptive resource management; ecosystem health assessment and monitoring; landscape connectivity analysis and restoration planning; mapping and inventory of residual native forests, biodiversity hotspots and other sensitive areas; environmental risk analysis and impact assessment, preserving genetic diversity and genetic improvement; analysis of and compliance with current environmental protection and conservation policies; prevention and control of invasive species, mine-site rehabilitation pollution, forest fires, etc.
Research Duration
Research project proposals can either be for a one-year implementation or can be designed on a phased manner for two years covering 2018 and 2019 but should be able to generate specific outputs on a yearly basis. For each year, the project must be implemented within a 9-month period.
The Award
Each accepted research project proposal shall receive a grant up to maximum of Rp 100,000,000 for the Joint Research Grant Program and Rp50,000,000 for PhD Thesis Grants Program.
Evaluation Criteria
The research proposals would be subjected to internal as well as 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 (20%)
- Scientific Rigor of the Proposal Components (60%)
- Research Capability of the Proponent/s (10%)
- Feasibility of the Period of Implementation (5%)
- Budget Feasibility (5%)
Application Preparation
The proposal must have the following components:
a) 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.
b) 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?
c) Objectives
The objectives must be concrete enough against which the project’s success or failure can be assessed.
d) 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.
e) 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.
f) 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.
g) 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.
h) 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.
i) Estimated Budgetary Requirements
The budget must include among others personnel services, travel, materials, equipments and facilities rentals.
Application Process
- Together with the project proposal, the following documents must also be submitted to BIOTROP:
- Application Letter addressed to BIOTROP Director
- Duly filled up application form
- 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 for the joint research grant program applicants
- The research lead proponent shall be under contract with SEAMEO BIOTROP within a 11-month period broken down as follows: 1 month for pre-implementation, 8 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 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 three months after its completion for publication in BIOTROP’s journal, BIOTROPIA. The journal has been indexed by Scopus since 2012.
Application Deadline
The research proposal should be submitted not later than 30 August 2017 extended to 11 September 2017
Submission of Research Proposal
Applicants are advised to send the complete set of application documents to:
Dr. Jesus C. Fernandez
Deputy Director for Program
SEAMEO BIOTROP
Email: j.fernandez@biotrop.org cc to our research department red@biotrop.org and our research coordinator d.wulandari@biotrop.org
Tel: +62 251-8323848
