• New Programme 2012
  • Individual Research Approach
  • Collaborative Research Approach
  • Contributing Innovation Approach
• Capability Enhancing Support
• Workshops
• Workshop archive
• Useful links

New Programme 2012

During the past year a global conversation amongst IFS stakeholders engaged with thousands of people in different ways and provided the opportunity to listen and reflect before setting out our ten-year strategy. We hope that the revised mission and the new programme structure reflect today’s changing circumstances and opportunities, especially, the role that science plays in society, and the ways in which science and development landscapes are navigated and linked.

In the next decade IFS aims to support excellent individual and collaborative research, to build capability of early career scientists in the developing world, and to contribute innovation to the sustainable management of biological and water resources. In particular, to enable young scientists to contribute to a global research community that is reducing poverty and supporting sustainable development.

The primary focus will be the promotion of excellent science through early career research grants and capability enhancing support to individual researchers in developing countries. During 2012 we will launch the first of three new approaches at IFS – the Individual Research Approach. This will be similar to the current granting programme with some revisions to eligibility criteria. In order to reduce the time it takes for applicants to hear the outcome of their grant application, IFS has introduced time-bound calls for proposals with a closing date. Be sure not to miss the submission deadlines!

We recognize that the interlinked development challenges that face humanity increasingly require scientists to work with each other, as well as with other professions and specialists. Therefore, through the phased introduction of - the Collaborative Research Approach, the new strategy will also provide support for collaborative research teams – including interdisciplinary teams, which combine researchers’ strengths, expertise, and experience, to address a larger topic or a research issue where more than one discipline is required. The Collaborative Research Approach is being piloted in East, southern and Anglophone West Africa, amongst groups of scientists with a specific research interest in under-utilized crops. Following our learning from this pilot we aim to open this granting option to other IFS applicants. If you have an interest in collaborative research, watch out for the results of the pilot and for our first open call for collaborative research.

Building on your feedback throughout our envisioning process, a major change in our agenda is, not only to aspire to strengthen the capability of those embarking on a research career in the developing world, but also to support young scientists in the actions they undertake to bring about change, in terms of their values and objectives. In other words, to promote the individual agency of men and women scientists, early in their career in developing countries, to put their science into use. Watch out in the coming years for the launch of the IFS Contributing Innovation Approach.

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