Deadline: Ongoing Opportunity

Submissions are now open for the Internet Freedom Fund Program to support innovative internet freedom projects, including technology development, research, digital security projects, and convenings.

The Internet Freedom Fund is the primary opportunity through which Open Technology Fund supports innovative global internet freedom projects.

Categories

• Technology Development
  • OTF supports the development of innovative internet freedom technologies from the prototype phase to deployment phase, in addition to supporting core infrastructure projects that serve the internet freedom and human rights communities.
  • Applications for this category can include, but are not limited to:
    • Creating new, open-source circumvention technologies
    • Taking an existing open-source internet freedom technology and improving upon its security, usability, and adaptability
    • Developing content redistribution methods to aid in content access behind government firewalls
    • Next-generation tools
    • Improving security standards, quality assurance, and best practices within core infrastructure projects
    • Improving accessibility and usability of existing projects
  • Applied Research
    • OTF supports the applied research efforts of the internet freedom community through the Internet Freedom Fund. This includes research that identifies where and how censorship is occurring, studying the methods to counteract censorship, and advancing knowledge around what types of content is targeted to help assess threats to internet freedom.
    • Applications for this category can include, but are not limited to:
      • Research that focuses on real-time monitoring and analysis of threats to internet freedom
      • Research exploring new methods or improvements of censorship circumvention tools
      • Efforts that increase the understanding and awareness of the Internet freedom community, their roles, and how they contribute to maintaining a free and open internet
      • User research identifying the needs of people living under repressive surveillance and censorship, how technologies and tools can address those needs, and how these tools can introduce usability and localization improvements
  • Improving the Digital Security Ecosystem
    • Authoritarian censors are sharing strategies, techniques and—in some cases—the tools to enact repressive information controls. To effectively counter this highly orchestrated, well-resourced, and pervasive online censorship and surveillance, they need a strong digital security ecosystem that can grow and adapt to evolving threats.
    • OTF seeks to support systematic improvements to this ecosystem, including infrastructure-wide investments to help practitioners, threat intel researchers, and other community actors make systematic changes to boost the impact of digital security work.
    • If you have an idea that will support the growth and adaptability of the regional and/or global digital security network, including improving coordination and collaboration—they’d love to hear from you.
    • Applications in this category should include thoughtful consideration of existing and complementary efforts and a clear explanation of how the proposed effort will lead to positive change in the global and/or regional digital security ecosystem.
    • Please be mindful that OTF does not support one-off training, training of trainers, or organizational capacity building as an effort’s primary outcome. Various other funders provide these types of direct support for digital security providers.
    • Note: In some cases, the Rapid Response Fund support emergency digital security training for at-risk individuals and organizations facing an active or imminent threat, but the digital security support under the Internet Freedom Fund is focused on ecosystem-wide solutions.
  • Events and Community Convenings
    • OTF provides funding that empowers internet freedom communities to collaborate and work cohesively to improve knowledge sharing and collaboration, cultivate deeper trust, and support and diversify the next generation of Internet freedom leaders. Supported efforts include a wide representation of voices to foster greater collaboration and intersectionality. OTF believes that the need to build a collective vision and strategy with a diverse global network of internet freedom collaborators is becoming increasingly important.
    • Applications for this category can include, but are not limited to:
      • Targeted research and development gatherings designed to improve collaboration and knowledge sharing between projects in the areas of privacy, circumvention technology, and digital security
      • Community organized events to identify needs, share resources, and gain new insights about censorship, surveillance, and digital security issues

Funding Information

• Awards are between $10,000 and $900,000 for up to 24 months. Ideal applicants seek funding between $50,000 and $200,000 for efforts between 6 and 12 months.

Eligibility Criteria

• OTF prioritizes projects coming from individuals or organizations who are applying for the first time, identify as under-represented within the field, and address areas that are underfunded.
• OTF is not able to support applicants within countries that the United States has trade restrictions or export sanctions as determined by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

For more information, visit OTF.

Deadline: 4-Feb-25

The European Commission (EC) is pleased to announce the Digital Solutions Programme to foster participative design, planning and management of buildings, neighbourhoods and urban districts.

Scope

• This topic focuses on the development of digital solutions for a stronger participation of end users, citizens and other relevant stakeholders in the design, planning and management of the renovation of existing buildings, neighbourhoods and/or districts.
• Proposals are expected to address one or both of the following points:
  • Digital solutions that facilitate participative design and planning through visualisation, analysis and engagement with data that is directly relevant to building users as well as citizens in the surrounding urban area (including e.g. immersive and interactive technologies, Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality, simulations and scenario modelling).
  • Digital solutions that allow to analyse and model different scenarios for to-be-renovated buildings, neighbourhoods and/or districts in terms of energy use and generation; users’ health and wellbeing; impact on the energy grid; provisions for active and electric mobility, and sustainable delivery solutions; life-cycle environmental and micro-climatic impacts, and; socio-economic impacts for citizens, building users, owners and occupiers.

Funding Information

• The check will normally be done for the coordinator if the requested grant amount is equal to or greater than EUR 500 000, except for:
  • public bodies (entities established as a public body under national law, including local, regional or national authorities) or international organisations; and
  • cases where the individual requested grant amount is not more than EUR 60 000 (low value grant).

Expected Outcomes

• Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
  • Greater engagement of representative groups of end users as well as citizens of the impacted urban context.
  • Increased acceptability and uptake of sustainable deep renovation solutions in the built environment.
  • Reduced energy and mobility poverty.
  • Increase in plans for climate neutral and sustainable, aesthetic and inclusive built environments with enhanced climate adaptation and resilience (e.g. based on nature-based solutions).
  • Enhanced climate change adaptation and resilience in built environments.

Eligible Activities

• The following activities are generally eligible for grants under Horizon Europe:
  • Research and innovation actions (RIA) — Activities that aim primarily to establish new knowledge or to explore the feasibility of a new or improved technology, product, process, service or solution. This may include basic and applied research, technology development and integration, testing, demonstration and validation of a small-scale prototype in a laboratory or simulated environment.
  • Innovation actions (IA) — Activities that aim directly to produce plans and arrangements or designs for new, altered or improved products, processes or services. These activities may include prototyping, testing, demonstrating, piloting, large-scale product validation and market replication.
  • Coordination and support actions (CSA) — Activities that contribute to the objectives of Horizon Europe. This excludes research and innovation (R&I) activities, except those carried out under the ‘Widening participation and spreading excellence’ component of the programme (part of ‘Widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area’).
  • Programme co-fund actions (CoFund) — A programme of activities established or implemented by legal entities managing or funding R&I programmes, other than EU funding bodies. Such a programme of activities may support: networking and coordination; research; innovation; pilot actions; innovation and market deployment; training and mobility; awareness raising and communication; and dissemination and exploitation.
  • Innovation and market deployment actions (IMDA) — Activities that embed an innovation action and other activities necessary to deploy an innovation on the market. This includes the scaling-up of companies and Horizon Europe blended finance.

Eligibility Criteria

• To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:
  • the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions:
    • Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden
  • the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States:
    • Aruba (NL), Bonaire (NL), Curação (NL), French Polynesia (FR), French Southern and Antarctic Territories (FR), Greenland (DK), New Caledonia (FR), Saba (NL), Saint Barthélemy (FR), Sint Eustatius (NL), Sint Maarten (NL), St. Pierre and Miquelon (FR), Wallis and Futuna Islands (FR).
  • countries associated to Horizon Europe
    • Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, United Kingdom
  • the following low- and middle-income countries:
    • Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Comoros, Congo (Democratic Republic), Congo (Republic), Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt (Arab Republic), El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic), Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Korea (Democratic People’s Republic), Kyrgyz Republic, Lao (People’s Democratic Republic), Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia (Federated States), Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Pakistan, Palau, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Samoa, São Tomé and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Suriname, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic), Vietnam, Yemen Republic, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
• Specific cases:
  • Affiliated entities — Affiliated entities are eligible for funding if they are established in one of the countries listed above, or in a country identified in the specific call/topic conditions
  • Associated partners — Entities not eligible for funding (and therefore not able to participate as beneficiaries) may participate as associated partners, unless specified otherwise in the specific call/topic conditions
  • EU bodies — Legal entities created under EU law may also be eligible to receive funding, unless their basic act states otherwise.
  • International organisations — International European research organisations are eligible to receive funding. International organisations with headquarters in a Member State or Associated Country are eligible to receive funding for ‘Training and mobility’ actions or when provided for in the specific call/topic conditions. Other international organisations are not eligible to receive funding, unless provided for in the specific call/topic conditions, or if their participation is considered essential for implementing the action by the granting authority.

For more information, visit EC.

Deadline: 31-Oct-24

The True Colours Trust has launched the Small Grants Programme to support projects which deliver palliative care in Africa Development.

Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients (adults and children) and their families who are facing problems associated with life-threatening illness. It prevents and relieves suffering through the early identification, correct assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, whether physical, psychosocial or spiritual.

Addressing suffering involves taking care of issues beyond physical symptoms. Palliative care uses a team approach to support patients and their caregivers. This includes addressing practical needs and providing bereavement counselling. It offers a support system to help patients live as actively as possible until death.

Palliative care is explicitly recognized under the human right to health. It should be provided through person-centred and integrated health services that pay special attention to the specific needs and preferences of individuals.

Priorities

• Priority will be given to the following:
  • Projects which are providing palliative care to children.
  • Projects which are providing palliative care to vulnerable populations e.g. people with disabilities, refugees, older persons, prisoners.
  • Projects which provide palliative care irrespective of the condition or disease of the patient.

Funding Information

• Grants are a maximum of GBP £5,000 each.

Eligibility Criteria

• The programme is open to registered hospices and palliative care providers based and managed in Africa.
• Any organisation which is currently in receipt of funding from The True Colours Trust, is not eligible for funding, even if that funding is not from the Africa Small Grants Programme.
• Any organisation which has received funding from the programme previously should wait at least one year from the submission of its final narrative and financial report before reapplying.

For more information, visit The True Colours Trust.

Deadline: Ongoing Opportunity

Nominations are now open for Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity, a global award that recognizes those who risk their lives to save the lives of others.

Aurora Humanitarian Initiative Foundation Inc. is a nonprofit organization that seeks to address on-the-ground humanitarian challenges around the world with the focus on helping the most destitute. Its mission is rooted in the Armenian history as the Initiative was founded on behalf of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide and in gratitude to their saviors and strives to transform this experience into a global movement.

Funding Information

• The Aurora Prize consists of three components totaling US$1,000,000, payable over no more than three years as follows:
  • An aggregate US$300,000 (the “Laureate Direct Award”) is payable to the Aurora Prize laureate (the “Laureate”).
  • An aggregate US$600,000, payable in US$25,000 increments at the direction of the Laureate (the “Laureate Indirect Award”) as follows:
    • minimum of US$300,000 and a maximum of US$600,00 which is payable to individuals chosen from an Aurora-approved pool of vetted grassroots humanitarians (“Luminaries”); and
    • at the option of the Laureate, a maximum of US$300,000 can be payable to grassroots humanitarian organizations of the Laureate’s choosing, that have been vetted by Aurora (“Designates”).
  • An aggregate US$100,000, payable ratably to the remaining Aurora Humanitarians who did not receive the Laureate Direct Award (the “Finalists”), which is typically in the amount of US$50,000 per Finalist (the “Finalists Award”).

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligibility of The Nominee:
  • The Nominees can be individuals or groups of people as long as they meet the following requirements:
    • They are alive (the Aurora Prize is not given posthumously);
    • They have not been awarded the Aurora Prize before as a Prize Laureate and have not been named Aurora Humanitarians (or finalists) in previous Prize cycle;
    • They, when being a group of people, are not a formally established organization of any legal nature;
    • They have never undertaken or participated in inhumane activities (including acts of war, genocide, any terrorist / extremist activity), do not hold and / or publicly declare any extremist views, have never been found guilty of committing violent crimes;
    • They do not negate crimes committed against humanity through the history of mankind (including the Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide and other massacres;
    • They are not officers, employees or family members of any of the Secretariat, Selection Committee, Independent Observer or Foundation members and employees.
• Eligibility of The Nominator
  • Nominator may be an individual or organization. To maintain the integrity of the selection process and to prevent any possible conflicts of interest:
    • Self-nominations are not permitted.
    • You have provided full name and contact details. Should you be authorized to submit a nomination by an organization, you must provide contact details of such authorizing organization as well. Anonymous nominations are not accepted.
    • You be authorized to nominate on behalf of an organization, you must acknowledge this fact and submit a letter of authorization if requested by the Secretariat.

For more information, visit Aurora Humanitarian Initiative Charitable Foundation.

Deadline: 4-Feb-25

The European Commission (EC) has launched the Horizon Europe’s Design for Adaptability, Re-use and deconstruction of Buildings Programme.

Scope

• Based on the integration of innovative tools, products and techniques, to enable construction and renovation that embeds the principle of extending the service life of buildings, and facilitate adaptability to changing user needs (e.g. for optimal use of indoor space or to improve working and living conditions), reuse, and deconstruction, in a life-cycle optimisation and circular economy perspective.
• Proposals are expected to address all of the following:
  • Validate construction and renovation solutions based on the integration of innovative tools, products, techniques, processes and methods, that facilitate deconstruction and reuse, based on life-cycle approaches across the value chain.
  • Ensure the solutions validated:
    • Consider the adaptability and reversibility of buildings and building units to changing uses, and to other relevant factors (e.g. evolution of surroundings).
    • Improve the ease of reuse of construction elements and products from existing buildings, also facilitating recycling when reuse is not possible.
    • Develop building elements and products that can be disassembled and reused, including those made from CO2-storing materials such as sustainably sourced long-lived bio-based materials and products and, innovative lower emission materials /aggregates.
    • Address all components of buildings, including structural elements, envelopes, interior fixtures and fittings, and technical building systems.
    • Are rooted in local and regional value chains, based on participative approaches for social acceptability of innovation, in particular with regard to the workforce’s practices and skills.
    • Can flexibly adapt to local/regional sourcing of innovative products and materials to increase replication.
    • Address climate change mitigation, minimising emissions.
    • Allow to minimise any negative impacts of pollution and biodiversity loss from renovation and construction works.

Funding Information

• The check will normally be done for the coordinator if the requested grant amount is equal to or greater than EUR 500 000, except for:
  • public bodies (entities established as a public body under national law, including local, regional or national authorities) or international organisations; and
  • cases where the individual requested grant amount is not more than EUR 60 000 (low value grant).

Eligible Activities

• Eligible activities are the ones described in the call conditions. Applications will only be considered eligible if their content corresponds, wholly or in part, to the topic description for which it is submitted.
  • Projects must focus exclusively on civil applications and must not:
  • aim at human cloning for reproductive purposes;
  • intend to modify the genetic heritage of human beings which could make such changes heritable (except for research relating to cancer treatment of the gonads, which may be financed);
  • intend to create human embryos solely for the purpose of research, or for the purpose of stem cell procurement, including by means of somatic cell nuclear transfer.
• The following activities are generally eligible for grants under Horizon Europe:
  • Research and innovation actions (RIA) — Activities that aim primarily to establish new knowledge or to explore the feasibility of a new or improved technology, product, process, service or solution. This may include basic and applied research, technology development and integration, testing, demonstration and validation of a small-scale prototype in a laboratory or simulated environment.
  • Innovation actions (IA) — Activities that aim directly to produce plans and arrangements or designs for new, altered or improved products, processes or services. These activities may include prototyping, testing, demonstrating, piloting, large-scale product validation and market replication.
  • Coordination and support actions (CSA) — Activities that contribute to the objectives of Horizon Europe. This excludes research and innovation (R&I) activities, except those carried out under the ‘Widening participation and spreading excellence’ component of the programme (part of ‘Widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area’).
  • Training and mobility actions (TMA) — Activities that aim to improve the skills, knowledge and career prospects of researchers, based on mobility between countries and, if relevant, between sectors or disciplines.

Expected Outcomes

• Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
  • Improved adaptability of buildings and building units to new uses.
  • Increased reuse and recycling of building elements and products.
  • Extended service life of buildings.
  • Increased awareness on best practices for design for adaptability, reuse and deconstruction.

Eligibility Criteria

• Entities eligible for funding
  • To become a beneficiary, legal entities must be eligible for funding.
  • To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:
    • the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions:
      • Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.
    • the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States:
      • Aruba (NL), Bonaire (NL), Curação (NL), French Polynesia (FR), French Southern and Antarctic Territories (FR), Greenland (DK), New Caledonia (FR), Saba (NL), Saint Barthélemy (FR), Sint Eustatius (NL), Sint Maarten (NL), St. Pierre and Miquelon (FR), Wallis and Futuna Islands (FR).
    • countries associated to Horizon Europe
      • Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, United Kingdom.
    • the following low- and middle-income countries
      • Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Comoros, Congo (Democratic Republic), Congo (Republic), Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt (Arab Republic), El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic), Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Korea (Democratic People’s Republic), Kyrgyz Republic, Lao (People’s Democratic Republic), Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia (Federated States), Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Pakistan, Palau, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Samoa, São Tomé and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Suriname, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic), Vietnam, Yemen Republic, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
  • International organisations — International European research organisations are eligible to receive funding.

For more information, visit EC.

Deadline: 31-Oct-24

The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund is offering grants to support species conservation work.

The Fund gives priority to those species facing a height threat of extinction (with an emphasis on Endangered and Critically Endangered species), as well as those which are listed as Data Deficient or unlisted but are suspected as highly threatened.

Generally, the Fund is primarily interested in providing support to in situ conservation work in the field (such as survey work and data gathering, direct action, recovery management, training and the like), focusing on the species in its natural habitat.

Funding Information

• The Fund maximum grant size is $25,000, and any application asking for more than this from the Fund will be rejected.
• The total budget of a project can be higher if there are other sources of funding, but the Fund will not award more than $25,000.

Eligibility Criteria

• Anyone directly involved in species conservation can apply to the Fund for a grant.
• Applications must be submitted in English.
• Budgets must be submitted in US Dollars.
• Applications with clearly incorrect conservation status and no justification will NOT be considered for funding.
• Generally, the Fund would prefer to support projects which focus on a single species, but it also recognises that in some geographic and taxonomic circumstances it makes more sense to group a number of species.
• Please note that applications for work with species which are not threatened, applications with clearly incorrect conservation status and no justification, or which ask for above the maximum grant size, will not be considered for funding.

For more information, visit Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund.

Deadline: 21-Nov-24

Applications are now open for the Water Research Foundation’s Emergence of Artificial Intelligence: Opportunities and Challenges for Water Resources Planning Program.

Objectives

• Identify potential uses and benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) in Water Resources Planning to support routine operations and address uncertainties related to changing climate (e.g., supply and demand forecasting, operational technology solutions, etc.)
• Identify potential challenges associated with AI tool implementation and develop guidance for utilities to evaluate options and prepare for future AI use (e.g., modifications to data collection, cleaning, processing procedures).
• Identify and recommend pathways and/or organizational approaches for the water sector to monitor potential uses of AI that could be available in the future.
• Review and catalogue AI tools available or in development that are specific to Water Resources Planning, with an eye towards identifying publicly available and/or open-source tools.

Research Approach

• This RFP is intentionally flexible in the research approach to encourage creativity and originality from proposers. Proposers should describe how they will conduct the research to meet the objectives listed above. The following approach is intended as a starting point:
  • Literature/Document review of academic and sector reports and planning documents to assess the status of AI applications in water resources planning and identify areas for future application.
  • Technology review of emerging AI algorithms, models, software, applications, etc., with an eye towards identifying publicly available and/or open-source tools.
  • Utility engagement/case study with water resources planners and data managers regarding current capabilities, interest and need for AI tools, potential benefits and challenges, and pathways for future growth and education.
  • Interviews with AI experts (researchers and private/other sectors).

Funding Information

• The maximum funding available from WRF for this project is $175,000. The applicant must contribute additional resources equivalent to at least 33% of the project award. For example, if an applicant requests $100,000 from WRF, an additional $33,000 or more must be contributed by the applicant. Acceptable forms of applicant contribution include cost share, applicant in kind, or third-party in-kind that comply with 2 CFR Part 200.306 cost sharing or matching. The applicant may elect to contribute more than 33% to the project, but the maximum WRF funding available remains fixed at $175,000. Proposals that do not meet the minimum 33% of the project award will not be accepted.
• The anticipated period of performance for this project is 12-18 months from the contract start date.

Expected Outcomes

• The deliverables for this RFP are intentionally flexible to encourage creativity and originality from proposers. Proposers should describe how the deliverables proposed will provide wide sector accessibility and ensure practical applicability of the project results. Potential deliverables for this project could include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Research report (must use WRF’s Research Report Template
  • Literature review
  • Guidance manual
  • Webcast, conference presentation, etc.
  • Peer-reviewed journal article
  • Fact sheet, case study, white paper, etc.
  • Workshop (consider plan to document workshop)
  • Technology Deliverable (e.g., website, online tool/database, etc.) (must follow the Technology Deliverables Guidance)

Eligibility Criteria

• Proposals will be accepted from both U.S.-based and non-U.S.-based entities, including educational institutions, research organizations, governmental agencies, and consultants or other for-profit entities.
• WRF’s Board of Directors has established a Timeliness Policy that addresses researcher adherence to the project schedule. Researchers who are late on any ongoing WRF-sponsored studies without approved no-cost extensions are not eligible to be named participants in any proposals.
• WRF encourages participation from water utilities and other organizations in WRF research. Participation can occur in a variety of ways, including direct participation, in-kind contributions, or in-kind services.

Evaluation Criteria

• The following criteria will be used to evaluate proposals:
  • Understanding the Problem and Responsiveness to RFP (maximum 20 points)
  • Technical and Scientific Merit (maximum 30 points)
  • Qualifications, Capabilities, and Management (maximum 15 points)
  • Communication Plan, Deliverables, and Applicability (maximum 20 points)
  • Budget and Schedule (maximum 15 points)

For more information, visit Water Research Foundation.