Egypt Food Security Research Project

The Binational Fulbright Commissions in Egypt (BFCE) is pleased to announce a new Fulbright Alumni Competition. The Egypt Food Security Research Project is a year-long collaborative research project, administered by BFCE and the University of Utah, that aims at fostering scholarly exchange on issues related to food security and water resource management. The selected team consisting of four junior-to-mid career Fulbright Alumni (two Egyptians and two Americans) will be led by an American Principal Investigator (PI) and an Egyptian Consultant who will provide academic leadership to the project. They will assist participants in identifying topics that are relevant to Egypt’s immediate and long-term food production needs, formulating the research hypothesis and methodology, identifying partners and proposing outcomes. In addition, they will co-chair the final conference in Cairo which will be held in May 2020.

Project Goal:

The goal of this research project is to enhance long-term capacity building and improving conditions in the fields of food security and water management in semi-arid climates (similar to Egypt’s climate and the Mountain West climates  of the U.S.). All results and recommendations must be applicable to Egypt.

Eligible Fields (Applicant’s academic focus or research area should be related to):

• Food Security
• Agriculture
• Water

Eligibility Criteria:

• Applicants MUST BE FULBRIGHT ALUMNI who have satisfactorily completed their Fulbright grants.
• Egyptian applicants: Must be Egyptian citizens residing in Egypt, starting with the application process and throughout the duration of the project, except for project-related travel to the U.S.
• Holders of U.S. green cards and/or U.S. passports are ineligible to apply as Egyptian applicants for this award.
• U.S. applicants: Must be U.S. citizens residing in the U.S., starting with the application process and throughout the duration of the project, except for project-related travel to Egypt.
• Applicants must be junior-to-mid career academics and/or researchers at universities or research institutes/centers in their home country.
• Applicants’ academic focus and/or research area should be relevant to one of the project’s eligible fields.
• Applicants must successfully complete all the steps of the assessment and selection process, and successfully finalize all required procedures and documents.

Individuals in the following circumstances are NOT eligible for the Egypt Food Security Project:

• Individuals applying as Egyptian applicants who are:
  • Currently living in the United States.
  • Currently participating in academic or research programs in the United States.
  • Have applied for U.S. permanent residency.
• Employees of the U.S. Department of State, or local employees of the U.S. missions abroad who work for the U.S. Department of State and/or the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).  Employees are also ineligible for one year following the termination of employment.
• Immediate family members (i.e., spouses and children) of employees of the U.S. Department of State, U.S. missions abroad and/or the U.S. Agency for International Development.  Family members are also ineligible for one year following the termination of employment.
• Persons arrested for, charged with, or convicted of a crime (excluding minor traffic violations).

The Egypt Food Security Research Project committee will conduct a merit-based review process and select, from a pool of individual applicants, a total of four junior-to-mid career Fulbright alumni who will engage in collaborative multi-disciplinary research to tackle issues that may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Food Security
• Water Supply Shortages
• Water Resource Management
• Rising Populations and their impact on Food Security
• Climate Change Adaptation Strategies
• Public Policy – focused research
• Public Health Issues related to water and food diseases
• Agriculture and Rural Development research
• Green House and Protected Agriculture
• Seed Production Technology and Plant Breeding
• Sustainable Agriculture Production
• Food Processing
• Food Industry
• Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)
• Integrated Crop Management

Project Duration:

June 2019 – August 2020

Project Requirements:

• All applicants must complete application forms (Application Instructions mentioned below).
• Nominated candidates must attend all required pre-grant interviews, orientations and/or meetings.
• Final project participants must attend all scheduled virtual and face-to-face events.
• Project participants must complete research and deliver outcomes; follow financial guidelines; and comply with reporting rules, all which will be provided by the PI, Egyptian Consultant and Binational Fulbright Commission in Egypt.
• Participants must also publish outcomes and recommendations.

PLEASE NOTE THAT FUNDS CANNOT BE USED TO SUPPLEMENT OTHER EXISTING GRANTS AND MAY NOT BE COMBINED WITH ANOTHER AWARD TO FUND PARTIAL RESEARCH/STUDY.

Timeline:

February 1, 2019	Announcement
March 15, 2019	Application Deadline
March 15-April 30, 2019	Initial Screening First Interviews Announcement of shortlisted candidates Second interviews of short-listed candidates Announcement of selected candidates
May 2019	Visa and pre-departure arrangements
June 2019	First group meeting in the U.S. 2-week residency at the University of Utah for the two Egyptian project participants
July – December 2019	Ongoing virtual collaborative research
December 2019	Mid-Project meeting in Egypt Visits to Egyptian Institutions
January 2020 – May 2020	Ongoing virtual collaborative research
May 2020	Final Conference in Cairo
August 2020	Dissemination of outcomes Deadline for submission of all project reports

Benefits:

• Research Funds ($15,000/participant)
• Travel allowance
• Two-week residency at the University of Utah for the two Egyptian project participants
• Travel expenses and residency for two visits to Egypt for the two U.S. project participants

N.B: Dependents including spouses and children cannot accompany participants during any project-related event or travel.

Failure to complete the award in a satisfactory manner will result in reimbursement of funds to BFCE.

Application Instructions:

Applications and ALL supporting documents must be submitted to the Fulbright Commission in Egypt via email by no later than March 15, 2019 (please see below instructions for details):

• To download the application form and two reference forms, click on the links below:
  • Application Form 
  • Reference Form 1
  • Reference Form 2
• A complete application must include the following documents:
  1. Completed and typed application form in English
  2. Copy of Fulbright Certificate
  3. Updated CV
  4. 2 completed reference forms sent by referees via email

Submission Instructions:

• Applications:
  • Submit your application with all required documents (as listed above) to the Fulbright Commission in Egypt by email to efsp@bfce.eun.eg. All required documents must be attached to your email and clearly labelled.
  • The subject line of the above email must clearly include the full name of the applicant exactly as it appears on the application form and passport.
• Reference Forms:
  • Download Reference forms from links above
  • Send them to referees
  • Ask referees to send reference forms to efsp@bfce.eun.eg with the applicant’s name as the subject line of the email, by no later than March 15, 2019.

Important Notes:

• Each individual applicant should submit only one application. Applications and/or supporting documents received after the deadline will not be considered.
• Applications and supporting documents will be reviewed for consideration by the selection committee and candidates who pass the initial review stages will be notified for a personal interview.
• Applicants are encouraged to read and carefully review the entire application before submission.

Application Checklist:

• Completed Application Form (Project Proposal included)
• Copy of Fulbright Certificate
• Updated CV
• 2 Reference Letters (one of which must be from the university or research institute/center with which you are affiliated)

Fulbright Alumni Competition: Egypt Food Security Research Project

• Announcement: February 1, 2019
• Click here to download an Application Form
• Click here to download Reference Form 1
• Click here to download Reference Form 2
• Application Deadline: March 15, 2019
• Project Duration: June 2019 – August 2020

Information Sessions

Contact Information

Email: efsp@bfce.eun.eg
Tel: (202) 33359717 / 33365300 / 33357978 ext. 138
Mobile: 00201005449622