The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) invites interested individuals to apply for the Radio Astronomy Advancement Programme (RAAP) Grant. The objective of the Radio Astronomy Advancement Programme (RAAP) is to fund interventions, primarily workshops, that will contribute to the development of necessary scarce skills in radio astronomy-relevant science and engineering within SARAO, the general radio astronomy community in South Africa and the SKA partner countries in Africa.
Eligibility
- Academic staff based at South African universities, including postdoctoral research fellows; and
- Permanent and fixed-term staff members based at an astronomy national facility, including SARAO.
Criteria for Evaluating RAAP Grant Proposal
- Relevance and significance of the skills outputs proposed to radio astronomy science or engineering, and specifically to the SKA, MeerKAT and HartRAO radio telescopes, and SARAO space geodesy instruments;
- The potential of the workshop to achieve the skills outputs and objectives proposed, the level of experience of the facilitators, and the availability of the necessary equipment and infrastructure to achieve the goals proposed; and
- Cost-effectiveness of the workshop and budget confidence.
How to Apply
- Consult with either or both the SARAO Chief Scientist, Dr Fernando Camillo; fernando@sarao.ac.za and the SARAO Head of Engineering & Technology Development, Ms Keitumetse Molamu; kmolamu@sarao.ac.za on the topic and content of the proposed workshop to ensure that the workshop is relevant to the scarce skills development needs of SARAO;
- For SARAO staff, obtain the necessary approval from your line manager for hosting the workshop and proposal submission for RAAP funding;
All information provided for each proposal must be submitted as one PDF document (there is no application form);
Additional Information
Applications must include the information listed in points 1 to 11 below (please provide the information in the order requested):
- Contact person (title and full name);
- Contact details (email address and telephone number);
- Workshop title;
- Proposed date/month and duration of the workshop;
- Workshop organising committee details (names, contact details and affiliations);
- One paragraph overview summarising the proposed workshop;
- List the workshop objectives, including the benefits to the workshop participants and skills output;
- Proposed number, and composition of delegates;
- Proposed workshop programme (a high-level programme is sufficient);
- Proposed venue (including a short motivation for why the venue was selected. In addition, a quotation for the venue may be submitted to justify costs further.); and
- Budget ( a maximum of USD 40,075 (ZAR 750,000) per workshop ). If the workshop is co-funded, please provide budget items funded through additional funding sources.
Deadline
Applications must be submitted to bonita@sarao.ac.za before 31 October 2023. No late or incomplete applications will be considered. In addition, the outcome of the application process will be communicated to applicants in February 2024.
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