The Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) program is now accepting proposals from developing country researchers interested in collaborating with their U.S. counterparts.

PEER is a new partnership between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) that is designed to address development challenges through international research collaboration. This competitive grants program will allow scientists in developing countries to apply for funds to support research and capacity-building activities in partnership with their NSF-funded collaborators on topics of importance to USAID. Areas in which both NSF and USAID have strong mutual interests include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Food security topics such as agricultural development, fisheries, and plant genomics
• Global health issues such as ecology of infectious disease, biomedical engineering, and natural/human system interactions
• Climate change impacts such as water sustainability, hydrology, ocean acidification, climate process and modeling, and environmental engineering
• Other development topics including disaster mitigation, biodiversity, water, and renewable energy

Proposals are being accepted from researchers in 79 eligible developing countries. Complete eligibility details, proposal submission instructions, and the application form are available at http://www.nationalacademies.org/peer. PEER is being implemented by the National Academies on behalf of USAID, and potential applicants with questions are invited to contact the program’s staff at [email protected].

Application deadline: 30th November, 2011.