Background

Since its establishment in 1996, APN has been active in strengthening the interface between science and policy to address the challenges of global change and sustainability. As a part of this effort, science communication has been a key recommendation from the science-policy dialogues APN organized in recent years. It is also an important message APN recently brought to the global science-policy forums such as UNFCCC and IPBES, which stressed the importance of using an array of approaches to communicating science because one size does not fit all.

To promote effective communication of scientific findings to policymakers and a wider audience in a variety of real-world contexts, APN is launching this new grant opportunity to support the growth of a new generation of science communicators in the Asia-Pacific region. In parallel with the APN Communication and Outreach Agenda indicated in its Fourth Strategic Plan, APN invites proposals from motivated researchers, journalists, and science writers to develop impactful, creative and policy-oriented publications based on the resources available or referenced on the APN e-Library. It is expected that this grant will enable the further synthesizing, packaging and dissemination of such information for better-informed policy development while fostering a new generation of science communicators in the Asia-Pacific region.

1. Rationale and Scope

The main objectives of this new grant opportunity are to (1) promote collaboration between journalists or media practitioners and scientists/researchers and (2) disseminate scientific outputs in the form of non-scientific materials.

The grant is available to individuals with a strong interest in developing innovative and impactful electronic publications (printed format may also be considered depending on the intended readership) that will help countries move towards a sustainable and resilient future by informing policymakers of the available knowledge and best practices generated from APN-funded projects. Examples of said publications can be found in Section 4.

Up to USD 5,000 is available per project to cover expenses associated with the production of publications in print or digital format. The following costs may be claimed:

• Communication cost
• Native English editing
• Licensing for graphics
• Design, layout and digital production
• Printing cost, if appropriate to the intended audience
• Outreach activities

2. Eligibility Criteria

The applicant must fulfill the following:

• A national of an APN member country;
• An early-career researcher, a journalist, or a science writer, who have less than ten years’ experience working in relevant fields, preferably with a proven track record in communicating scientific research;
• Become the author of the proposed publication, and be the lead author, if the proposed publication is to be developed by multiple authors;
• Demonstrated writing skills and ability to produce high quality written materials in English that can be readily interpreted by the non-science community.

APN project leaders or collaborators may apply for this grant. However, the publication must be based on one or more APN projects, and must not be limited to the projects that they have conducted (see Section 3 and Section 4 for details). Former participants of an APN-funded activity or project are also eligible and are encouraged to apply, assuming they meet the basic criteria.

3. Publications Eligible for Support

The proposal must fulfill the following:

• Derived from a systematic review of one or more APN-funded project outputs available on the APN E-Library at apn-gcr.org/resources;
• Involved a researcher with a background in the subject matter of the projects being analyzed if the proponent is a journalist.
• Developed to target the policymaker community and the non-science community as its readership;
• Written in English or both in English and the applicant’s national language;
• Produced as a digital publication (PDF, eBook, etc.) or a web-based product (web page, data-driven stories, visualizations, etc.); and
• Published within one year after the grant is awarded.

4. Topics and Categories of Eligible Publications

The following categories are eligible under this grant:

1. Narratives or quantitative reviews of APN-funded outputs against one or more sustainable development goals (SDGs) and their targets.
2. Compilations of best practices of policy-relevant research and capacity development drawn from APN-funded projects conducted at the country and subregional levels, under one of the following overarching themes:

1. Climate change and climate variability;
2. Biodiversity and ecosystems;
3. Changes in the atmospheric, terrestrial and marine domains;
4. Resources utilization and pathways for sustainable development;
5. Risk reduction and resilience.

3. Compilations of best practices and policy support tools that can feed into ongoing discussions in international science-policy forums and global assessments such as the UNFCCC, IPCC, IPBES and CBD.
4. Syntheses or gap analyses of APN-funded activities in a specific country or a subregion in relation to national and/or subregional research and development goals.

5. Judging Criteria

The publication proposal will be judged in accordance with the following criteria:

• Relevance to the themes and topics outlined above.
• Appropriateness of the format, content, and structure of the proposed publication.
• Feasibility of the publication schedule.
• Feasibility and appropriateness of the budget.
• Past work of the applicant (published work targeted for the policymaking community would be an advantage).
• Recommendation by referees.

6. Obligations of Grant Recipients

If granted, the recipient must be responsible for the following:

• Drafting and coordinating the drafting of the publication.
• Managing subcontracts for various parts of the publication project such as professional English editing, design and layout.
• Submission of a copy of the publication, including all the source materials, to the Secretariat in digital format.
• Acknowledgment of APN’s copyright by adding a copyright notice accordance with APN regulations and by adding the official logomark of APN on the front cover of the publication.
• Submission of a financial report on the use of funds upon completion of the project.

7. Publishing

• APN will publish the submitted publication under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license.
• A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) will be assigned to each publication, and the authors will be fully credited wherever the publication is hosted.
• APN reserves the right to further edit the submitted publication in consultation with the authors.

8. How to Apply

Applicants are required to submit:

• a completed application form available via communicator grant template;
• an initial or partial draft of the proposed publication, if already available;
• a draft budget;
• a recommendation letter by at least one referee, ideally the supervisor of the applicant; and
• a portfolio of past publications developed by the applicant.

All the required documents should be submitted to the APN Secretariat by email to [email protected] by no later than Friday, 16 August 2019.

9. Notification of Results

The results will be announced within two months after the deadline of applications. If granted, the Secretariat will contact the successful candidate for contractual arrangements.

For Additional Queries

Please direct your queries by sending an email to [email protected].