Newton – Al-Farabi Partnership Programme

RL WorkshopFebruary 13, 2015, AlmaU

The Newton Fund is part of the UK’s official development assistance and was launched in April 2014.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) administers the fund.

Activities under the fund will be managed by a core group of Delivery Partners, including British Council.

The first years of the Fund will cover 15 countries including Kazakhstan where the partnership programme Newton – Al-Farabi was formed.

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The Newton – Al-Farabi Partnership Programme• A new 5-year programme, launched in 2014• Aims to promote Kazakhstan’s development by building links

with the UK in the field of science, research and innovation• Jointly funded by the UK Government and the Government of

Kazakhstan, each giving £2m (KZT600m) per year

Ministry of Education and Science

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The Newton – Al-Farabi Partnership Programme’s primary purpose is to promote the economic development and welfare of Kazakhstan.

The Programme has six priority areas for its activity:• Energy• Health and wellbeing• Agricultural technologies• Resilience and natural disasters• Ecology and the environment• Food and water

These should be understood as wide areas of focus rather than narrow technical categories.

Goal and Priority Areas

Newton – Al-Farabi Partnership Programme

UK coordinator: BIS represented by the

British Council

Steering committee

Kazakhstani coordinator: Committee on Science of the MoES represented by the JSC

Science Fund

Programme Governance

Newton Institutional Links Grants of £50,000 - £300,000 over two years for the development of research and innovation collaborations between UK and Kazakhstani institutions

Newton Researcher Links Workshops Grants

bi-lateral research workshops between the UK and Kazakhstan

Newton Researcher Links Travel Grants

research visits of 3-6 months

Post-Doctoral Mobility Grants for researchers from Kazakhstan to spend between nine months and two years conducting research at an institution in the UK

PhD Placement Service free placement service to Kazakhstani students who would like to study for a PhD in the UK through the Bolashak Presidential Scholarship Programme

Professional Development and Engagement Programme

to support the development of the research environment in Kazakhstan and enable optimal impact from research

Activities in 2014/15

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• Grants to fund workshops that bring together up to 20 early career researchers from the UK and up to 20 from Kazakhstan who work in similar fields

• Workshops aim to facilitate new contacts and relationships that will lead to international collaborations and joint research publications

• Proposals are submitted jointly by two senior researchers (lead coordinators), one from the UK and one from Kazakhstan

• Workshops can last between 3 and 5 days and should be held in Kazakhstan

• The grant will cover the costs of holding the workshop (including travel and accommodation for all participants) up to a maximum of £44,200

Researcher Links Workshops

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• Funding for research partnerships between universities / departments / research groups in the UK and Kazakhstan

• Can involve more than one partner in each country

• Can involve private sector organisations and NGOs

• Grants of up to £300,000 over 2 years

• Grants can cover research costs, staff costs, researcher exchange, seminar and workshop costs

Institutional Links

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• Funding for recent doctoral graduates from Kazakhstan to spend up to 2 years doing research in the UK

• All costs covered for a 2-year post-doc including bench fees, travel, subsistence, visas, insurance up to £44,660

• Applicants need to have completed a doctoral degree within the last 2 years

Researcher Links Travel Grants• Funding for Researchers from Kazakhstan to spend up to 6 months

doing research in the UK, or for researchers from the UK to visit Kazakhstan

• Covers travel, subsistence, visas, insurance and research costs up to £12,000 for a 6-month visit

• Applicants usually need a doctoral degree (PhD or doctor nauk)

Researcher Links Post-Doc Mobility Grants

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• In addition to these 4 calls, we are offering a UK placement

service to help Kazakhstani students who would like to study

for a PhD through the Bolashak Scholarship programme

• Run by the Higher Education International Unit for the Newton

– Al-Farabi Partnership Programme, the service aims to:

– Strengthen the researcher pipeline in Kazakhstan

– Support the Bolashak Programme to meet targets for the number of

PhD scholarships it awards

– Help ensure that Kazakhstan’s brightest students choose the UK for

their study

• More information on the IU website:

www.international.ac.uk/programmes/programmes/kazakhstan-international-scholarships

PhD Placement Service

• Goal – to support the development of the research environment in Kazakhstan and enable optimal impact from research

• 8 Professional Development and Community Engagement Centres will be established in Kazakhstani higher education / research institutions in different regions of the country

• Each centre – regional hub, offering access to researchers from all institutions in the region they serve. Their activities will focus on skills training for researchers, technicians and research administrators and on engaging researchers with end users

• £100,000 over a three-year period to support the establishment of the Centre: paying trainers – initially from the UK – to deliver activities in the Centres

• Training for local coordinators and trainers

Professional Development Programme

www.britishcouncil.kz/newton-al-farabi

www.britishcouncil.org/new/euraxess

www.international.ac.uk/newsletters/newton-funding-bulletin.aspx

Useful Links

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