The MERC Program funds peer-reviewed, collaborative, scientific research projects on development topics between Israel and partners across the Middle East and North Africa region. All proposals must include at least one institutional partner in Israel and one in an eligible MENA country/territory (eligible countries are listed in the NOFO). Proposals involving three or more regional partners are also allowed and encouraged.
Submissions will be accepted until 11:59pm EST on July 31, 2024.
As part of the current NOFO, MERC is seeking to fund proposals in the following categories:
Continuation grants
Applicants with current or recently ended MERC awards may submit proposals to be evaluated as “continuation grants.”
Continuation grants provide support for the implementation, commercialization, broader dissemination, or uptake of project results from MERC-supported research. Depending on the type of project and results obtained, MERC would favor private sector partnerships, a focus on end-user adoption of technology, or tailoring outcomes to be useful to regulators in government agencies. This option can also be used to propose the incorporation of an additional country partner to a current award, or to propose an additional objective(s) be added to a current award as supported by preliminary findings. Estimated award ceiling is $500,000 over 1 to 3 years.
Travel and workshop grants
Proposals to support joint workshops, meetings, or exchange of researchers involving participants from Israel and the MENA region may be considered under this category. MERC seeks to support forums that advance dialogue on regional scientific issues, develop new partnerships, or deliver training on a topic relevant to regional development. Preference will be given to proposals that cite the development of new pre-proposals to the MERC program as a key outcome, engage students and early career researchers, meaningfully engage policymakers and stakeholders, and are organized in the MENA region. Estimated award ceiling is $100,000 for one activity, event, or exchange.
Special call for proposals supporting “Research Into Action”
As part of this NOFO, the MERC Program aims to support researchers with high-potential research outcomes to extend the benefits of their work, and network together clusters of complementary research outcomes from multiple applied research grants to yield robust, commercializable, or replicable outcomes, or research-based training opportunities. Applicants who wish to respond to this special call may apply for a continuation, or travel and workshop grant (as described above). This special call for proposals should not discourage applicants from submitting proposals with other eligible partners and/or on any other topic within the natural, physical, and social sciences and engineering.
In a future NOFO (to be announced later in 2024), MERC will also accept proposals under the following category:
Applied research grants
Under this category, MERC seeks pre-proposals pertaining to applied research and technology development within the broad areas of the natural, physical, and social sciences and engineering. Pre-proposals under this category should present collaborative applied research projects on topics of development relevance to the MENA region. Pre-proposals should relate to regional problems that benefit from cross-border cooperation. Applicants under this category are required only to submit a 6-page pre-proposal as described in the NOFO (Section C). If a full proposal is invited, guidelines for preparing the full proposal and specific invitation conditions will be provided to the applicants. Average award size is $550,000 (estimated ceiling is $1,000,000) over 2 to 5 years.
