OpportunityTitle: PAS Belgrade_University Partnership Program (FY2021)
CategoryExplanation: Program Themes:    The Embassy is seeking applications that focus on the following themes:    ACADEMIC FIELDS:      &#8226; Social Sciences:  o International Affairs  o Security Studies  o Mediation, Peace, and Conflict Resolution Studies   o Regional or Area Studies: European Studies, Eurasian or Russia Area Studies, Asian Studies  o American Studies / African American Studies / Latino American Studies / Asian American Studies / etc.  o U.S. History  o U.S. Government and Politics  o Law and Human Rights  o Holocaust Studies    &#8226; Journalism    &#8226; Education:  o Civics Education / Teaching of Social Studies  o Holocaust and Tolerance Education  o Special Education (for students with physical and/or learning disabilities)  o Educational Technology (incl. distance learning)    &#8226; Economics / Business / Management, specifically:  o Agro-business and Agricultural Development  o e-Commerce, e-Business  o Renewable &amp; Sustainable Energy Studies  o Tourism Management / Cultural Preservation / Museum Management    Note:  If your institution is interested in developing a partnership focused on other academic fields besides the ones listed above, please contact PAS early in the application process to see if that field would be acceptable within the above framework.    RESEARCH &amp; DEVELOPMENT (R&amp;D).  PAS is unable to fund specific R&amp;D projects, but we welcome proposals that would help Serbian universities strengthen their own R&amp;D efforts.    No matter which menu of activities are in the proposal, the university partnership ideally would further strengthen Serbian academic institutions and strengthen innovative methods of instruction.    Directly or indirectly, PAS hopes that this project will assist thoughtful academics at Serbian universities to better prepare their students for further study, for future employment, and to take up the responsibility to be well-informed citizens.
AdditionalInformationOnEligibility: ELIGILIBITY INFORMATION    Eligible Applicants:  The following organizations are eligible to apply:    a. public universities in the Republic of Serbia;  b. accredited U.S. universities (public or private);  c. non-profit educational foundations legally registered in the United States with the demonstrated capacity to fulfill the objectives outlined in this NOFO, i.e., to set up one or more university partnership programs.  To be eligible for consideration, every Serbia-based applicant organization must be registered in the territory of the Republic of Serbia with the Agencija za privredne registre (APR).  In order to be eligible to receive an award, all organizations must receive a unique entity identifier (UEI) from Dun &amp; Bradstreet called a Data Universal Numbering System or DUNS number, as well as a valid registration on www.SAM.gov. Please see Section D.3 in the full NOFO text for information on how to obtain these registrations.  Individuals are not required to have a unique entity identifier or be registered in SAM.gov.  Funding Restrictions:    You may NOT apply for a grant from PAS if your project:  &#8226; involves partisan political activity;  &#8226; involves charitable activities and/or the distribution of humanitarian aid;  &#8226; is a fundraising campaign;  &#8226; is commercial in nature, i.e., you or a project partner are making money from this project, or the activity supports a current or future business or entrepreneurial venture.  &#8226; involves the provision of health care or services, child care, food subsidies, or other social services to populations.    Please be aware, too, that the funding opportunity aims to support specific projects with objectives which can be achieved within a set timeframe.  We will not accept applications which are aimed more broadly at supporting your organization&#8217;s usual or typical daily activities and operations.  Those will be deemed technically ineligible and will not be considered for funding by the review committee.    For this particular NOFO, grant funding can be used to cover the cost of travel within the region if that is an essential part of the project; and Grant funding can likewise be used to cover the cost of travel between the U.S. and Serbia for program participants if that is an essential part of the project.     As a general rule, participants or audiences should not be charged for taking part in any PAS-funded activity.  If you envisage that your project activity will not be free for some reason, please contact PAS while you are in the process of completing the application to see whether that could be allowed.   Depending on the funding source, PAS might be able to support your project, but only if you can demonstrate how the revenue generated will used to support the larger object
Description: This notice is subject to availability of funding. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION The Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade announces an open competition for organizations to submit applications to support the objectives of the University Partnership Program as described under &#8220;Program Objectives&#8221; below. PAS welcomes proposals from new applicants. Priority Region: Serbia. Note: PAS Belgrade will give priority this year to proposals with activities focusing on audiences in university cities and towns in Serbia besides Belgrade. Program Objectives: The university partnership proposal should support the U.S. Embassy&#8217;s overall objectives in Serbia. Broadly speaking, we are trying to assist the Serbian people to: strengthen democracy, rule of law, and the protection of human rights; help fight brain drain and advance the country&#8217;s further economic development; promote regional stability and cooperation; cooperate with international partners to combat crime, terrorism, human trafficking, and other global challenges; and make further progress towards Serbia&#8217;s accession into the European Union. We also strive to explain U.S. policies, culture, society, and values to Serbian audiences and deepen ties between our two countries and our two peoples. A university partnership between Serbian and U.S. institutions of higher learning could involve in-person and/or virtual exchanges involving students, faculty, and/or administrators. It could also include one or more of the following activities: curriculum development; needs assessments; joint online courses; joint research projects; development of a joint degree program; development of a study abroad program; sharing of best teaching practices and instructional methods; support for participation in academic conferences or student competitions (e.g., moot court, Model U.S. Congress, Model United Nations); establishing an American Studies course or academic program; setting up a center focused on American Studies; and/or establishing or strengthening a career development center. The main goal(s) of an academic exchange could be to provide Serbian students and their professors: o American academic perspectives on shared areas of interest and lessons learned from the American experience in the focus subject(s); o Insights into current research and academic debates in the U.S. on the focus subject(s); o The chance to engage in discussions and debate with their American counterparts; and/or o The opportunity to experience and assess teaching methodologies used in American university classrooms. On the flip side, the American participants would obviously have the opportunity to learn a great deal from their Serbian counterparts. This partnership program will broaden their perspectives, provide them with new insights, and allow them to learn firsthand from Serbian academics about their research projects. This academic exchange would greatly enrich the U.S. universities as well. Development of a Research &amp; Development (R&amp;D) office at a Serbian university is another possible area of activity. In light of social distancing measures, and to limit the spread of COVID-19, we welcome creative proposals that utilize video conferencing, distance learning tools, etc. If your proposal includes in-person activities, please consider the inclusion of contingency plans, just in case the health situation requires that social distancing measures be implemented during the grant period. Participants and Audiences: Based on the objectives, themes, and potential activities mentioned above, PAS expects that the participants or primary audiences for your project would be Serbian and American students, professors/academics, and/or administrators. You might have secondary audiences or beneficiaries, too. Depending on the focus field of your proposed university partnership project, these may include media, civil society organizations or wider professional audiences within your particular field. Please note that the participants or audiences for the proposed activity should be citizens or legal residents of Serbia, with American counterparts involved as appropriate. If your project idea might involve citizens of any other countries, check &quot;Funding Restrictions&quot; above (C.4. in the full NOFO text) to see if PAS can fund travel for participants who might need to cross the border into or out of Serbia. (Regulations for some PAS funding sources do not allow for us to cover the costs of regional travel, but others do allow it.) If regional travel is in fact allowed, as a general rule, at least half the participants in your project should still be citizens of Serbia. Please contact PAS if you have further questions about projects involving participants from other countries besides Serbia and the U.S. &#65279;Program Performance Period: Proposed programs should be completed in 30 months or less. Anticipated program start date: Flexible, but no earlier than September 1, 2021. PAS prefers that applicants submit one proposal per organization under this NOFO. If more than one proposal is submitted from an organization, please include a separate letter in the application packet, explaining to the PAS grant review panel how your organization can manage more than one project and describe your past experience and track record indicating that your organization has the capacity to do so. Furthermore, if an individual or organization has already received a grant from the U.S. Embassy and that project and this one would overlap, the review committee will examine whether the applicant has the capacity to handle both grants concurrently and make a determination. All the mandatory application forms are available online via the Related Documents Tab and at https://rs.usembassy.gov/education-culture/grants-programs/ . We do not send out hardcopy versions of the application packages. All application materials must be submitted by email to BelgradePASUniv@state.gov. If PAS does not receive a complete project proposal at the above address by the deadline, it will be considered technically ineligible and will not be considered for funding. PAS anticipates that funding decisions will be made by June 17, 2021. Information Session. PAS will hold a virtual information session on April 1, 2021 at 17:00 (5pm) Central European time to discuss this funding opportunity and to answer questions from potential applicants. Please contact PAS at BelgradePASUniv@state.gov for details. If you happen to miss that online session for any reason, we will provide a link to the recording on the website. If you have any questions about the grant application process, please contact: BelgradePASUniv@state.gov. &#65279;Please check for information on other PAS funding opportunities on the U.S. Embassy website at: https://rs.usembassy.gov/education-culture/grants-programs/.
GrantorContactEmailDescription: BelgradePASUniv@state.gov
GrantorContactText: Tatjana Bakraclic &lt;br/&gt;Grantor &lt;br/&gt;Phone 381117064263