The Office of the Vice President for Research, Creative Work, and Innovation is happy to announce this week's information on eight external grants and one conference that we have received and gathered. Let us know if you are interested and need assistance in applying for these grants, and we will be more than happy to help you. Please do not hesitate to contact the Office of the Assistant Vice President for Research, Creative Work, and Innovation at research@ateneo.edu.

Please check External Research Grants Opportunities, Conferences, and Fellowships database if you would like to see the list of active grants catered for Ateneo faculty members.

Research Grants

CODE GREEN FOR CAMPUSES: Call for Innovation for a Decarbonized and Regenerative Future

(This grant is locally funded and undergraduate students are eligible to apply)

The planet urgently needs your help in the fight against global warming and climate change. It needs your innovative solutions to carbon emission reduction and the restoration of the environment.
CODE GREEN is a team competition for college students to develop an answer to this problem statement:
Given climate change, schools and universities should be encouraged to look for ways to limit their carbon footprint. With this in mind, what innovative solutions and programs can you develop to manage, if not limit your school’s current carbon footprint?
CODE GREEN is presented by Future Proof PH in collaboration with its contest sponsor First Gen Corporation. First Gen Corporation is one of the country’s leading providers of clean and renewable power. It has put up the First Gen Innovation Fund to bring about and support solutions for a greener tomorrow, solutions that can come from YOU!
The team that wins CODE GREEN will receive ONE MILLION PESOS in seed funding for their college / university from the First Gen Innovation Fund to execute their proposed solution or program in their campus and beyond.

The winning teams will also receive the following Cash Prizes:

1st Place - PhP 100,000.00
2nd Place - PhP 75,000.00
3rd Place - PhP 50,000.00
4th Place - PhP 30,000.00
5th Place - PhP 20,000.00

No concept paper submissions needed at this stage, just put together up to three (3) teams and get a chance to become part of this opportunity to bring forth ideas for a decarbonized and regenerative future!  
As such, we would like to request support by inviting interested students to form teams and participate in this competition.
There will be a PhP 2,000.00 incentive as a token of thanks given to the first fifteen (15) schools to successfully register three (3) teams into the competition, which is the maximum allowed number of teams per school.

• Link to full description: First Gen Code Green
• Link to application: First Gen Code Green Application
• Maximum funding:  1,000,000 PhP
• Deadline: 31 January 2024

Call for Applications: Supporting Independent Media: Indo-Pacific Media Advancement Program

Independent media in the Indo-Pacific faces several challenges including growing authoritarianism, closing civic space, and declining revenue sources. To address these challenges, they need support and innovative solutions for ensuring financial viability as well as to produce fact-based media content and counter mis and disinformation. IPMAP has been designed to contribute to the overall goal of strengthening the capacity of media outlets and journalists in the Indo-Pacific region to develop their business strategies, enhance their ability to conduct independent journalism, and counter disinformation.
Specific objectives of the Program aim to achieve the following:

1. Independent media and journalists have increased understanding of prevalent mis and disinformation narratives. Capacity of professional, independent media organizations and journalists are strengthened to develop and implement media sustainability plans and improve business operations.
2. Participating journalists increase the quality and quantity of published information and news.
3. Media outlets have access to resources, content sharing agreements, and equipment to provide quality content.
4. Journalists and media outlets have the technical and investigative skills to conduct pre-bunking, fact-checking and de-bunking to address mis and disinformation.
5. Media and journalists apply skills and receive mentoring to produce investigative journalism and counter disinformation.

• Link to full description: Indo-Pacific Media Advancement Program
• Link to application: Bagri foundation application forms
• Maximum funding:  20,000 USD
• Deadline: 31 May 2024

Conferences

(SCOPUS indexed) 8th International Conference on Intelligent Computing & Optimization 2024

SCOPE 

Innovative  global  optimization  approaches  have  attracted  many  research  scientists,  decision  makers, managers,  executives, engineers,  academicians,  officers, policy makers  and  practicing  researchers  in recent years  as  powerful  intelligent  computational  techniques  for  solving  many  complex  real -world  application problems. The International  Conference on Intelligent  Computing  and  Optimization  (8th ICO’2024) highlights the  latest research innovations and applications of algorithms designed for optimization applications within the fields of Science,  Computer  Science,  Engineering,  Information Technology,  Management,  Finance,  Business  and Economics. Focusing on a variety of  methods and  systems  as well as practical examples, this conference is a significant  resource  for  post  graduate-level  students,  decision  makers, and researchers  in  both  public  and private sectors who are seeking research-based methods for modeling uncertain and unpredictable real-world problems.

• Link to full description: 8th ICICO 2024
• Link to application: All ICO 2024 Posters & Demos should be submitted by e-mail to: icico2018@gmail.com
• Deadline: 25 May 2024

Contests

2023 China-ASEAN Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition

To implement the Joint Initiative on Advancing the ASEAN-China Science, Technology, and Innovation Enhancing Program issued at the 26th ASEAN-China Summit, promote science, technology and innovation exchanges and cooperation between China and ASEAN Member States, enhance China-ASEAN regional innovation capacity, stimulate the vitality of innovation and entrepreneurship, and promote two-way exchanges of scientific and technological achievements, financial capital, talent team, information data, and other innovation factors. In collaboration with the ASEAN Secretariat, the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China will host the 2nd China-ASEAN Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition

• Link to full description:  China-ASEAN Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition
• Link to application:  China-ASEAN Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition application forms
• Maximum funding:  4,000 – 50,000 RMB
• Deadline: 15 February 2024

Free Webinars

WEAP 50K celebration webinar

Hear about user experiences with WEAP and learn how WEAP has informed policymaking and research all over the world with a presentation by SEI’s Jack Sieber. Additionally, a panel of experts working at the frontier of water resources management and policymaking will address key issues in sustainable and equitable water use.
They will address questions such as:

• How has WEAP informed policies that can help overcome some of the key water sector challenges in different regions throughout the world?
• How has WEAP produced additional benefits to amplify simple water planning, such as fostering communities of practice, capacity-building, public education, overcoming political barriers?
• In what ways has WEAP more broadly helped to change mindsets? What are some stories of how WEAP users have become influential in policy making?
• How might WEAP evolve in the future?

Panellists include:
Melina Balderrama, Program Coordinator, Bolivia WATCH
Joy Busolo, Senior Water Resources Management Specialist, Africa Region 2030 Water Resources Group Program, World Bank
Kamyar Guivetchi, Manager of Division of Planning, California Department of Water Resources (DWR)
David Yates, Scientist in the Research Applications Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, Colorado

• Link to full description: WEAP 50K celebration webinar
• Link to application: WEAP 50K celebration webinar registration
• Webinar date: 24 January 2024, 9 to 10:30 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC -8:00)