1-INTRODUCTION
The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has been set up to facilitate the higher education institutions to serve as an engine of growth for the socio-economic development of Pakistan. HEC plays a central role in the development of the universities of Pakistan to become worldclass centers of education, research and development. HEC intends to establish a Centre for Water Resources in Balochistan to take up research, innovation and capacity building in the field of water resources. This Centre is designed to create provincial capacity in key areas of water resources to tackle the emerging issues being faced by the people of the province. The Center will be established in HEC recognized universities/degree awarding institutions (both public and private).
2- CONCEPT OF CENTER
The Center is designed to enhance the capacity building in key emerging areas of science and technology in the field of water resources that have received a lot of attention and focus in the recent years and where each. Each Lab may have 2-3 application domains and each will be headed by a co-P.I. for that
application domain. Preference would be given to those proposals which will identify potential industrial partners or a set of realistic application domains with real-world applications to come out of the Labs.
c) Identify Equipment and Personnel required to solve the problem(s) along with a research plan for how to do it. HEC may fund the basic Lab (equipment+ manpower for the big problem area for a period of 3 years) within the PC-I allocation. A dedicated Research Fund may be used separately to fund smaller projects or collaborations using an open call process out
every 6-12 months. The Labs must focus on establishing the underlying science or proof of principle (and perhaps build preliminary prototypes) for their respective application areas but leave the ultimate product development to be funded by a real client or industrial partner.
Preference shall be given to those proposals where the research groups have access to data and partners to ensure that what they propose is contextualized and locally relevant or with innovative plans to quickly generate locally relevant data/partnerships.
Preference shall be given to labs and research groups suggesting meaningful research and dissemination partnerships with industry, non-profits, or government entities that creates match funding or enable them to quickly translate research results into societal impact.
Universities may also propose to initiate academic programs in the relevant disciplines as part of proposal. However, these requests will be evaluated and approved separately by HEC. Both public sector universities and research-active private sector universities with a track record of research in relevant areas, a pool of qualified faculty, and an innovative relevant idea
are encouraged to apply. Public Sector Labs and organizations cannot directly apply but are strongly encouraged to become part of research consortia.
The proposals shall not fund any physical infrastructure (i.e. buildings, etc.) as these shall be the responsibility of the Universities.
Each Lab shall be carefully monitored by a National Steering Committee and will demonstrate that it has delivered a pre-agreed set of SMART KPIs, Papers, Research and Industrial Revenue, Partnerships, Startups, etc. over a 3-year period.
Universities may also commit additional resources to make their proposal attractive. They will have to provide free access to facilities and existing equipment as well as free up faculty time (and Masters and PhD studentships) to support and carry out research.
Should the University seek to host the headquarters of the Center, it must demonstrate capability and should provide additional details for why it would be the best choice and what it offers in return. The University with the best overall offering as well as capability and organizational arrangements shall be designated as a Lead Institution for the Center. While submitting the proposals, the research groups are encouraged to consider the following:
Significance and scale of the issue
Requirements to address the issue
Capacity and tools already available
Human resources and equipment (tools) which will be required to address the issue
Potential users of research/beneficiaries
Review of similar on-going projects being executed in the province and integration of lab’s activities with these projects (if any).
4- PROPOSAL FORMAT
The proposal may be submitted on the attached format. Each research group must submit a separate EOI. HEC will consider only those proposals complete in all respect and supported by the documentary evidence. Incomplete applications will be rejected at the initial scrutiny.
5- LAST DATE FOR SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS
The proposals complete in all respects may be submitted by February 22, 2019 before 14:00 hours. Please submit the soft copy through email.
6- MAILING ADDRESS/CONTACT INFORMATION
Following address will be used for all correspondence:
Muhammad Shahid
Director (P&D)
Higher Education Commission (HEC), H-9, Islamabad
Telephone: +92-51-9040 1204, Fax: +92-51-9040 1205
Email: [email protected]
To download proposal format, CLICK HERE
