HEC calls for research proposals under Local Challenge Fund 2021

Islamabad: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has called for Research Proposals from the faculty members of higher educational institutions under its programme Local Challenge Fund 2021.

According to the official sources, HEC has invited faculty members of public and private sector universities/degree awarding institutions to submit research proposals that can help address local issues.

While sharing key features of Local Challenge Fund (LCF) 2021, the sources said that it is a key element of the Higher Education Development in Pakistan Project (HEDP) supported by the World Bank and implemented by HEC.

LCF, the official sources said, is anticipated to support research projects that address locally relevant socio-economic issues and may also address topics associated with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

For LCF research priority areas, the faculties are referred to the HEC Research Priority List available on: https://hec.gov.pk/site/PRA and the priority areas under SDGs available on: https://www.sdgpakistan.pk/web/sdgs.

The LCF awards will be selected competitively, using a merit-based, independent, transparent evaluation and selection process based on international standards, they added. The amount of funding for LCF awards is Rs65 million for a maximum project duration of two years. In exceptional cases, budgets may go up to Rs113 million.

As per HEC details, the applications from eligible Principal Investigators (Pls) are invited under two separate elements of LCF as follows: LCF - Element One: The successful projects will balance (1) a research focus on addressing a Local Challenge with (2) building the research capacity and contributing to the research mission of the host institution.

The Principal Investigator for Element One proposals must be a university faculty member (PhD or FCPS/MCPS/FRCS) based at a Pakistani higher education institution (HEI) that is not included in the list of research-intensive institutions as specified for the Grand Challenge Fund-2020 (GCF-2020) call.

LCF - Element Two: The successful projects will focus primarily on addressing a Local Challenge. The Principal Investigator for Element Two proposals must be a university faculty member (PhD or FCPS/MCPS/FRCS) based at a Pakistani HEI that is included in the list of research-intensive institutions as specified for the GCF-2020 call.

HEC also shared the Proposal Submission Procedure under which the Project Outlines on prescribed application template along with requisite documents must be submitted by the PI.

The Head of ORICs/ Head of Research at the respective HEI must endorse the submitted application via HEC online portal: research.hec.gov.pk.

For further information regarding proposal submission requirements and evaluation process, the applicants are encouraged to see Call for Proposals Guidance available on: http://www. hec.gov.pk/site/LCF. HEC has announced the deadline for Project Outline Submission on Friday, October 1,