DAI Funding Opportunities

Student Funding
Due: October 15, 2024

The Steering Committee of the Africa Initiative wishes to announce a call for applications to fund small projects, events, and speakers organized by students in spring 2025. We envision supporting a number of proposals in the $500-$1000 range that follow these guidelines:

  • Projects must take place on the Duke campus or in the Durham community.
  • Projects should be collaborative in nature, perhaps organized by a common theme (water, technology transfer, China-Africa) or as a way to develop new relationships across majors.
  • Projects may take the shape of—but are not limited to—a speaker, workshop, reading group, service-learning event, or film showing. If the proposal focuses in these areas, at least a portion of these activities should be open to all members of the Duke community.
  • Groups that propose projects can be solely undergrads, graduate students, or a combination of the two.
  • All proposals must provide the contact information of at least one member who will act as the project lead.

Applications should be no longer than three pages and include the following:

  • A description of the proposed activity.
  • The anticipated participants and outcomes of the proposed activity.
  • A budget.
  • A description of potential participant groups.

Please submit applications to Rohini Thakkar (rohini.thakkar@duke.edu) by October 15.

Faculty Funding
Due: September 15, 2024

The Steering Committee of the Africa Initiative wishes to announce a call for applications to fund small projects or working groups in spring 2025. We envision providing between $2,000 and $6,000 in funding for five to seven projects that meet the following criteria:

  • We are interested in generating networks and synergies among scholars with common interests at Duke, and therefore we will only be funding projects that take place on Duke’s campus, not those in Africa itself.
  • Projects should be collaborative and cross-disciplinary in nature, perhaps organized around a common theme (water, technology transfer, China-Africa) or as a way to develop new relationships across schools.
  • They may take the shape of a speaker series, a mini-conference, or a reading group, among other interdisciplinary/collaborative formats. If the proposal focuses on these areas, at least a portion of these activities should be open to all members of the Duke community.
  • All applications must be submitted by a Duke Faculty member, and all Duke Faculty are eligible to apply.
  • Special consideration will be given to those proposals that use a vertically integrated model that includes undergraduate and graduate students in the proposed project and/or working group.

Disciplinary Categories: Arts & Humanities; Environmental & Life Sciences; Multidisciplinary; Physical Sciences & Engineering; Social Sciences.
Applications should be no longer than 3 pages, and include the following:

  • A description of the proposed activity.
  • The anticipated participants in this activity, especially noting its cross-disciplinary elements.
  • Outcomes from the activity, and the potential next steps for further development, including potential for further funding.
  • Please attach a short (1-page) CV of the lead faculty member.

Funding requests should be sent to Rohini Thakkar (rohini.thakkar@duke.edu).