The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has launched the Center of Excellence (CoE) Grant in collaboration with the World Bank to promote solution-driven applied research to address social and environmental challenges.
It has invited research proposals from the directors and heads of centers of excellence from across the country under this program.
It said in a press release that “the CoE grants are expected to support research excellence at the Centers of Excellence, to promote strategic sectors of Pakistan’s economy, and to address social & environmental challenges. The aim is to promote applied research with a solution-driven – either commercial or sustainable – outlook”.
Additionally, the area of research for the projects should be limited to the lead Center of Excellence’s broad subject specialization.
The press release also mentioned that “if the lead applicant’s area of excellence is in the subject of Geology, the research area should fall within the boundaries of Geology or a multidisciplinary topic with the contribution of geology and other allied themes”.
As per the HEC CoE Grant program, the funding amount will be up to Rs. 50 million, with a maximum project duration of three years. However, the budget could increase to Rs. 157 million in special circumstances.
The HEC has underlined the following criteria for the grant:
The commission has asked interested candidates to submit their proposals for CoE Grant by 28 January 2022.