Concordia–Vietnam seed grant for collaborations in sustainability

The call is aimed at fostering new, innovative, and mutual beneficial partnerships between Concordia University and Vietnamese researchers to address some of society’s most pressing issues in sustainability, with a focus on water, energy and cities.

Call for proposals 

To respond to the “call for action” from our researchers, Concordia University is launching the Concordia- Vietnam seed grant for collaborations in sustainability call for proposals. The call's intent is to spark long-term collaborations between Concordia University and Vietnamese researchers to solve sustainability challenges.

Some of the key expected elements from the proposals are:

• Innovative initiatives that could result in long-term partnerships
• Reciprocal short visits for partnership building (both inbound and outbound)
• Involvement of faculty members and/or graduate students, and/or early career researchers
• Proposals focused on sustainability issues, preferably in the specific areas of water, energy and cities of the future
• Whenever possible, be leveraged with other funding sources (i.e. Alliance International)

This call for proposals aims to support the first steps of cooperation and is not meant as complete project funding. This seed funding should be used to identify complementary strengths, explore areas of synergy, and develop plans for future projects. Between 8 and 10 proposals will be chosen.

Some of the activities that could result from the bilateral visits (first steps of the cooperation) are:

• Develop joint research projects including third party funding
• Field and summer schools in the priority areas identified in this call
• Plans for the establishment of path agreements and double degrees
• Outreach activities and publication
• Etc. 

Background

Under the framework of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Canada and Vietnam, Concordia University organized the Concordia – Vietnam: Building partnerships toward a sustainable future event on December 12, 2023. The event was aimed at identifying opportunities for future collaboration.   

As a result of this event, researchers from both countries concluded that Canada/Concordia and Vietnam shared some of the same sustainability challenges and that there was a strong alignment between us in terms of research interests. The panelists recommended further exploring synergies that could strengthen our bilateral collaboration and, ultimately, result in a positive impact for our respective societies. In particular, the following sustainable themes were highlighted for further exploration:  

Building water and energy resiliency: 

• Monitoring technologies of water reservoirs 
• Prevention and treatment of eutrophication 
• Waste water treatment 
• Energy technologies and policies to support decarbonization and the transition towards net zero environments  

Cities of the future: 

• Living labs to develop decarbonization technologies and strategies 
• Sharing net zero roadmaps and lessons learned  
• Design and implementation of sustainability policies for cities 
• Smart energy girds and hydrogen infrastructure 

Next Generation Cities Institute and Volt-Age priority topics:

 List of themes can be found here: 

• Volt-age seed funded projects topics
• Next Generation Cities clusters

The event concluded with a call to action from the panelist to “create something extraordinary” between Concordia and Vietnamese universities.

Partnership development

To identify potential partners in Vietnam and vice versa and ensure the establishment of an initial contact between relevant researchers from Concordia University and Vietnam, Concordia International will offer a series of resources including a list of potential institutions and faculty members in Vietnam and at Concordia University, introduction meetings, and matchmaking events. 

Although we encourage you to use your networks/contacts to find a partner in Vietnam/Concordia University, you can also contact Julio Sevilla, Manager, International Projects at Concordia International to get support in finding a partner.  

Eligibility 

Eligibility for projects and participants: 

• The proposal must support new or existing collaboration projects on sustainability between Concordia and academic institutions in Vietnam. 
• The proposal must include a plan for two-way mobility (travel) between Concordia and an academic institution in Vietnam. 
• Students participating in the program must be supervised by a Concordia faculty member, who will be responsible for submitting and leading the project. 

Open to Concordia and Vietnamese faculty members and graduate students:  

• PhD and masters students registered full time at Concordia or a recognized Vietnamese university or research institution (must be supervised by a faculty member).  
• Faculty member from Concordia University or a recognized university or research institution in Vietnam.   
• Approved participants will be required to meet the travel requirements for their intended destination, including visa and/or immigration requirements.  
• Project participants from academic institutions in Vietnam are expected to obtain all necessary travel documents prior to their visit to Concordia, including visa and travel health insurance. 

Value and duration

Selected faculty members will receive a maximum of $12,000 CAD in funding to support the travel costs for two-way mobility between Concordia and Vietnam:  

• $6,000 CAD to support travel to Vietnam for the Concordia faculty member or graduate student  
• $6,000 CAD to support travel to Canada for the faculty member or graduate student from an academic or research institution in Vietnam  

Eligible travel costs will be reimbursed to approved faculty under Concordia’s travel policy.  

Duration:

The funding supports short term travel (5 – 10 days) for Concordia faculty or graduate students to Vietnam and for a faculty member or graduate student from Vietnam to Concordia.  

Sustainable travel

Concordia University recognizes the importance of organizing in-person meetings and events to develop partnerships and proposals. However, we encourage applicants to consider the environmental impact of their travel.

Selection criteria

• Quality of the proposal: Clarity and justification of the proposal and basis of the proposed collaboration  
• Alignment: Alignment with the call for proposals’ priority areas (above mentioned)
• Partners: Commitment of the partners to contribute to the partnership and quality of partners
• Expected impact: Proposals’ potential to lead to a long-lasting partnership that can result in mutually beneficial - impactful outcomes 
• Feasibility and scalability of the projects: Specific plan of action for further collaboration and identification of external funding. What is the extent to which future collaborations are possible as a result of the proposed activities? Activities and outcomes must be realistic and achievable within the required timelines.

Required application documents

• Proposed mobility project that includes a description of how the project will create a new or develop an existing research partnership between Concordia and an academic institution in Vietnam (300 words minimum and 650 words maximum)  
• Description of the added value of the mobility to advance research related to sustainability (650 words maximum) 
• Planned activities during travel to Vietnam 
• Planned activities during travel to Concordia University  
• Budget completed using the template
• Expected outcomes and impact (300 words minimum and 650 words maximum)