OARS funding Economics

The purpose of this notice is to request applications for special projects and programs associated with the Minority Business Development Agency's (MBDA) strategic plans and mission goals, as well as to provide the general public with information and guidelines on how MBDA will select proposals and administer discretionary Federal assistance under this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).

Address weaknesses in partner nations export control, investment screening, critical infrastructure protection, customs and border security institutions to prevent malign state actors from exploiting those weaknesses for their advantage.

Through its annual Research Grant Program, grants of up to $5,000 will be awarded to faculty members or doctoral students working collaboratively with faculty advisors on high-quality research that addresses topics of importance to sales practitioners and researchers alike. Basic or exploratory work will be considered, with no one approach or method favored over another. Proposed research may be conceptual or empirical and may involve field surveys, field or laboratory experiments, model building, or theory development. SEF strongly endorses using actual salespeople, sales managers and executives, and customers rather than students as participants in research projects.

AGOA legislation, authorized to 2025, calls for the establishment of a United States-Sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum (AGOA Forum) to meet annually to discuss trade and investment between the United States and the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, and the implementation of AGOA. To ensure civil society participation in AGOA trade discussions and promote strong and inclusive sub-Saharan African economies, DRL requests proposals for a $950,000 cooperative agreement to support leadership and development of a transparent and comprehensive AGOA civil society network. In conjunction with the annual AGOA forum, projects should support the network to effectively provide observations and recommendations regarding country compliance with AGOA eligibility criteria - including the establishment of or progress toward political pluralism and the rule of law, a system to combat corruption and bribery, and protection of internationally recognized worker rights - as well as effective utilization of AGOA benefits. Programs should also support local civil society to provide input on country compliance with requirements to not engage in gross violations of human rights and to cooperate with international efforts to eliminate human rights violations. Activities may include, but are not limited to: outreach, support, and mentoring for human rights and labor rights civil society organizations (CSOs) in AGOA eligible countries; assistance for local CSOs to prioritize and monitor key issues; and support to strategize, prepare for and attend the Forum and follow-up on Forum recommendations throughout the year.

The STTR program is intended to support scientific excellence and technological innovation through the investment of federal research funds to build a strong national economy by stimulating technological innovation in the private sector; strengthening the role of small business in meeting federal research and development needs; increasing the commercial application of federally supported research results; and fostering and encouraging participation by socially and economically disadvantaged and women-owned small businesses. The STTR program at NSF solicits proposals from the small business sector consistent with NSF's mission to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; and to secure the national defense. The program is governed by Public Law 114-328 (SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2017). SBIR/STTR policy is provided by the Small Business Administration (SBA) through the SBIR/STTR Policy Directive. A main purpose of the legislation is to stimulate technological innovation and increase private sector commercialization. The NSF SBIR/STTR program is therefore in a unique position to meet both the goals of NSF and the purpose of the SBIR/STTR legislation by transforming scientific discovery and innovation into both social and economic benefit, and by emphasizing private sector commercialization.

The SBIR program is intended to support scientific excellence and technological innovation through the investment of federal research funds to build a strong national economy by stimulating technological innovation in the private sector; strengthening the role of small business in meeting federal research and development needs; increasing the commercial application of federally supported research results; and fostering and encouraging participation by socially and economically disadvantaged and women-owned small businesses. The SBIR program at NSF solicits proposals from the small business sector consistent with NSF's mission to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; and to secure the national defense. The program is governed  by Public Law 114-328 (SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2017). SBIR/STTR policy is provided by the Small Business Administration (SBA) through the SBIR Policy Directive. A main purpose of the legislation is to stimulate technological innovation and increase private sector commercialization. The NSF SBIR/STTR program is therefore in a unique position to meet both the goals of NSF and the purpose of the SBIR/STTR legislation by transforming scientific discovery and innovation into both social and economic benefit, and by emphasizing private sector commercialization.

As specified in the Geography and Spatial Sciences Program strategic plan, the mission of the NSF Geography and Spatial Sciences (GSS) Program is to promote: Basic scientific research in geography and spatial science that advances theory, fundamental understanding, and scientific approaches and addresses the challenges facing society. The education and training of geographers and spatial scientists in order to enhance the capabilities of current and future generations of researchers. The involvement of geographers and spatial scientists ininterdisciplinary research. The Geography and Spatial Sciences Program supports basic research about the geographic distributions and interactions of human, physical, and biotic systems on Earth. Investigators are encouraged to propose plans for research about the nature, causes, and consequences of human activity and natural environmental processes across a range of scales. Projects about a broad range of topics may be appropriate for support if they offer promise of enhancing fundamental geographical knowledge, concepts, theories, methods, and their application to societal problems and concerns.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), Global Programs (GP) seeks the provision of technical assistance to improve its understanding of market system resilience. Specifically, USDA/FAS and USAID/Kenya and East Africa (KEA) seek to support exploratory research to develop, field test, refine hypotheses, and draft indicators and tools for measuring critical factors that enable market systems to adapt and transform in the face of shocks and stresses. As such, it will support the U.S. Government's Feed the Future aim of improving agricultural market system resilience leading to more secure economic opportunities for vulnerable populations facing shocks and stresses in northern Kenya. Field level data collection should take place in one county in Northern Kenya and one county in Eastern Kenya, to be selected by USDA based on ongoing U.S. government programming. USDA will ensure that there are no security concerns with the county to be selected, and will consider recommendations from the applicant. Data collection should involve mixed methods (e.g. focus groups, individual interviews and/or mini surveys) with approximately 70-100 market players and 20-30 experts/key informants. Applicants should plan for approximately 50 percent of the effort to be primary data collection and approximately 50 percent of the effort to be desk reviews, analysis, and writing.

Public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM); California provide some of the most diverse outdoor recreation opportunities on Federal lands in the western United States. The BLM¿s Recreation and Visitor Services Program oversees a broad and complex set of recreation related programs, which provide a multitude of recreation opportunities and experiences. These recreation resources and visitor services support strong local economies and public land conservation. As BLM works to enhance recreational opportunities, we strive to remain a good neighbor and partner

The Microsoft Foundation is inviting applications for its Dissertation Grants program. The program supports PhD students at North American universities who are underrepresented in the field of computing and pursuing research aligned to the research areas carried out by Microsoft Research. Through the program, recipients will receive funding of up to $25,000 for the 2020-21 academic year as well as an invitation to the PhD Summit, a two-day workshop in the fall held at one of Microsoft Research's labs where fellows will meet with Microsoft researchers and other top students to share their research. Fellows must be aligned in research areas as defined by Microsoft Research, which include artificial intelligence; audio and acoustics; computer vision; graphics and multimedia; human-computer interaction; human language technologies; search and information retrieval; data platforms and analytics; hardware and devices; programming languages and software engineering; security, privacy, and cryptography; systems and networking; algorithms; mathematics; ecology and environment; economics; medical, health, and genomics; social sciences; and technology for emerging markets.

The General Social Survey (GSS) is a nationally representativeinterview survey of the United States adult population that collects data on a wide range of topics: behavioral items such as group membership and participation; personal psychological evaluations including measures of well-being, misanthropy, and life satisfaction; attitudinal questions on such public issues as crime and punishment, race relations, gender roles, and spending priorities; and demographic characteristics of respondents and their parents.The GSS has provided data on contemporary American society since 1972, serving as a barometer of social change and trends in attitudes, behaviors, and attributes of the United States adult population.In 1984, the GSS stimulated cross-national research by collaborating with Australia, Britain, and Germany to develop data collection programs modeled on the GSS.This program of comparative cross-national research, called the International Social Survey Program (ISSP), now includes 43 nations and enables researchers and analysts to place findings and trends from the United States within a comparative context. Since its inception, the GSS has completed 32 in-person, cross-sectional surveys of the adult household population of the United States with response rates that exceed 60 percent. The survey is currently fielded biennially.Data from the GSS are made available to scholars, students and the public for research, analysis and educational activities within 12 months of data collection.

The purpose of the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects (DRRP), funded through the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program, is to plan and conduct research, demonstration projects, training, and related activities, including international activities, to develop methods, procedures, and rehabilitation technology that maximize the full inclusion and integration into society, employment, independent living, family support, and economic and social self-sufficiency of individuals with disabilities, especially individuals with the most severe disabilities, and to improve the effectiveness of services authorized under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (Rehabilitation Act). This particular DRRP priority is to generate new knowledge about the effect of evolving healthcare policies on access to health care services, community living or employment outcomes for people with disabilities.

The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) announces a Request for Statements of Interest (RSOI) outlining project concepts and capacity to manage programs in Iraq that will: strengthen effective governance; increase political participation and civic activism; promote fundamental freedoms; and support atrocities prevention, accountability, and conflict mitigation.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through the Regional Contracting Office in Kyiv, Ukraine is seeking applications from qualified U.S. or Non-U.S. non-profit or for-profit Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and other qualified non-USG organizations for funding of an activity entitled "Ukraine National Identity Through Youth (UNITY) Activity." The purpose of the Activity is to foster vested ownership among young people in Ukraine's democratic, European future by further mobilizing youth leadership of a values-based conception of Ukrainian identity grounded in innovation, engagement, and pluralism. This will be achieved through the following interconnected objectives: 1) Youth innovation, entrepreneurship, and career preparedness expand economic opportunities; 2) Youth broaden their engagement in civic and community problem-solving; 3) Youth drive Ukraine's pluralism and respect for diversity; and 4) Research and learning on youth-related data, trends, and approaches inform youth policy and programming.

Agency Overview: The Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E), an organization within the Department of Energy (DOE), is chartered by Congress in the America COMPETES Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-69), as amended by the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-358) to: "(A) to enhance the economic and energy security of the United States through the development of energy technologies that result in- (i) reductions of imports of energy from foreign sources; (ii) reductions of energy-related emissions, including greenhouse gases; and (iii) improvement in the energy efficiency of all economic sectors; and

The Partnership for the Development of Eastern Congo (P-DEC) Program seeks an integrated set of cross-sectoral interventions. Through a cohesive and holistic approach, P-DEC Program aims to amplify the impact of USAID investments and complement other planned interventions by the Government of the DRC and external actors in the public and private sectors. The purpose of the P-DEC Program is therefore to address the development emergency in eastern Congo through a multi-year, multi-sectoral initiative that will build community trust, strengthen the resilience of individuals and communities, fortify existing governance structures, and create opportunities for long-term development and self-reliance of local communities. These activities may also reach across a range of partner types - from public-private partnerships to capacity-building of local organizations. USAID envisions an approach centered around two geographically defined planning and implementation phases. While geographically defined, the phases are not sequential, nor are they strictly defined technical categories; they are fluid, and are conceptual in nature. The approach also focuses on urban and peri-urban areas with large populations, existing transportation networks, and a level of security and stability necessary for implementation.

The purpose of the Aquaculture Research program is to support the development of an environmentally and economically sustainable aquaculture industry in the U.S. and generate new science-based information and innovation to address industry constraints. Over the long term, results of projects supported by this program may help improve the profitability of the U.S. aquaculture industry, reduce the U.S. trade deficit, increase domestic food security, provide markets for U.S.-produced grain products, increase domestic aquaculture business investment opportunities, and provide more jobs for rural and coastal America. The Aquaculture Research program will fund projects that directly address major constraints to the U.S. aquaculture industry and focus on one or more of the following program priorities: (1) genetics of commercial aquaculture species; (2) critical disease issues impacting aquaculture species; (3) design of environmentally and economically sustainable aquaculture production systems; and (4) economic research for increasing aquaculture profitability.

A free and open Indo-Pacific is crucial for global stability in the 21st century. This vision for the Indo-Pacific is not unique to the United States, but is shared by Japan and many other nations in the region. However, there are many challenges to realizing this vision, including territorial and maritime disputes, differing economic approaches, historical concerns, and various types of governance. Therefore, multilateral cooperation is needed to address these challenges and ensure economic prosperity, good governance, and peace and security become a reality for all in the Indo-Pacific. The Embassy welcomes proposals that address these issues and is particularly interested in supporting the following priority areas: maritime security, economic prosperity, civil society, disaster relief, health assistance, and rule of law. The program needs to be designed to strengthen ties between U.S. and Japanese institutions through the inclusion of U.S. experts. The program should also include participants from other countries in the Indo-Pacific region.

The U.S. Embassy Tokyo's Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Department of State announces an open competition for organizations to submit applications to carry out a program that aims to advance women's and youth entrepreneurship in Japan to promote sustainable economic growth and foster U.S - Japan economic partnership.

The U.S. Embassy Tokyo's Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Department of State announces an open competition for organizations to submit applications to carry out an exchange program showcasing the technological advances that are being implemented to address pressing social issues common to the U.S. and Japan in order to deepen the economic, scientific, and technological cooperation, promote sustainable economic growth, and strengthen people-to-people ties between both countries.