The Nagao Natural Environment Foundation (NEF) has launched the NEF Commemorative Grant Fund for Capacity Building of Young Scientists (CGF) Programme, for a 10-year period up to 2025, aiming at capacity building of young scientists in developing countries of the Asia-Pacific region; both of the CGF Programme and the ongoing Research Grant Programme (under the NEF Research Grant Scheme) will be simultaneously progressed.

The CGF Programme is directed towards helping young scientists in this region grow up as world-class scientists in the areas of, or related to, conservation of wildlife and ecosystem in their own country or in the Asia-Pacific region. In this programme, research projects with high priority include fieldwork-based studies which are scientifically outstanding and sociocultural sound. Each project should be implemented by a project scientist (PS) from Asia-Pacific developing countries, with adequate support of, and collaboration with, a project coordinator (PC), who has excellent scientific achievements and intends to take responsibilities for the research project.

Funding Information

• The maximum grant size is 1,500,000 Japanese yen per project, while additional budget for the PC is available for his/her expenses of travel to the study site of the PS.
• The total annual budget for the CGF Programme amounts to 20,000,000 Japanese yen.

Requested conditions and roles of Project Coordinator (PC)

The Project Coordinator (PC) is requested to have:

• teach and/or work experience in a Japanese university or research institution as a scientist, as a general rule,
• experience of education to, or work with, the PS, and
• intention of supporting and collaborating with the PS throughout the project proposed, while keeping intimate contact with not only the PS but also the CGF Management Committee (MC) and the Secretariat of the NEF.

Requested conditions for the project

The research project must:

• be planned by the PS with advice/support of the PC, and be implemented by the PS as the principal investigator, in a field survey as well,
• be a fieldwork-based study in the area within the country of the PS (including the country where the PS currently works or studies), and
• be approved by the head of department, to which the PS belongs; In cases that the PS is registered as a doctor course student or is admitted to a doctor (PhD) course, approval of his/her academic supervisor(s) in the university and mutual understanding for role-sharing between those supervisor(s) and the PC are also indispensable.

Eligible research fields

The research project is expected to contribute to nature conservation of the country where the PS lives, or currently works or studies, focusing on living organisms, especially wildlife and ecosystem, from such standpoints/foci as follows

• biology, especially ecology, taxonomy, and distribution and current status of wildlife,
• biodiversity (i.e., species diversity, genetic diversity, and ecosystem diversity),
• threatened species, alien species, and restoration of ecosystem, and/or
• relationships between nature and humans (e.g., ecosystem services and sustainable use of biological resources).

Notes: Examples of declined research proposals:

• be focussed on development of agricultural, forestry, and/or fisheries industries,
• be difficult in handling by an individual researcher but by a large group of researchers,
• be funded by other organisations, and
• be already completed in the major part of the study.

Eligibility to Project Scientist (PS)

The Project Scientist (PS) must:

• be a national of one of the above-mentioned countries, less than 40 years old,
• be a researcher, who works or studies full-time in a university or research institution in one of the above-mentioned countries, under any of the following three situations:
  • having a PhD or Doctor’s degree,
  • being/to be enrolled in a doctor (PhD) course of the university/research institution, or
  • having at least 3 years of research work experience and sound record of scholarly publications, AND
• be not a recipient of on-going research or publication project of the NEF nor an applicant of any other grant of the NEF, at the time of application.

Target Countries

The target countries in the Asia-Pacific region include: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Kiribati, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federal of), Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Vietnam.

For more information, visit Nagao Natural Environment Foundation.