Call for proposals: Funded knowledge synthesis endeavour
The Wits Rural Knowledge Hub (WiRKH) is offering support for a synthesis working group to address a complex societal problem that requires knowledge from multiple disciplines to find solutions.
The supported working group will assemble and integrate existing knowledge, frameworks, and data from different disciplines to yield new insights. WiRKH will host and fund a synthesis working group of 8-12 members to convene two meetings in 2024 at the award-winning Wits Rural Campus, set in the tranquil Lowveld bush. Applications for such support are hereby invited.
Serving as a synthesis centre, WiRKH will fund and provide the following support to the successful applicant working group:
- Logistical support: Organising the working group meetings at the Wits Rural Campus, including travel, accommodation, catering, meeting facilities, and materials.
- Operational support: Team communication support will be provided before, during and after physical meetings, such as facilitating online meetings, sharing relevant documents with team members, tracking progress with manuscript writing tasks, and assisting with manuscript preparation. Group facilitation during the meetings can be provided if required.
The applicant teams must be headed by an experienced researcher, preferably from Wits University, who will be the lead proposer of the synthesis topic and who will chair the working group. Teams must include members from diverse disciplines, preferably representing both the sciences and humanities, and could include PhD students or post-doctoral fellows. Preference will be given to teams that also include non-scientific experts from government, community, business, or NGO sectors. The team should include members from other institutions in addition to Wits. Participation by delegates from elsewhere in Africa is strongly encouraged. Preference will be given to proposals with a clear rural focus or dimension. The synthesis working group will be expected to produce at least one article in a high-impact journal and a related policy brief.
Proposals should include the following:
- Synthesis topic title.
- Lead proposer’s name, email address and telephone number.
- Problem statement outlining the topic to be tackled, why it is relevant to rural development (if applicable), especially in Africa, and why interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary synthesis of knowledge is needed to address it (max 350 words).
- Summary of the proposed synthesis endeavour, including what and how knowledge, frameworks and data from different disciplines and knowledge systems will be integrated to yield new knowledge, and a description of expected outcomes (max 750 words).
- List of team members, including their name, institutional affiliation, and expertise.
Applications should be emailed in pdf format to: Prof. Wayne Twine, wayne.twine@wits.ac.za
Deadline: 09:00 (SAST), 10 June 2024.