University Partnerships Initiative

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Program Description: The Public Affairs Section of U.S. Embassy Dakar is seeking proposals to carry out a program focused on strengthening existing ties and fostering new collaborations between U.S. and African universities. Project activities must take place in Senegal or Guinea Bissau and the United States and be directed primarily at Senegalese and Bissau Guinean audiences/participants. Proposals should address how relationships between institutions will be sustained after U.S. government funded efforts are concluded. Focus areas: ·      Promote partnerships with U.S. higher education institutions ·      Establish Senegalese or Bissau Guinean student and faculty exchanges, including in-person and virtual exchange opportunities ·      Facilitate joint research, especially in agriculture, entrepreneurship, creative industries, food security, and STEM ·      Provide training and transfer skills in all aspects of university education through subject matter exchange programs ·      Explore public-private partnerships, with an emphasis on commercialization, technology transfer, and job creation. The following activities do not qualify for Public Affairs funding: ·      Organizational start-up costs ·      Ongoing salaries or capital improvements ·      Paying to complete activities begun with other funds ·      Projects of a commercial or profit-making nature ·      Projects that are inherently political in nature or that contain the appearance of partisanship or support to individual or single party electoral campaigns ·      Projects that support specific religious activities ·      Fundraising campaigns ·      Academic or analytical research (if not part of a larger project) ·      Construction projects ·      Vehicles ·      Scholarships to individuals ·      Projects whose primary aim is the institutional development of the organization itself ·      Any fees for news coverage ·      Representational expenses, such as receptions ·      (Exceptions: expenses for coffee breaks and working lunches can be funded; alcohol, however, cannot) Preference will be given to projects that incorporate some element of American content. “American content” may take the form of American partners, or American themes and materials. Preference will also be given to proposals that involve alumni of U.S. government exchange programs (e.g., YALI Mandela Washington Fellows, YALI Regional Leadership Center, Fulbright, Academy of Women Entrepreneurs, International Visitor Leadership Program, etc.).

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