U.S.-Egypt Science & Technology Joint Fund Quarterly Report

The program aims to promote scientific and technological cooperation between the two countries. During the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2018, most of the program activity focused on continuing the Cycle 19 review process. The final two Cycle 18 sub-awards were fully-executed in the U.S., bringing the number of active U.S. collaborative sub-awards up to 30. Planning began for the Joint Fund Symposium, to be held in November in Cairo, as well as preparations for the Cycle 19 innovation activity. The Cycle 17 sub-awards were managed by NAS staff, who corresponded with U.S. principal investigators regarding budget concerns, travel questions, and program guidelines. Five Cycle 17 U.S. PIs received funding during this reporting period, after NAS confirmed that compliant financial reports had been submitted. The Cycle 18 sub-awards were also fully-executed, bringing the total number of active U.S. sub-awards up to 30. The Cycle 19 review process involved organizing the U.S. collaborative review process through holding panel meetings and collecting reviewer scores and comments. The Egyptian Science and Technology Development Fund (STDF) organized the Egyptian review process of the collaborative proposals. The Joint Fund Symposium was confirmed to take place in Cairo from November 5-7, and NAS worked with STDF to develop an agenda for the three-day event. The Visiting Lecture Series was also implemented, with NAS obtaining USAID approval for adding funds to three Cycle 18 U.S. projects. The U.S. PIs were reminded of the visiting lecture series' guidelines, and NAS later approved the agendas of five U.S. PIs to have lecture series trips, in conjunction with the Joint Fund Symposium in Cairo. The Cycle 18 innovation program's implementer, VentureWell, submitted their final technical and financial reports. NAS shared VentureWell's technical report and follow-up responses with USAID and the Department of State. A scope of work was approved for a future Cycle 19 innovation program, and the next steps were discussed. In the administration section, NAS organized calls with USAID, the Department of State, and the U.S. Embassy in Cairo to discuss program updates. NAS submitted to USAID the Year 5 workplan and current pipeline analysis, which was approved after a small formatting change. NAS also sent a quarterly accrual report to USAID and requested that all sub-awardees submit data, in compliance with the program's approved performance management plan (PMP). For the next quarter, NAS will share the first semi-annual reports with USAID, which were due for twelve Cycle 18 projects on September 30th. NAS will continue to work with USAID, the Department of State, and STDF on preparations for the next Joint Fund Symposium to be held in Cairo November 5-7, 2018. NAS will also coordinate with USAID, the Department of State, and STDF to organize the next U.S. – Egypt Joint Board Meeting. Finally, NAS will submit to USAID the program's annual report.