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

The report outlines key activities and progress made during the quarter. During this reporting period, the NAS Program Officer traveled to Egypt and met with Egyptian government and U.S. government stakeholders in Cairo. As a first step in resuming Joint Fund activities, the Science and Technology Development Fund (STDF) and NAS agreed to announce two grants, the Junior Scientist Development Visit and a Collaborative Research Grant, and established announcement and deadline dates upon receipt of a signed commitment letter from the Minister of Scientific Research, Dr. Sherif Hammad. NAS and STDF began discussions on using the STDF web platform as one proposal submission site. The NAS program website was created, providing general program information and a link to the STDF website for application download and upload. Required reports have been submitted to the Agreement Officer's Representative (AOR). The Joint S&T Fund webpage was created and became live on March 18, announcing Cycle 17 with a deadline date of May 12. The website contains general program information, a link to the STDF website, and an alumni directory page with listings of prior grantees and project titles. Program planning activities included a planning trip to Cairo, Egypt, from January 12-15, 2015, with the Office of Energy and Environmental Policy's Science and Technology Cooperation (OES/STC). The NAS program officer met with representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation, Scientific Research, and Science and Technology Development Fund. All expressed interest in the program resuming on the U.S. side and recommended four priority research areas: agriculture, water, energy, and health, with the STDF recommending a fifth area on ICT applications. Administrative activities included submitting a Work Plan and budget to USAID on February 11 and submitting the FY 2015 Q2 accrual report on March 17. A general program email address was created at [email protected], and the NAS staff, DSC Executive Director, and Program Officer met with STC staff on January 26 to discuss how to roll out innovation activities through the program. Plans for the next quarter include agreeing on an administrative processing checklist of proposals and continuing to clarify procedural or policy issues with STDF. The NAS will respond to last-minute email inquiries from applicants as the deadline date of May 12 nears. After the deadline, the NAS will download an Excel file of submitted proposals and review it with STDF to generate an agreed final proposal list. Based on the agreed list, the NAS will begin searching for potential reviewers and prepare and submit quarterly progress reports and accrual reports.