Apply. The 2016 BCFN Foundation Scholarship for Food and Nutrition Researchers

Application Deadline: July 27, 2016 11:59 p.m. Eastern time.

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Global

To be taken at (country): Italy

Brief description: The BCFN Foundation has opened the research competition BCFN YES! 2016. For a grant of €20,000, researchers from across the globe are invited to put forward projects and concrete solutions on the themes of food and sustainability.The BCFN Foundation has opened the research competition BCFN YES! 2016. For a grant of €20,000, researchers from across the globe are invited to put forward projects and concrete solutions on the themes of food and sustainability.

Eligible Field of Study: The BCFN YES! Research Grant Competition offers the opportunity to put into action concrete proposals that will have the objective of making more sustainable one or more themes of the agri-food system (in terms of environmental, social, health and/or economic aspects). Among others, the following areas of particular interest are considered:

• Sustainable and healthy diets;
• Urban food systems and policies;
• Resilient agriculture, land use change and agroecology;
• The nexus between climate change, energy and food;
• Sustainable water management;
• Food supply chains;
• Ecosystems and ecosystem services;
• Healthy lifestyles;
• Food waste reduction;
• Food policy development;
• Food security: availability, access, utilisation, stability;
• Communication technologies and networks;
• Youth and women’s involvement in agriculture;

About the Award:The BCFN Foundation is strongly committed to addressing the future challenges of food. The Foundation is focused on reducing hunger, fighting food waste, and promoting healthy lifestyles and sustainable agriculture. In 2015, with the help of the BCFN Alumni –young thought leaders from 20 countries representing five continents – the BCFN Foundation drafted the Youth Manifesto on Food, People and the Planet. The document resulted from an intense workshop in which the young pictured change through seven key roles for the food system: policymakers, farmers, activists, educators, the food industry, journalists and researchers.

Type: PhD and postdoctorate Degree

Eligibility: 

• Students/applicants who are currently pursuing doctoral degrees are eligible, as well as researchers/applicants with a PhD or a doctoral degree received after December 2014.
• All the Participants must be under the age of 35 at the date of December 31, 2016.

Selection Criteria: The BCFN YES! Research Grant Competition Evaluation Committee will evaluate the proposals with the assistance of additional members (experts in specific sectors) in those cases where the methodology warrants. The proposals will be judged on:

• Consistency with the topic areas and the BCFN Foundation’s mission;

Significance of the problem; – Design of the study; – The investigator’s qualifications (possession of the requisite skills); – The appropriateness of the schedule and the likelihood that the work will be accomplished on time; – Completeness of the application. Submissions will be disqualified if they exhibit one or more of the following: – Lack of adherence to submission requirements; – Poor quality in the writing; – Poor organization of material; – Lack of specificity on required elements; – Lack of appropriate instrument samples; – Lack of appropriate theoretical framework

Number of Awardees: Three (3)

Value of Award: The Recipients shall present a preliminary report at the February 2017 first BCFN Advisory Board Annual Meeting. Upon submission by the Recipients to the Advisory Board of the BCFN Foundation of quarterly reports documenting the progress of the Research, BCFN Foundation will pay the grant in two periodic installments as the research progresses:

• The first tranche (10,000 €) after the winning ceremony – December 2016;
• The second tranche (10,000 €) after BCFN advisory board meeting – July 2017

How to Apply: BCFN encourages submission of:

• Either new or ongoing research projects;
• Either unfunded proposals projects that are co-financed by a research institute, trust, foundation, university, private companies, venture capital funds angel investors. Details of research timeline and supplemental sources of financial support should be specified in the application form.  Go here to register for the competition.

Visit Award Webpage for details

Award Provider: Barilla Centre for Food and Nutrition (BCFN)

Important Notes: Contestants should read the Competition Documentation before applying.