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RSA 2009 Stage 2 FAQ
Q: Can the co-investigator be from a different country not residing in UAE?
A. The Co-PIs must reside in, and be faculty members in a Federal or CAA approved
institution in the UAE. However you may have collaborators that don't reside in
the UAE.
Q: In the EOI, we indicated our domain of research. Now it appears that we
would more closely fit under another domain. Is it possible to change the
designation for the Pre-Proposal?
A. You are free to change your domain when submitting your 4-page pre-proposal.
You know best which domain is most appropriate for your proposal, so it is up to
you to designate the domain. If you believe that the domain is not sufficiently
precise to describe the field of your proposal, you still have the core
disciplines and keywords to fill out, which will further refine the appropriate
field.
Q: Does the 100 word limitation apply only to the abstract, or does it include
the title, PI's name and institution, and domain?
A: The 100 word limitation applies only to the abstract.
Q: How many EoIs have passed the first stage of the RSA 2009 competition?
A: No screening has occurred at stage 1 of the RSA competition. All EOI
applicants are invited to submit pre-proposals for stage 2.
Q: How many grants will be awarded in a specific domain?
A: There are no predetermined number of awards designated in a specific domain.
The awards will be made based on the quality of the proposed project as
determined by the reviewers.
Q: What is the NRF review process of the RSA 2009 competition?
A: The review process is as follows:
- Panels of reviewers will be formed based on the number of proposals submitted to
each domain.
- All pre-proposals will be evaluated by panels of international reviewers
selected by NRF staff and the top 200, approximately, pre-proposals will be
invited to submit full proposals.
- At the full proposal stage, proposals will be reviewed by a set of international
reviewers who will also write reviews of each of the full proposals.
- Each full proposal will have at least three written reviews.
- The reviewers will meet in Dubai to discuss the proposals and recommend
approximately 100 proposals for awards.
- The panel summary and the anonymized reviews will be provided to all PIs, who
submit a full proposal, at the end of the process.
Q: What format should be used for the 4-page pre-proposal, and what should be
the font, size, etc.?
A: There are no restrictions on the formatting, as long as the pre-proposal is
within 4 pages. However you should choose a font size that is big enough to be
easily readable and such that the text is not too dense. Remember that the last
thing you want to do is to annoy the reviewers by making your proposal difficult
to read.
Q: On page 4 of the
RSA Call for
Proposal Document, cover-sheet page is mentioned on top of the other 5
pages. However the cover-sheet page is not mentioned in your email?
A: The fields provided through our online portal make up your cover sheet. Thus
there is no need to include a cover sheet in your document. The four pages
should be used to explain your proposed research.
Q: Does the 4 page limit include the list of references? or can references be
on extra pages?
A: The 4 pages must include the list of references, you are NOT allowed any
extra pages.
Q: Can I still apply if I don't have a PhD?
A: The PI and the co-PIs all must have PhD degrees or equivalent. The one
exception is in those disciplines where the terminal degree is not the PhD e.g.
in Fine Arts an MFA is the normal terminal degree. There is no requirement on
the numbers of years beyond the doctorate degree. But the applicants will be
expected to have a track record of research/scholarship that is commensurate
with the stage of their career as measured by the academic metrics appropriate
to their fields of endeavor.
Q: In the pre-proposal you talk about a 1-page CV. Is that the CV of only the
lead PI, or do we need a 1-page CV for the lead PI and a 1-page CV for the
Co-PI? I have another researcher within my proposal and I wonder if he also has
to submit a 1-page CV?
A: At the pre-proposal stage of the competition, NRF only requires the lead PI
to submit a one page CV. At the full proposal stage, the CVs of
all co-PIs will be required.