Fomenting research partnerships between the U.S. and the D.R. | S DR860 21 NOFO 002

Opportunity Information: Apply for S DR860 21 NOFO 002

The grant opportunity "Fomenting research partnerships between the U.S. and the D.R." is a discretionary U.S. Department of State program administered by the Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo. Its central aim is to strengthen practical, working research partnerships between higher education institutions in the United States and the Dominican Republic, while also building long-term research capacity in the Dominican academic sector. The Embassy frames the program around its Integrated Country Strategy priorities, with an emphasis on challenges intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for applied research, professional training, and sustained academic collaboration.

At its core, the program is designed to connect at least one U.S. college or university with at least one Dominican college or university as joint implementers. Projects are expected to carry out joint research and structured capacity-building activities that benefit Dominican students, faculty, and researchers, while also creating meaningful engagement with U.S. academic expertise and perspectives. The thematic areas the Embassy is looking to support include gender-based violence, public health, the environment, climate change, energy, democracy, transparency, citizen security, LGBTQI rights, and expanding access to education for vulnerable populations. Competitive proposals are expected to focus on one or more of these areas and clearly explain how the partnership will produce concrete research outputs and professional development outcomes.

A key requirement is that proposals include training components related to planning and implementing a research project. In other words, the program is not only about funding a research study, but also about strengthening the skills and institutional ability to design research, manage projects, apply appropriate methodologies, and communicate findings. Proposals must also include U.S. content, which typically means substantive participation by U.S. experts and institutions, incorporation of U.S. research practices or lessons learned, and programming that highlights U.S.-Dominican collaboration rather than treating the U.S. partner as a nominal participant.

Public-facing outreach is another central feature of the opportunity. Applicants are expected to host webinars that are open to the public and that showcase the partnership and its work. These webinars function as a platform for transparency, knowledge sharing, and broader impact beyond the partner institutions, and they help demonstrate how the project contributes to public dialogue on priority issues. Strong proposals would normally describe who the webinars are intended to reach (students, practitioners, civil society, policymakers, or the general public), what topics will be covered, and how the events will disseminate research insights or training takeaways.

Sustainability is emphasized throughout the grant description. The Embassy is not looking for one-off collaborations that end when the funding ends; it wants proposals that lay out a realistic plan for a long-lasting institutional relationship. That might include plans for continued joint publications, future co-developed courses or certificates, longer-term faculty and student exchanges, co-supervised theses, follow-on grant applications, institutional memoranda of understanding, or creation of joint research groups that remain active after the award period. Proposals are expected to explain how the partnership will evolve and endure, including what resources, commitments, or structures will keep it going.

In terms of eligibility and administrative details, the opportunity is offered as a grant under CFDA 19.040 and is open to a range of applicants connected to higher education and nonprofit work. Eligible applicants include public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status, and nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status (with additional eligibility clarification referenced in the full notice). The funding opportunity is listed under the Department of State, U.S. Mission to the Dominican Republic, with an award ceiling of $25,000 and an expectation of making about two awards. The source data notes a creation date of April 27, 2021 and an original closing date of May 31, 2021, while the narrative description also references an email submission deadline of Monday, July 6, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. and provides a submission email address (SantoDomingoGrants@state.gov). Because these dates conflict in the provided text, an applicant would normally verify the active deadline and governing notice version before preparing a submission.

Overall, this grant is best understood as seed funding meant to catalyze durable U.S.-Dominican university partnerships that generate joint research and deliver hands-on research training, while aligning with Embassy priority areas such as governance, security, rights, health, and environmental resilience. Competitive projects would clearly define the shared research agenda, specify the capacity-building and public outreach deliverables (including open webinars), demonstrate meaningful roles for both the U.S. and Dominican institutions, and present a credible plan for continuing collaboration beyond the life of the grant.

• The Department of State, U.S. Mission to the Dominican Republic in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Fomenting research partnerships between the U.S. and the D.R." and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.040.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 27, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 31, 2021. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $25,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 2 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for S DR860 21 NOFO 002

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