Apply for Coral Accelerator Program worth $1.5 Million

The G20 Coral Research and Development Accelerator Platform (CORDAP) is thrilled to announce the launch of its third funding and calls for eligible candidates to apply for Coral Accelerator Program (CAP). This initiative is designed to tackle the urgent need for innovative solutions in coral and reef conservation amidst the growing challenges of climate change and environmental degradation.

Application Deadline: October 21, 2024.

CORDAP is committed to driving transformational discoveries and innovations that bridge the gap between current capabilities and the urgent needs of coral conservation. The Coral Accelerator Program seeks to fund projects that are poised to make significant advancements over the current state-of-the-art, with a focus on interdisciplinary approaches and collaboration with end-users and stakeholders.

Key Objectives of the Coral Accelerator Program

CORDAP aims to deliver groundbreaking technologies, methods, and processes that can be applied to coral conservation and restoration globally. The program emphasizes co-design principles, making it crucial for applicants to identify and engage suitable partners and end-users who can deploy the proposed technologies.

As a G20 initiative, CORDAP is the sole international organization dedicated exclusively to funding research and development focused on coral conservation and restoration. The Coral Accelerator Program is built on three core principles:

1. Ensuring Local Community Benefits: Solutions must be affordable and accessible to those most in need.
2. Global Inclusivity: Applicant teams should include organizations from at least two countries, with one being a low or middle-income country.
3. Open Source Solutions: Intellectual property from funded projects will be made available under a public license to foster broader access and innovation.

Priority Areas for Funding

CORDAP is particularly interested in projects addressing the following high-need areas:

• Assisted Evolution
• Aquaculture/Automation
• Cold-Water Corals (CWC)
• Preservation and conservation of existing corals
• Limiting early life stage mortality
• Intervention planning, risk, and monitoring
• Blended artificial and natural reefs
• R&D capacity development
• Developing country R&D methods

Types of Projects Eligible to Apply for Coral Accelerator Program

1. Novel R&D Projects: Development and implementation of new tools, technologies, methods, or interventions aimed at better protecting, managing, adapting, or restoring corals and reefs. These projects should introduce significant innovations in monitoring, threat reduction, assisted evolution, or restoration.
2. Improving or Scaling Up Existing Interventions: Projects focused on significantly enhancing current technologies, techniques, or interventions, with a goal of creating immediate and impactful improvements that can be adopted by existing restoration and adaptation efforts.
3. Translation R&D: Adaptation of existing technologies or interventions to different contexts, addressing local costs, technologies, and socioeconomic conditions to assess wider transferability.
4. Foundation Science: Addressing critical gaps in fundamental knowledge that could impact the effectiveness of restoration and adaptation programs. This includes:
   • Understanding natural adaptation, coral demographics, and advanced taxonomy.
   • Designing novel ecosystems where traditional restoration is no longer possible.
   • Developing models, decision systems, and monitoring technologies.
   • Exploring cryopreservation and bio-banking techniques.
5. R&D Capacity Development and Local Innovation: Supporting innovation by local NGOs, research organizations, and community groups. This may include technology training and support for scaling up ongoing efforts.

Funding Information

Successful applicants will receive funding up to USD $1.5 million per project. The award term ranges from a minimum of 12 months to a maximum of 36 months.

See Also:

• Apply Now – Federal Student Loan Application
• Apply Now: Small Conservation Grants
• Healthcare Jobs with Visa Sponsorship in the UK
• Apply Now – Jobs with Visa Sponsorship in Ireland

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible, applications must meet the following criteria:

• Applicant Team: Each application must include at least three applicants—one Lead Applicant and at least two Co-Applicants.
• Geographic Requirements: Organizations from at least two different countries must be involved, with one being a low or middle-income country.
• Lead and Co-Applicants: An individual can be the Lead Applicant on only one proposal and participate as a Co-Applicant in up to two extra proposals. Organizations can lead a maximum of two proposals but can participate in multiple others.
• Eligible Organizations: Not-for-profit organizations, for-profit organizations, higher education institutions, research institutes, and government organizations are eligible. For-profit organizations must co-invest to avoid making a profit.
• Research Location: If research activities are conducted in a third country, it is strongly encouraged to include representation from that country in the application.

Don’t miss this opportunity to contribute to the future of coral reefs. Submit your proposal to apply for Coral Accelerator Program on or before October 21, 2024, and be part of a global effort to innovate and advance coral conservation!

For more information and to apply, visit [CORDAP’s Coral Accelerator Program 2024 webpage]. It is important you verify before taking any attention.

Good luck as you apply for Coral Accelerator Program.