Chile will be eligible for Newton Prize 2018
Chile will be one of four Latin American countries eligible for the £1 million Newton Prize in 2018.
Khaled Awad, Head of FONDEF programme, CONICYT; Fiona Clouder, Her Majesty’s Ambassador, and Jacqui Williams, Head of RCUK Newton Fund.
During a reception held at the British Residence on 8 March, Her Majesty’s Ambassador, Fiona Clouder announced that this year the £1M Newton Prize will be allocated to Latin America and Chile is one of the eligible countries, along with Colombia, Brazil and Mexico.
The main occasion of the reception was to celebrate research partnerships between the UK and Chile. More than 80 people attended the event, including a delegation from Research Councils UK (RCUK) and Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológia (CONICYT), Newton Fund Award recipients and key representatives from the government, industry and academia.
During the same day, RCUK and CONICYT had offered a workshop for the Newton Researchers awarded by joint programmes ever since the beginning of the Newton Picarte Fund in 2014. They had the opportunity to share the impact of their initiatives, explore new funding opportunities, exchange experiences about international partnerships and learn about how to apply to the Newton Prize.
What is the Newton Prize?
Each year, from 2017/18 until 2021, a minimum of five Newton funded research partnerships or teams, each from Newton partner countries, will be awarded the Newton Prize. Each prize will be worth up to £200,000.
The prize will be awarded to the projects that demonstrate science or innovation that promotes best the economic development and social welfare of Newton partner countries, aligning with and strengthening the Newton Fund’s overall objectives.
Who is eligible to apply for the Newton Prize?
To be eligible to apply for the Newton Prize, applicants need to be existing or past recipients of Newton funding and will be awarded to advance their work. The prize funding must contribute to future scientific and innovative activities of the winning partnership. A minimum of 50% of the funding must be spent on eligible activity within Newton partner countries.
The prize to be awarded to Chile will have the additional criteria that the research or innovation activities proposed must be applicable to the wider developing world, rather than solely Chile, as it is no longer a DAC (Development Assistance Committee) list eligible country.
Will every participant country receive a Prize?
For the 2018 Prize, the plan is to have 5 prizes (winning projects):
- 1 prize for each of the 2018 Prize countries = 4 prizes
- 1 additional prize, the Chairman’s Award.
What type of partnerships or activities could receive a Prize?
The Newton Fund has provided funding for a number of science and innovation partnerships, teams and pieces of work with the Newton partner countries. Some examples of Newton funded work that could be awarded a Prize include those that improve our understanding of:
- anti-microbial resistance
- climate change and weather observation data to prevent natural hazards
- women’s and children’s health in developing countries
- improving water management and security
- genetic material from viruses to develop vaccines
Further information
If you want to know more about this Prize, contact Alvaro Cabrera, Newton Picarte Fund Manager, British Embassy, Santiago.
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