Background
The Commonwealth Secretariat, OBREAL Global, Association of African Universities, and Symbiosis International University have partnered to launch a Youth Policy and International Cooperation in AI programme. Under this initiative, they are setting up an ‘Effective Inter-regional Incubator for Youth’ designed to support undergraduate and postgraduate students in turning their innovative ideas into tangible projects.
About the Call for Proposal
This Call for Proposals is for undergraduate or postgraduate students from around the world who are committed to personal and professional development and are eager to tackle global challenges. Selected individuals will receive mentoring, seed funding, and other support to implement their projects using AI, with the objective of promoting multilingualism.
Focus Areas
Proposals should focus on the application of AI tools into inter-regional and multilingual learning/research processes, as well as education, health, food security, entrepreneurship promotion, poverty eradication, gender equality, climate change, disaster risk reduction, and the blue ocean economy.
Funding Selection Process
Each year, 25 proposals will receive up to €10,000 in seed funding, with the most promising projects receiving additional funding over the following three years. The selection process will prioritize fair regional representation.
Submission and Selection Process
The process involves pre-selection based on concept notes (Phase 1 Call for Proposals), followed by full proposal selection. An international committee of experts will oversee the process. The final phases include documentation submission, contract signing, project implementation, and the establishment of a network of project implementers.
Important Dates
Phase 1: It runs from February 2024 to July 2024, with concept note presentations accepted until 30 April 2024 and proposal submissions open from 1 July 2024 to 31 August 2024. Link for Phase 1 can be accessed via https://shorturl.at/APSW9
Phase 2: It will run from July to September 2024, with funding awarded by 15 October 2024.
Phase 3: Documentation submission will be due by 31 October 2024, and projects will start on 15 November 2024.
Eligibility
The call is open to students from Commonwealth member states and for non-member countries (up to three proposals in total). Each proposal must have one student project implementer, up to three co-implementers, and a mandatory faculty mentor.
Projects should aim to drive innovation, product development, entrepreneurship, and potential commercialization for use in higher education institutions and other sectors.
For more information, visit the website via https://ai-incubator.thecommonwealth.org/
