Support to Academia

This will be awarded to facilitate quality and depth of research undertaken by undergraduate students. Consideration will be limited to research by students, related to their degree, and supervised by a faculty member either through a regular course, an independent study, or other academic project.

Eligibility
The lead applicant must be a Ugandan citizen, currently pursuing an undergraduate degree at a university in Uganda and must be registered as such during the period in which the research will be conducted. They must also be in good academic standing.

Application requirements
Interested persons shall be expected to submit an application following a call for applications issued by UCC. The application shall be made using the specified forms.

The application shall be accompanied by an endorsement by an academic staff member to confirm supervision. The academic staff member must have a continuing appointment in the respective university department/school (or equivalent) at which the respective applicants are undertaking their studies.

Criteria
Applications received shall be competitively evaluated based on the quality of proposal. Priority will be given to:

• projects that are academically strong and will provide sound learning outcomes, relevant to the UCC research agenda for the sector;
• projects that are realistic, with credible timelines, resource requirements, and goals;
• Third and fourth year students with good academic standing.

Terms of Funding
The funds under this scheme shall be used only for direct expenses related to the conduct of the research including tools, materials, and travel. They may be used to facilitate participation in conferences to present research outputs upon approval of UCC.
Requests for stipends/salaries for students will not be considered.

The maximum funding to a successful application in this stream shall be capped initially at USD 1,500.

This will be awarded to post graduate level researchers in order to facilitate a pipeline of future researchers, aid the enrichment of the ICT workforce of Ugandans as well as to enable their contribution to the sustainable development of Uganda's economy and the social well being of its people. Partial funding shall thus be awarded to support outstanding graduate students pursuing masters or doctoral degrees in Communications related fields for the conduct of a new research activity or to enhance an existing activity.

Eligibility
The applicant must be a Ugandan citizen and currently enrolled in a university in Uganda in a communications related degree program.

Application requirements
Interested persons shall be expected to submit an application following a call for applications issued by UCC. The application shall be made using the specified forms.

The application must be accompanied by an appraisal from a primary advisor in form of a confidential letter of recommendation addressing the applicant's merit and performance in the program, the significance of the project, and the project's relationship to the applicant's thesis/dissertation topic.

Criteria
Applications received shall be competitively evaluated based on the quality of proposal. Only proposals that meet any one of the following shall be considered:

• The research is of relevance and importance to the development of the communications industry and likely either to add significantly to the body of knowledge or have a positive influence on the development of the communication sector in Uganda.
• The research is addressing issues of national or local significance to the achievement of communications for all, with outcomes likely to yield significant benefit to Ugandan communities.
• The research helps develop new or extends existing communication technologies, services and/or applications to address local challenges that exist in Uganda.

Terms of Funding
The funds provided under this scheme shall be used only for research expenses that are directly associated with the research project, including but not limited to:

• Equipment and tools
• materials
• Travel costs

However, costs such as fees, salaries and other remuneration will not be eligible.

The maximum funding to a successful application in this scheme shall be capped at USD 5,000 for one year. Consideration will be made for continued funding in the subsequent year(s) based on performance of the applicant under the funded period.

This will be awarded to enable joint research among multiple academic institutes thus bringing together different and complementary perspectives, knowledge, experience, and skills towards the generation of innovative approaches to solving existing challenges, sharing and exchanging resources as well as developing innovative products, processes and services.

Eligibility
This scheme will provide seed funding towards the direct costs of collaborative research initiatives that involve research participants (academic staff members and/or students) drawn from three or more universities in Uganda. Applications of interdisciplinary collaboration are strongly encouraged. The principal investigator must, however, be an academic staff with a continuing appointment in a university in Uganda.

Application requirements
Interested persons shall be expected to submit an application following a call for applications issued by UCC. The application shall be made using the specified form.

The application form submitted in response to the call under the scheme must be signed by the lead applicant's (the principal investigator's) head of department/school (or equivalent) to confirm:

• support for the application;
• the applicant's status within the university, and
• that the applicant will have access to such resources, equipment, facilities, etc. as may be required to undertake the proposed research

An endorsement by the heads of department/school (or equivalent) of other universities participating in the consortium should also be obtained.

Criteria
Applications received shall be competitively evaluated with due consideration of the following:

• Is the research of high academic quality, addresses a key societal challenge in Uganda using ICTs and is therefore likely to have significant impact on the development of the communication sector or of Uganda and is interdisciplinary?
• Does the project have access to or provide a plan for attracting sufficient resources for completion beyond the seed funding provided by UCC?
• Does the research team presented comprise of members from different universities and from across a range of relevant disciplines?

Terms of Funding
Eligible costs will be those directly incurred on project activities including acquisition of research facilities or equipment relevant necessary for the research at hand. The scheme will not cover salaries or salary supplementation, course fees and bench fees.

The maximum funding to an application in this stream shall be capped initially at USD 12,000.

This will be awarded to encourage the private sector to leverage the knowledge and resources of universities by engaging students from local universities to undertake proprietary ICT related research on a specific company problem including innovations in new products, services and processes.

Eligibility
An application under this scheme shall be made by the student that shall conduct such project. The student must be a Ugandan citizen and currently enrolled in a university in Uganda in a communications related degree program.

Application requirements
Interested persons shall be expected to submit an application following a call for applications issued by UCC. The application shall be made using the specified form.

The application shall be accompanied by an endorsement by an academic staff member to confirm supervision and endorsement by a co-supervisor from the industrial partner. The academic staff member must be with a continuing appointment in the respective university department/school (or equivalent)at which the applicant is undertaking studies while the industrial partner (and beneficiary of the research) must be a private company incorporated in Uganda under the Companies Act and engaging in commercial activities in Uganda.

Terms of Funding
Funds under this scheme shall cover only the applicant's direct costs associated with the research activities needed to address the identified problem.

The maximum funding to an applicant in this stream shall be capped initially at USD 4,000.

UCC Special Project

This scheme seeks to accelerate research in areas of specific interest to UCC while leveraging the knowledge, facilities and/or skills of academia. In this respect, UCC will collaborate with academia to undertake particular projects of interest.

Eligibility
Participation shall be open to both academic staff and graduate students. The principal investigator must however be an academic staff with a continuing appointment in a university in Uganda.

Criteria
Interested persons shall be required to submit an application to UCC in response to a call. Applications shall then be evaluated competitively based for research excellence and innovation taking into consideration the following:

• Responsiveness of the proposal to the UCC problem statement how well the project meets the program objectives and demonstration of the delivery to produce high quality outputs
• How coherent the work plan proposed is and demonstrates a high probability of successfully achieving the objectives of the research in the proposed time frame.
• Quality of the research team to deliver the proposed research outputs. The team must be suitably skilled or networked to address all the defined objectives competently and to complete the project successfully with opportunity to graduate students to obtain essential technical skills required in the industry and interdisciplinary training. This consideration shall include the research track record of each team member.
• The appropriateness of the overall budget in light of the research activity.

Terms of Funding
The maximum funding to an applicant in this stream shall be capped at USD 15,000. However, supplementary non-financial facilitation such as in kind contributions for other requirements associated with the research project shall be considered.

The funding under this scheme shall cover only research expenses that are directly associated with the research project. Fees, salaries and other such remuneration will not be eligible for consideration.