For Applicants | Focus Areas | Iraq / Water Research and Conservation to Keep People Healthy and Increase Employment Applicant Resources Apply Application Process Eligibility Focus Areas Find a USG-Supported Partner Frequently Asked Questions Eligible Country: Iraq Additional Criteria for Applicants: Please see Section V of the Solicitation for General Eligibility requirements. Objectives: PEER and USAID/Iraq seek to understand how best to keep the population healthy and employed with less water. Specifically, we are looking to support projects that: Research and communicate inexpensive ways to keep pollution and waste out of Iraq’s rivers Research and implement use of drought- and saline-resistant agricultural products and water-efficient farming methods Research potential applications of technology to track surface water resources Research potential for solar-powered water filtration systems in Iraq Use technology to accelerate training of water maintenance personnel PEER will support local researchers who are at the end of or taking advantage of a catalytic moment to gather the last, most critical data or test important approaches that can show development wins in one year. Such projects represent an excellent opportunity to test or demonstrate new ways of meeting country priorities while building local S&T capacity. Strong applications will have a cross-disciplinary team (e.g., including a social scientist, communications specialist, economist, etc.) and a clearly articulated beneficiary or stakeholder (e.g., policymakers, NGOs, government ministries, etc.), influencers, and a plan of engagement, including a communications strategy. Research results must also be action oriented with less of an emphasis on trainings and convenings and more of an emphasis on research to measurable action, or interventions. Duration of Project: Projects should be designed to be implemented in no more than one year with budgets between $30,000 and $80,000 USD. Any proposal received for a project greater than 12 months in length will not be considered for funding. Awarded projects may be eligible for a no-cost extension of up to 6 months after the original 12-month project period. Applicants are strongly encouraged to articulate exactly how their data or intervention impacts a larger community outside academia. Projects that require IRB and FWA must already have them. Women researchers are strongly encouraged to apply.