Grant Seeking & Partnership Directorate
About the Directorate
As a research university, ECSU is expected to expand its horizons through internationalization, forging partnerships, and conducting collaborative researches. The university has already established working relations, albeit limited in scope, with local and international organizations and higher education institutions. To help scale up the scope and quality of partnership in general, and in particular, collaborative capacity building and research-based engagements, the university needed, first and foremost, unwavering commitment and consolidated efforts to attract grants and foster beneficial and sustainable partnerships. Accordingly, recognizing the significance of externally funded research and capacity building initiative, projects, and programs, the university's strategic plan identified and prioritized grants as a key strategic pillar via partnership and cooperation. This was meant to realize the university’s aspiration of becoming a center of excellence in research and capacity building.
In light of this, the university has established a new directorate, the Directorate for Grant Seeking and Partnership, effective from March 1, 2023. Among other things, via facilitating conditions and platforms that allow for the university’s staff to actively engage in and secure grant opportunities from funding institutions, the new directorate is expected to augment, first, interest in financially sustainable research and publication; second, the quantity and quality of research and capacity building endeavors across all disciplines; and third, many productive and lasting collaborative researches with local and international institutions. By actively engaging in these efforts, the directorate aims to contribute significantly towards the university's broader objective of becoming a center of excellence in research.
Major Focus Areas and Activities
- Provide up-to-date information on donor strategies, priorities, and funding opportunities, together with Grant Seeking and Partnership Director and College/School/Institute publication and grant management Heads;
- Acquire and disseminate updated information regarding donor formats (proposals and reports) and other donor-related information to researchers to enable them to abide by donor rules and regulations;
- Provide guidance and assistance to researchers in the preparation of grant proposal, interpretation and budgeting of funding agency regulations and requirements;
- Facilitate the development and maintain specialized databases and systems for recording and tracking grant synopsis, proposals, awards, and related information;
- Facilitate the creation and distribution of standard and special reports, studies, summaries, and analyses, as required;
- Search available funding opportunities and communicate opportunities with the Staff;
- Facilitate partnerships with relevant Government agencies, non-profit organizations, and other
- Facilitate the development, monitoring, and maintenance of grant tracking system to ensure timely preparation of grant applications and the implementation of grant requirements;
- Co-ordinate the preparation of grant proposals, including budgets, letters of support, at the University level;
- Facilitate the organization of various workshops and conferences related to grant seeking;
- Facilitate the provision of written communications and report to funding agencies, staffs and the University Community;
- Work closely with College/School/Institute publication and grant management Heads and Deans to expand fundraising opportunities
Staff Profiles of the Directorate
- Mukerrem Miftah (Ph.D.), Director, Grant Seeking & Partnership Directorate
Office No. 410, CLG building, Ethiopian Civil Service University
Email: mohammednur2009@gmail.com
- Muhammednur Ahmed (Ph.D.), Coordinator, Grant Seeking & Partnership Directorate. Office No. 410, CLG building, Ethiopian Civil Service University
Email: dessalegn4@yahoo.com