Expanding Canada’s Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Advanced Scholars program in West Africa (2020–2023)

 

This project will expand Canada’s Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Advanced Scholars project (QES-AS) with a new phase focused on West Africa. The Rideau Hall Foundation will administer the grant and Universities Canada will implement the project.

As with Phase I, this phase will invest in advanced scholars to develop solutions to increasingly complex national and global challenges. Phase II of QES-AS will support research-focused exchanges for doctoral students, post-doctoral fellows, and early career scientists in universities and businesses in Canada and West African countries. The scholars’ research will inform progress on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with preference given to proposals that focus on or clearly integrate SDG 5 (gender equality) as a crosscutting or mainstream goal.

Phase II of the QES-AS will involve a single call in 2020 that coincides with IDRC’s 50th anniversary. This new phase will support a new generation of highly skilled scholars in Canada and West Africa. Through their applied research, creative leadership, and professional networking, these scholars will contribute to stronger economies and prosperous societies, and significantly enrich the knowledge base within their respective fields.