Call for Applications: The Pulitzer Center Africa Impact Seed Fund (ISF)

The Pulitzer Center Impact Seed Fund (ISF) supports educational and engagement initiatives addressing the most critical issues confronting our planet’s ecosystems and communities. The 2024 ISF focuses on a range of topics, including rainforests, oceans, and climate change, with a particular emphasis on its interconnectedness with workers and vulnerable communities.

The Pulitzer Center is calling for passionate educators and researchers to turn their innovative ideas on the issues of climate and environment into reality!

Impact Seed Funding (ISF) is a microscale grant provided by the Pulitzer Center to support education, research, or scientific activities with the aim to enrich the perspectives and knowledge within the university community—specifically students and educators. ISF facilitates a deeper understanding of complex problems and encourages the exploration of solutions and innovations to address the impact of human activities on rainforests, oceans, and the climate crisis.

All proposals must utilize at least one story reported by Pulitzer Center-supported journalists and explain how it will be relevant in the project.

Eligibility Requirements

Applicants should be university professors or researchers based in an institution.
Applicants are welcome to propose a project through a consortium of educators from universities in one or more regions of the country.
See our eligibility guidelines in the regional information box at the beginning of the page for Southeast Asia, Brazil, Africa, and Global.

Funding

ISF grants range from USD $2,500 to $4,500 with different budget sizes in every regional opportunities, so applicants have to read through guidelines that are appropriate to their region or countries. We expect projects to be implemented within four months of approval.

What is funded

Collaborative projects with Pulitzer Center-supported journalists or multi-disciplinary educators;
Collaborative projects with the most affected local communities, such as knowledge exchange activities, student immersive learnings, biodiversity expeditions, and citizen journalism;
Insertion of results into teaching materials, campus debates, hackathons on social issues, student-led debates, and dialogues;
Support for webinar series, and seminars;
Production and dissemination of visual content to support learning aids (short videos, documentaries, podcasts);
Small exhibitions on campus, such as photo exhibits or film screenings; Journalism workshops for student press clubs;
Communication activities to promote citizenship related to the proposed themes; Support for research activities:
Adoption of data to improve the accuracy of ongoing research, and insertion of data or knowledge in a book chapter.

Timeline

Application process: April – May 27, 2024