About the Newton Fund
The Newton Fund builds scientific and innovation partnerships with 16 partner countries to support their economic development and social welfare, and to develop their research and innovation capacity for long-term sustainable growth. It has a total UK Government investment of £735 million up until 2021, with matched resources from the partner countries.
The Newton Fund is managed by the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), and delivered through 15 UK Delivery Partners, which include the Research Councils, the UK Academies, the British Council, Innovate UK and the Met Office.
About the Newton-Ungku Omar Fund (NUOF)
The Newton Fund in Malaysia is named after a well-known Malaysian scientist, Prof. Datuk Dr. Ungku Omar Ungku Ahmad. It is to commemorate Prof Datuk Dr. Ungku Omar for his contribution in medical and health sciences research that had increased the health status of population including elimination of Malaria among poor and marginalised communities in Malaysia.
The Newton-Ungku Omar Fund (NUOF) is delivered by a number of UK Delivery Partners including the British Council, Malaysia. From 2014 till 2016, the British Council, Malaysia delivered four main programmes of Newton Fund, which were Institutional Link (IL), Researcher Link (RL), STEM Education (STEM) and Professional Development and Engagement (PDE), in collaboration with MIGHT, Academy of Sciences Malaysia, Ministry of Higher Education and Ministry of Education as part of the Science to Action (S2A) Malaysia government initiative. The programmes aimed to increase understanding and knowledge of people on science and innovation and pave the path towards positive environment for research and research translation. As a result, the British Council, Malaysia successfully promoted four partnerships on innovation and research translation between UK academic institutions and Malaysia small and medium businesses in partnership with PlatCom Ventures through Dengue Tech Challenge in 2016.
Starting 2017, the British Council, Malaysia will have a main focus in establishing connections that encourage innovation and research translation in Malaysia under NUOF. In line with the aim, NUOF programmes that will be delivered are Institutional Link (IL), Researcher Link (RL) and Professional Development and Engagement (PDE).
- Researcher Links: Under an overarching Researcher Mobility programme, grants are provided for research workshops and visits. Researcher Links programmes bring together early career researchers from the UK and partner countries to foster international connections that can help improve the quality of their research and open doors to new international opportunities.
- Institutional Links: Provides grants for the development of research and innovation collaborations between the UK and partner countries. The grants facilitate research which tackles local development needs and challenges.
- Professional Development and Engagement: Building the skills of researchers and professionals relevant to science and innovation. Specific areas funded through this programme are science journalism, research management and research governance and technology transfer.
- Newton Fund Impact Scheme (NFIS): Delivered by the British Council in partnership with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) on behalf of all Newton Fund delivery partners, this Impact Scheme provides funding for current and previously funded Newton Fund grantees with the aim of maximising impact from Newton Fund activities.
Past Programmes
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education: Supported STEM education through a variety of mechanisms such as the STEM Policy Dialogue 2016, training and development of STEM resource packs for schools (Innovation Club and Inquiry Based Co-curricular Activities), Science Communication workshop and module, as well as STEM Centre workshop.
Dengue Tech Challenge 2016: The initiative aimed to bring together experts from Malaysia and the United Kingdom on commercialisation of dengue-related research and products in Malaysia. The projects are currently undertaken by four collaborative partners and will complete in early 2019.
Opportunities
Any calls for application will be listed on this page and successful applications will be announced on respective programme page.
For the detailed information on individual programmes and list of past successful applications, please visit respective programme page.
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