UEMF receives a delegation from USAID: Launch of the MERC (2023-2024) call for proposals program

As part of the development of international cooperation, a working meeting was held on Thursday, December 7, 2023, at the Euromed University of Fes between the Vice-Presidency in charge of Research-Innovation and Partnership, the heads of UEMF institutions and the heads of the Middle East Regional Cooperation Program (MERC) of USAID (United States Agency for International Development).

This meeting was an opportunity to present the new call for proposals program (2023/2024) for the funding of applied research projects. These innovation-bearing projects are incubated within the Eco-campus of the Euromed University of Fes.

The MERC Program, managed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), focuses on technology, development and capacity building for young researchers. This program also aims to support scientific cooperation between Israel, Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries.

MERC’s main objective is to award grants for applied scientific research on topics related to regional development as well as for the organization of one-off events, such as regional workshops and scientific exchanges aimed at promoting regional scientific cooperation.

During this meeting, Prof. Salim Bounou, Vice-President in charge of Research-Innovation and Partnership, presented the University’s main missions, its values, its educational offerings as well as the opportunities that UEMF offers in terms of scientific research and scholarships. He also presented the major project to develop Industry 4.0 activities, the Fès Smart Factory (FSF). In turn, the MERC members present took care to present the evaluation criteria to benefit from this program, possible funding opportunities as well as the application steps and the evaluation timetable.  

At the end of this meeting, the faculty-researchers who attended enriched the discussion by exchanging questions and answers to address all aspects related to this initiative.