Cooperation Development Research

The programme "Cooperation Development Research" (KoEF), financed by the BMBWF, is a funding programme to foster research on the two main principles of excellency and cooperation in development research. The aim is to support application-oriented cooperation projects between Austrian higher education institutions/research institutions and institutions in countries of the Global South and therewith to contribute to analysing and solving local challenges and to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in 2015.

KoEF currently finances 24 cooperative research projects with a duration between 1 and 3 years and a budget of up to € 50.000 involving 150 researchers and over 40 institutions. KoEF intends to contribute to creating an environment which fosters international cooperation between researchers and institutions extending beyond individual project durations.

Eligible costs are mobility and material expenses in the context of 1-3year research projects in all scientific disciplines.

Depending on the duration of the project the funding amounts are up to EUR 50,000.- per project.

Eligible to apply are researchers (postdocs) at Austrian universities and non-university research institutions within the framework of application-oriented research as well as researchers at universities and non-university research institutions in countries of the Global South*. (*For detailed information about partner countries and project criteria please consult the call information.)

4th Call 2023 is now closed!

Current projects

KoEF is currently funding 32 cooperative research projects with a duration between 1 and 3 years, involving more than 250 researchers worldwide. KoEF intends to contribute to creating an environment which fosters international cooperation in scientific excellency between researchers and institutions extending beyond individual project durations. Find out more about our projects here:

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    • Improving the Genetic Resistance of regionally adapted wheat germplasm for resistance to Fusarium Head Blight and relevant fungal diseases in Ethiopia, Kenya and Zimbabwe (Kenya, Austria, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe | P002 - 2022)
    • Analysis of local changes in water availability for mountain communities (Austria, Kyrgyzstan | P004 - 2022)
    • Sustainable Strategy Toward Adopting Innovative Diagnostics for managing and controlling tropical diseases in Burkina Faso (Austria, Burkina Faso | P005 - 2022)
    • Virtual laser training (Austria, Egypt | P006 - 2022)
    • Strengthening smallholders breeding capacities towards sustainable pig production in Burkina Faso (Burkina Faso, Austria | P007 - 2022)
    • Lactic acid bacteria proteases for protein-rich plant based fermented food (Austria, Vietnam | P009 - 2022)
    • Extractivism and the Arts (Austria, Ethiopia and Tanzania | P010 - 2022)
    • Social Work and Sustainable Development  Project (Tanzania, Austria | P016 - 2022)
    • Formal Verification of Deep Neural Networks for Code Conversion applications (Austria, Egypt | P017 - 2022)
    • Strengthening the Institutional Capacity of Bahir Dar University in the role of indigenous agroforestry system for climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience of livelihood in Fogera district, Ethiopia (Austria, Ethiopia | P019 - 2022)
    • Sensitivity of rapid diagnostic tests for malaria caused by P. falciparum and prevalence of histidine-rich protein gene deletion as cause of failure in several African countries (Austria, Malawi | P020 - 2022)
    • Capacity building in biodiversity monitoring through cross-taxon surveys in Western Mongolia (Austria, Mongolia | P024 - 2022)
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