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Australian Alumni Grants Fund

AAGF – Round 4, 2021

The Australian Alumni Grants Fund (AAGF) is an activity under the Australian Alumni in Vietnam Strategy and administered by Aus4Skills. The AAGF has been established to fund proposals from Vietnamese alumni of Australian education institutions to consolidate their professional knowledge and skills; contribute to organisational and institutional change in selected Vietnamese government, private sector, civil society and other partner organisations; and strengthen linkages between Australia and Vietnam. Four previous grant rounds implemented by Aus4Skills have supported Australian Alumni in Vietnam to deliver projects in selected priority areas.

These guidelines apply to the AAGF Round 4 which targets Broader Alumni and Aus4Skills HRD Alumni cohorts.

Broader Alumni

  • Vietnamese alumni who have completed their studies in an Australian education institution through an Australian Government funded scholarship, including Australia Awards Scholarships, Australia Awards Fellowships, Endeavour Scholarships and Fellowships, and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) Scholarships.
  • Vietnamese alumni who have completed their studies in an Australian education institution through Vietnamese Government scholarships.
  • Vietnamese alumni who have self-funded their studies or received other scholarship support and who have completed post-graduate studies at an Australian education institution in Australia or Vietnam.

Aus4Skills HRD Alumni

  • Alumni of Aus4Skills Australia Awards Short Courses (AASC) and Informal Learning Opportunities (ILOs).
  • Other alumni of Australian education institutions can be part of an eligible team of alumni who submit an AAGF application, with the condition that the team is led by an Aus4Skills HRD alumnus.

Selected priority areas/sectors

  • Agriculture and Rural Development (agricultural-forestry-fisheries sciences, agribusiness, agricultural economics, rural development, sustainable tourism management, food safety, aquaculture, science and technology transfer)
  • Climate Change (including disaster risk reduction, science and technology transfer)
  • Cyber security (including cybercrime, cyber technology standards, international cyber norms, digital transformation and digital infrastructure)
  • Disability (including social work, special education)
  • Education (educational studies, education management, institutional governance, adult and vocational education management)
  • Gender Equality (gender and development, women’s studies, social work, social policy, women’s leadership)
  • Governance and Economic Growth (economics, competition, international trade, public policy, public administration, public finance management, corporate finance, law to support economic integration, entrepreneurship and innovation)
  • Health (including vaccinate cooperation, research, health system strengthening, support Vietnam’s COVID-19 recovery)
  • Infrastructure and Transport (project management and financing, traffic forecasting, transport engineering, social and environmental safeguards, urban transport planning and management, transport master planning, public-private partnership, transport economics, road safety and audit, logistics and supply chain management including maritime logistics management)
  • Regional Stability and Human Rights (criminology and public governance, international law, international human rights law, maritime sustainability and maritime security, international law of the sea, international relations, political science, international security studies, strategies studies)
  • Water and sanitation (water management, water engineering, water quality and supply systems, water and waste water, water governance, water security, drought management, marine pollution, science and technology transfer)

Proposals in any of the priority areas/sectors above will be given special consideration if they contribute to the targeted outcomes of the three key pillars (health security, stability, economic recovery) and cross-cutting themes (protecting the most vulnerable, especially women and children, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities) of DFAT’s Vietnam COVID-19 Development Response Plan.

AAGF proposals must be completed in English and submitted online at https://vietnam.smartygrants.com.au/AAGFRound4 by the midnight (Hanoi time) Sunday 16 January 2022.

NOTE: Access to the SmartyGrants link will be ready from 4 December 2021.

Contribution to Aus4Skills Program Outcomes

Any AAGF project must contribute to the following three Aus4Skills Program Outcomes:

  • Outcome 1: Male and female alumni use new skills and knowledge to make positive contributions to selected priority areas
  • Outcome 2: Selected Vietnamese government, private sector and civil society organisations, and other partners, demonstrate organisational change as program-facilitated improvement(s) in policies, practices and/or performance standards
  • Outcome 3: Australia and Vietnam have stronger, sustainable links in selected sectors/agencies

Eligible project categories for a grant

The following categories of projects are eligible for AAGF funding:

Category 1. Professional and Community Development and/or Capacity Building

Category 2. Public Awareness and/or Advocacy Campaigns

Category 3. Organisational and Institutional Change

Funding

The value of a grant is based on the following table.

Number of alumni applicants

Maximum Grant

One or two alumni

VND 165,000,000

Three alumni

VND 245,000,000

Four alumni and more

VND 325,000,000

Any project that has the involvement of an alumni team must clearly demonstrate that it is a team project with specified roles for each alumnus. It should show the added value in submitting a team proposal as compared to individual submissions.

Additional funding: Co-funding

Aus4Skills will provide matching funds of 100% of a contribution by the applicant, employer or other relevant Vietnamese/ Australian organisation (e.g. industry association, universities) to a maximum of VND50,000,000. The co-funding must be in the form of cash (not ‘in kind’) contribution and be shown as part of the budget in the AAGF application including the timing of the provision of the co-funding. Such a co-funding arrangement will increase the amount of funds available for a proposal as well as strengthen the commitment of the applicant/employer/organisation to the proposal. Aus4Skills will assess in its sole discretion whether ‘matching funds’ are available.

 

Example 1 (VND):

Example 2 (VND):

 Example 3 (VND):

AAGF project grant

165,000,000

165,000,000

 165,000,000

Co-funding (i.e. from employer)

30,000,000

50,000,000

 100,000,000

AAGF matching funds

30,000,000

50,000,000

 50,000,000
Total 225,000,000 265,000,000 315,000,000

The maximum matching funds are VND50,000,000 regardless of the amount of co-funding amount. Aus4Skills will not match funds sourced from loans.

Funding for translation

All applications and subsequent progress and completion reports must be written in English. If Aus4Skills HRD alumni are not proficient in English, they are only entitled to claim the costs of translation into English of their application, progress and completion reports up to a maximum of VND5,000,000 per application. The cost for translation must be included in the application budget and receipts must be submitted in acquittal reports to support claims for translation costs.

Equity of Access Fund

For alumni with disability and rural disadvantaged alumni (including rural disadvantaged ethnic minority alumni) wishing to participate in AAGF events organised by the Australian Embassy or Aus4Skills, alumni may seek the support from the Aus4Skills Equity of Access Fund.

Duration of grant

The maximum duration for implementing a grant project is 12 months. Grant implementation should commence within 2 months from the date of submission of the signed Grant Agreement.

Proposal evaluation criteria

Each application is to be evaluated against six key criteria: 1) Strategic Purpose, 2) Methodology/Approaches, 3) Gender, Disability and Social Inclusion, 4) Financial and Risk Management, 5) Ownership, Sustainability and Communications and 6) Monitoring & Evaluation.

Recognition of Successful Grant Completion

When a grant has been successfully implemented and both the completion and final financial reports have been received and accepted by Aus4Skills, a Certificate of Grant Completion will be awarded to the respective alumnus/alumni team.

AAGF Guidelines

Full details about applying for a AAGF can be found in the AAGF Guidelines for Applicants.

The AAGF Financial Guidelines and Communications Guidelines will be applied for successful applications during the grant implementation.

AAGF Results

 


Additional information