Under the Researcher Links scheme offered within the Newton Fund, the British Council will be holding a workshop on the above theme in Padang, Indonesia from 28 August to 1 September  2016. The workshop is being coordinated by Sheffield Hallam University and Andalas University Indonesia, and will have contributions from other leading researchers. We are now inviting Early Career Researchers from the UK and Indonesia to apply to attend this workshop. All travel and accommodation expenses will be covered by the Newton Researcher Links programme. The application form, with more details on the initiative, is attached and the completed form should be sent to Sadiq Bhanbhro (S.bhanbhro@shu.ac.uk) in the UK and Dr Hardisman Dasman (hardisman@gmail.com) in Indonesia by the deadline of 4pm in the UK and 10pm in Indonesia on 31 May 2016.

Information for the Workshop

The health of women and children is fundamental to any country especially Indonesia where women are a major workforce. A five-day workshop is being held on "Maternal and Infant Health and Nutrition", which aims to outline the current situation regarding maternal and child nutritional health research, policy and programmes, identify gaps and priority areas and establish collaborative research projects.

These are focused on interventional initiatives addressing challenges related to maternal and infant health and nutrition in Indonesia with discussion of ways in which these issues could be improved. It is also intended to identify stakeholders from various sectors and map their roles in contributing to achieve policy enhancement.

The plan is to bring together early career researchers, experts and stakeholders in a five-day workshop to share their knowledge and experiences in this priority area with the aim of improving maternal and infant health. Translational research and evidence implementation, policy and practice development will be on the agenda.  How Indonesia compares to the first 1000 days initiatives and the extent to which the goals are being achieved will then be examined in the context of current research from Indonesia, the UK and also from a global perspective. A significant part of the workshop will focus on exploring possible ways forward after reflecting on the existing research, local policies and practice. These will include developing knowledge transfer and educational programmes for practitioners and research workforce and establishing collaborative links to enhance capacity, with a focus on vulnerable groups of Indonesian population, particularly mothers and babies. This is to optimise opportunities for research collaborations in order to improve nutritional health of women and children and reduce maternal and infant mortality and morbidity in the next 10 years.

The workshop will adopt an interdisciplinary approach to improving maternal and infant nutritional health and thus welcomes applicants from a range of disciplines. In particular, we are looking for researchers who are interested in exploring maternal and infant health and nutrition issues and their benefits to economic development and social wellbeing in Indonesia.

The workshop will be held in English.

Application Form

Workshop Title: 
Maternal and Infant Health and Nutrition in Indonesia: An interdisciplinary workshop exploring opportunities and challenges for collaborative research, policy and practice development

UK coordinator: Sadiq Bhanbhro (s.bhanbhro@shu.ac.uk) Sheffield Hallam University
Partner country coordinator: Dr Hardisman Dasman (hardisman@gmail.com) Andalas University Indonesia  
Discipline: Public Health/Nutrition
Dates and venue: 28 August- 1 September 2016, in Padang, West Sumatra Indonesia

As part of the Newton Fund, the British Council has launched a new five-year programme to encourage international research collaboration between ambitious researchers from the UK and eighteen countries around the world.

The programme, Researcher Links, provides opportunities for early career researchers from the UK and internationally to interact, learn from each other and explore opportunities for building long-lasting research collaborations.

Successful applicant organisations from the UK and Indonesia are now recruiting early career researchers and welcome applications to attend the above workshop.

The workshops will provide a unique opportunity for sharing research expertise and networking. During the workshops early career researchers will have the opportunity to present their research in the form of a short oral presentation and discuss this with established researchers from the UK and partner countries. There will be a focus on building up links for future collaborations and participants selected on the basis of their research potential and ability to build longer-term links.

The British Council will cover the costs related to the participation to the workshop, including travel (both international and local), accommodation and meals. Costs for the visa will be covered; however, participants will be responsible for making all the necessary arrangements. Although this cost will not be covered by the British Council, participants are encouraged to purchase adequate travel and medical insurance. The British Council accepts no responsibility for any problems which may occur when the participants are in-country.

Application and Deadline:

The full application below must be completed and submitted by the 31st May 2016 to Sadiq Bhanbhro (S.bhanbhro@shu.ac.uk) in the UK and Dr Hardisman Dasman (hardisman@gmail.com) in Indonesia.

Eligibility Criteria:

• Applications must be submitted using the Researcher Links application form (docx 146 KB) (DOCX, 145.1KB)
• Application must be submitted before the above deadline
• Participants must be early career researchers: Early Career Researchers are defined as holding a PhD (or having equivalent research experience related to theme of the workshop maternal and infant health and nutrition) and having up to 10 years post-PhD research experience. They are equivalent to the 'Recognised Researcher' and sometimes 'Experienced Researcher' categories in the EU framework for researchers' careers. Leading Researchers as defined by the EU Framework for researchers careers are research group leaders who are internationally recognised in their field
• Participants must have a research or academic position (either a permanent post, research contract, or fellowship etc.) at a recognised research institution either in the UK or in Indonesia.

Quality Assessment

• Experience and relevance of the applicant's research area to the workshop
• Motivation and contribution to the aims of the workshop
• Description of the long term impact expected through the participation in the workshop
• Ability to disseminate workshop's outcomes

Selection Procedure:

• Eligibility check
• Quality assessment

Notification of results:
Applicants will be notified by email 2 months prior to the workshop.

Equal Opportunities

The British Council is committed to equal opportunities and diversity in all its activities and this includes the avoidance of any bias in the assessment of applications due to gender, disability, racial or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, or religious belief. Participants' selection undertaken by workshop organisers must not contravene this policy. Extra support to enable participation of early career researchers with special needs will be given.

Please see the link for detail on British Council policies that relate to  your work - adherence to these policies are British Council Requirements. Please refer to brand guidelines as directed by the British Council office in the country where you will be delivering your workshop.